| New horizons – runners point the way |
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Members representing the 22 countries in person or by proxy attended the meeting, chaired by President, Marino Giacometti. The new Secretary General was elected in the form of skyrunner Nina Dacanay from the Philippines who no doubt will bring, among her many qualities, competence and efficiency together with a strong passion for promoting the sport. New blood on the Management Committee includes Evgeny Kolchanov (Russia), Ian Sharman (Great Britain) and Fabio Menino (Italy) – all three runners. In fact, key runners were elected to stand on the Athletes’ Commission, namely Anna Frost (NZL) Joe Grant (USA) together with Fabio Menino and Ian Sharman. Their input will be invaluable in the development and strategy of the sport and to represent a voice for runners everywhere.
Running legends representing different disciplines, countries and brands attended the three-day seminar from May 14 – 16, together with a number of the most representative media outlets from four continents. Representing the ISF were president Marino Giacometti and VPs Lauri van Houten and Dr Sergio Giulio Roi. The superstar athletes attending were: Kilian Jornet, Iker Karrera, Anna Frost, Seb Chaigneau, Maud Gobert, Francois d’Haene, Thomas Lorblanchet, Florent Troillet, Gustavo Reyes, Csaba Nemeth, Giuliano Cavallo and Americans Anton Krupicka, Mike Wolfe, Geoff Roes, Joe Grant, Ian Sharman, Nick Clark, Nikki Kimball, Transvulcania winner Dakota Jones and World Mountain Running champions Max King and Marco De Gasperi…..
The feedback from runners has proven invaluable in indicating the way forward and, just two months later, in giving runners a place and a voice on the Federation’s Management Committee and Athletes’ Commission. Thanks to the success of “Less Cloud. More Sky” another seminar is programmed for 2013. More seminar reports: |
Another important step marks the rapidly changing face of skyrunning as the ISF takes on the 100-mile distance. The rule was approved at the ISF Annual General Assembly which took place in Spain on July 6 during the SkyGames®.
The athlete has always represented the number one focus for the skyrunning management and, at the beginning of the season, a seminar was held on the island of La Palma with a view to gaining insight from the sport’s principal players - what runners really want and how they would like to see the sport develop. “Less Cloud. More Sky” was the title, emblematic of the new horizons skyrunning wants to explore.
For a new generation of runners the skyrunning past, illustrated with slides and videos, was an eye-opener. The topics examined included: the social media phenomenon, sponsorships and the industry – how these relate to the runners - and back to the industry; why a federation was created; how it interacts with the athletes; and the federation’s spirit and values.
