Centro de Portugal will be the mountain racing capital of the world next weekend – CentroTV
The municipality of Castro Daire, in the Central region of Portugal, will host on June 19 the “Montemuro Vertical Run”, the first event of the 2022 edition of the Mountain Running World Cup.
This is a unique competition presented in Portugal, where there will be more than 500 nationalities, from 10 different nationalities, including the 10 best national and world men and women of the modality.
Already in the second edition, this is the first time that the “Montemuro Run” appears in the international calendar of the modality, constituting the debut of the World Cup of the specialty in our country.
The competition, open to all, is held in Serra do Montemuro and also scores for the Portugal Mountain Race Cup. The athletes will complete a course of 10.3 km, with 1,080 difference in level between the start and the finish line. Always going uphill, the race starts next to the Paiva River, in the village of Parada de Ester, and ends at the highest point of the mountain, in Portas do Montemuro. The route taken to Fragas do Inferno, from where you can get one of the most magnificent landscapes between the Douro and Paiva.
“The Montemuro Vertical Run is part of the strategy to promote the Center of Portugal as a privileged destination for the practice of active and sports tourism. Events like this, which attract athletes from all over the world, to discover the potential of the territory at this level, are therefore an excellent means of promotion. I am sure that the participants will return to their countries of origin with plenty of reasons to return to Castro Daire and the Center of Portugal, which has so much to offer to those who visit it”, considers Pedro Machado, president of Turismo Centro de Portugal.
The “Montemuro Vertical Run” is the highest moment of a weekend of intense sporting and cultural activity in Castro Daire, which is not limited to this race.
In parallel with the competitive route, there will be a non-competitive 5.6 km walk, open to all lovers of nature activities. Youth races, from Benjamins to Juvenis, are also part of the sport, as well as the Conference “Montemuro – Serra de Desporto, Aventura e Energias Saudáveis” (at 4:00 pm on Saturday, the 18th), dance and gymnastics exhibitions, an ethnographic demonstration and musical concerts. A “Fun Zone”, in Jardim Municipal de Castro Daire, includes an athlete’s fair, a sports show, a bio show & children’s entertainment.
On the 17th and 18th, the “Visit Castro Daire Experiences Program”, which will participate to get to know, free of charge, some attractions in the county, such as the Interpretation Center and upon registration by Montemuro and Paiva, Capuchinhas, Ervital (with organic teas and rotten cake), the Termas do Carvalhal (with a localized massage), the Pedreira swing, the Ermida Church, the Pombeira, the Cavaleiro swing and the Transhumance Pedagogical Farm.