Murphy Captures Second World Championship Crown

INNSBRUCK, Austria – Former Utah cross country and track & field All-American Grayson Murphy captured her second World Mountain Trail Running Championship title on Saturday after crossing the finish line with a time of 1:04.29 in the Mountain Classic race to close out the four days competition in Austria.
 
Murphy did what she did best and got out to a strong start then never looked back to capture her second podium finish this week, this time a gold medal for Team USA. Murphy garnered the lone gold medal for Team USA at the championships. She also earned bronze in the vertical race earlier this week to kick off the races.  
The SLC product crossed the finish line 57 seconds before the runner-up finisher from Sweden and a full 2:11 ahead of the bronze medalist from Kenya. Team USA finished tied for fourth with Germany in the mountain classic race with 61 points while Kenya (14 points) took the team title ahead of Great Britain (43 points).
 
Murphy captured her first World Mountain Trail Running Championship back in 2019 running along the Andes Mountains in Argentina.

 
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Distance: 7.5km • Elevation: 377m • 57% Trail • 7% Gravel • 36% Tarmac
From the starting area at the venue in Innsbruck, the route leads across the Inn on the Europaratsallee and to the trails on the Nordkette, making a steep beeline for Gramartboden. The extremely dynamic race won’t really grant time for any breathers as it leads along steep and narrow uphill trails to a short traverse in the forest above Gramartboden and along the spectator viewpoint before heading back down into the city along steep, root-covered downhill trails. After passing through the Hötting neighborhood along the renowned Höttinger Gasse, the bridges spanning the Inn lead the contestants back to the old town and – after an additional round – the finishing line at the venue.
 
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