The climb will be rugged. The field will be world-class. The challenge will be daunting.
As Athletics Canada announces the first 28 athletes competing at the 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, it is clear that Team Canada has their sights set high for the third edition of this world championship event.
Meet Team Canada
The Canadian contingent will look to build off their performances at the last World Mountain and Trail Championships, held in 2023 in Innsbruck, Austria.
Two years ago, Team Canada finished 10th overall, with Anne-Marie Comeau and Alexandre Ricard providing two of the highlight performances for the Canadian squad in Austria.
“This is the strongest team we’ve ever assembled for a World Mountain & Trail Running Championships, and we’re incredibly proud to be sending such a talented and motivated group of athletes to represent Canada in 2025,” said Chris Winter, Team Leader for Team Canada and Athletics Canada’s Director of Domestic Programs and Safe Sport. “We’re especially excited to welcome back Anne-Marie Comeau, who finished 15th in the Vertical Race at the 2023 edition and Alex Ricard, who placed 16th in the Mountain Classic Race —alongside some impressive new faces who’ve earned their spot on the team with strong results at both domestic and international competitions.”
| Athlete | Event | Hometown | Club | Coach |
| Alexandre Ricard* | Men’s Vertical & Short Trail Race | Squamish, BC | Unattached | N/A |
| Jade Belzberg* | Women’s Vertical & Short Trail Race | Fort Langley, BC | Unattached | Megan Roche |
| Anne-Marie Comeau* | Women’s Vertical | St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, QC | Unattached | Reid Coolsaet |
| Maxime Corbeil | U20 Men’s Classic Up & Down | Victoriaville, QC | Club Citius | Dany Racine |
| Remi Leroux* | Men’s Classic Up & Down | Waterloo, QC | Unattached | N/A |
| Claudine Soucie | Women’s Classic Up & Down | Gatineau, QC | Unattached | N/A |
| Joshua Potvin* | Men’s Short Trail Race | North Vancouver, BC | Mile2Marathon | Dylan Wykes |
| Samuel Hendry* | Men’s Short Trail Race | Canmore, AB | Unattached | N/A |
| Marc Fawcett-Atkinson | Men’s Short Trail Race | Vancouver, BC | Unattached | Mac Macintosh |
| Dany Racine | Men’s Short Trail Race | Victoriaville, QC | Club Citius | N/A |
| Brendan Morden | Men’s Short Trail Race | Coquitlam, BC | Unattached | N/A |
| Marcus Ribi* | Men’s Long Trail Race | Vancouver, BC | Unattached | N/A |
| Chris Balestrini* | Men’s Long Trail Race | London, ON | Penticton Pounders | N/A |
| Jean-Philippe Thibodeau* | Men’s Long Trail Race | St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, QC | Unattached | Reid Coolsaet |
| Christian Meier* | Men’s Long Trail Race | Knightville, NB | Unattached | N/A |
| Brandon Miller* | Men’s Long Trail Race | Calgary, AB | Unattached | David Roche |
| Elliot Cardin | Men’s Long Trail Race | Shefford, QC | Unattached | N/A |
| Stephanie Ryall | Women’s Short Trail Race | Ottawa, ON | Mile2Marathon | Dylan Wykes |
| Kalie McCrystal* | Women’s Short Trail Race | Squamish, BC | Unattached | N/A |
| Nicole Lacis | Women’s Short Trail Race | Burnaby, BC | Unattached | Hannah Allgood |
| Carol-Ann Rolle | Women’s Short Trail Race | Chilliwack, BC | Unattached | N/A |
| Laurie Proulx | Women’s Short Trail Race | St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, QC | Unattached | Charles Castonguay |
| Sara Bergen | Women’s Long Trail Race | Squamish, BC | Unattached | Alex Ricard |
| Robyn Mildren | Women’s Long Trail Race | Hamilton, ON | Unattached | David Roche |
| Jazmine Lowther | Women’s Long Trail Race | Nelson, BC | Unattached | N/A |
| Geneviève Asselin-Demers* | Women’s Long Trail Race | Montréal, QC | Unattached | Paul Audet |
| Caitlin Schindel | Women’s Long Trail Race | Saskatoon, SK | Coolsaet Go | Krista DuChene |
| Mylene Sansoucy* | Women’s Long Trail Race | Quebec City, QC | Unattached | N/A |
*Returning from 2023 World Mountain & Trail Running Championships team
| Team Staff | ||
| Chris Winter | Team Leader (Non-Travelling) | Vancouver, BC |
| Adrian Lambert | Team Coach | Edmonton, AB |
| Bernadette Benson | Team Coach | Bright, Australia |
| Sue Lambert | Team Manager | Edmonton, AB |
| Kevin Montgomery | Team IST | Toronto, ON |
“My goals are to perform as well as I can at both the Vertical and Short Trail races. I know that the races all pack an immense amount of vert, so having strong climbing legs while still being able to run fast will be crucial across each distance,” said Team Canada member Jade Belzberg, who earned silver medals in both the women’s vertical event and the women’s classic up and down event at the 2024 Canadian Mountain Running Championships last October. “Representing Team Canada and competing at the World Championships is an incredible honour. I feel grateful for the opportunity to race against the best in the world at these distances and am excited to be joining such an impressive team of Canadian athletes to Spain.”
Canfranc-Pirineos 2025
The 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships take place in Canfranc-Pirineos, Spain September 25 to 28.
Located in the majestic and historic Pyrenees, Canadian athletes will face off against the world’s best mountain and trail runners, as well as the daunting condition of one of Europe’s largest mountain ranges.
“A key thing for all our athletes will be to train for the amount of vertical in these events, which is much more than many Canadians experience. Some of the climbs and descents will be quite long. Athletes also need to prepare themselves for altitude. Digestion can be affected for those insufficiently trained for altitude, as there’s only so much oxygen the body has available to power legs, lungs, and keep nutrition down,” said Team Coach and Association of Canadian Ultramarathoners President Bernadette Benson. “The highlights for those who train well and come into the event with strong legs, a strong core for endurance over time, and altitude training to race in exposed high alpine terrain above the tree line, will surely enjoy some of those expansive rugged mountain views that the Pyrenees is famous for. Our ultradistance athletes will get a unique opportunity to race in a mountain range that is distinct from the Alps that cross much of Europe (and older than the Alps) and to cross from Spain to France and back during their events.”
Around 1700 athletes from 70 countries are expected to compete this fall in Canfranc-Pirineos.
The race program includes uphill mountain running, classic up-and-down mountain running, short trail, long trail and U20 classic up-and-down events, spread over four days of racing.
The final members of Canada’s Mountain Running team at the 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships will be announced at the end of June.