Rena on the Rollercoaster 21 course. Photo: Jeff Jones Photography
by GRP Trail Athlete Rena Schwartz
Rena Schwartz finished sixth in 2:06:40 at the World Mountain Running Association World Cup Long Distance Final in Poland on September 19. Team USA teammate Maya Rayle was second.
On September 19, I raced in the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup Long Distance Final in Międzybrodzie Bialskie, Poland. The race was 21 km with about 1,500 meters of elevation gain. I earned the opportunity to travel to Poland as part of Team USA after a strong performance at the Broken Arrow Skyrace in June.
My favorite part of the trip was getting to spend time with the other athletes. Team USA brought eight athletes and two team leaders, and we stayed at a family-run inn with 10 rooms upstairs and a restaurant downstairs. We were treated to three-course lunches, and on our last night, our host, Bart, offered us complimentary shots of 72% ABV grappa with raspberry syrup and Tabasco. Quite the experience! He also introduced us to his homemade fermented beet juice, brewed with garlic and dill.
Team USA outside our inn on the last night.
Throughout the trip, we had fun exploring the local grocery store (and its many pierogi options, including blueberry!), running sections of the course and scheming about how best to tackle them, and generally enjoying each other’s company while talking about training and all things running.
Out on a run with teammates.
The race was called Rollercoaster 21, and I’d say it was aptly named. The course began with a roughly 3 km climb on a fire road through the forest, followed by a loose, rocky descent that felt like running down a riverbed, with both sides of the trail sloping towards each other. It also included a brutally steep climb up a ski hill, which, as it turns out, was also a launch point for glider planes. The landscape reminded me of parts of Vermont or New Hampshire, but with more compact mountain valleys surrounding a reservoir.
The view from Góra Żar.
I’ve been taught to structure race debriefs in my training log around two questions: What went well, and what could I improve on? I’ll stick with that format here.
What went well
I felt calm and collected before the start. One thing I’ve been working on this year is my mindset around racing. I’ve spent most of my life Nordic ski racing, from my years at Craftsbury and Green Mountain Valley School to racing at Dartmouth. It’s easy to keep training and racing after college simply because it’s what I’ve always known. But it’s important to me that I remain intentional about running and continue to race because I genuinely want to. Standing on the start line in Poland, I felt a real sense of joy and pride in all the work I’d put in over the summer while balancing classes, training, and starting a new job in August. I was happy to be there, excited to race, and open to whatever the race might bring. I hadn’t raced since Broken Arrow in June, but I didn’t let that get in my head. I put myself in the mix from the beginning and committed to racing.
What I’d like to work on
I think I could have pushed harder on the downhills and trusted myself to keep going late in the race, even if I had committed to a harder effort through the middle. I’d like to get more comfortable taking those risks and trusting that I can sustain the effort. I also went the wrong way toward the end of the course. This happened at another race earlier in the year, and it’s something I’ve managed to do several times throughout my life. I may be a bit directionally challenged, but I think there’s room for improvement here, too!
Heading downhill. Photo: Jeff Jones Photography
There was no team scoring at this race, but Team USA absolutely crushed it! You can find the results here if you’re interested.
Team USA on the course. Photo: Jeff Jones Photography
I’m so grateful for this opportunity to connect with others through running, explore a new place, and see what I can do when I toe the line against some of the best mountain runners in the world. It’s a pretty special thing to get to do what you love, surrounded by people who love it just as much.