Published:
Central Connecticut State University head cross country and track & field coach Eric Blake won the 2023 World Master Mountain Running Championship Friday, in the men’s 40-year-old age group. It is his second title, having won the 35-39 age group at the 2014 championship in Austria.
“It was a great course,” said Blake. “The race went as well as I could ask. It was mostly up hill and mostly on trails, with a bit of road. It was great to mix it up with some many great runners from around the world.”
The 22nd annual World Masters Running Championship was held in Madeira, Portugal. The course was 9,200 kilometers in length, with a 900-meter rise. Blake won the race in a time of 43:11, 52 seconds clear of the runner-up, Shaban Mustafa of Bulgaria. Fellow American Mike Popejoy placed third, in a time of 44:36. There were 84 competitors that began the race, with 83 crossing the finish line.
Blake was the first finisher in the men’s 35-50 race on Friday morning. The M40 second place finisher crossed at 44:52.