Arianna Dentis of Italy and Martin Nilsson of Sweden claimed the first WMRA Mountain Running World Cup victories of their careers at Rollercoaster 21, as the Long Distance season came to a close in the Beskid Mały mountains.

Dentis took control of the women's race from the opening stages and crossed the line in 1:55:03, almost four minutes clear of Maya Rayle (USA). Nilsson produced an equally dominant run in the men's race, moving clear over the second half of the course to win in 1:38:50, more than three minutes ahead of Finlay Grant (GBR).

The wins lifted both athletes one place in the overall World Cup standings — Dentis climbs to sixth, Nilsson moves up from ninth to sixth — with one round of the season remaining, in Canada.

Dentis converts consistency into victory

Dentis had opened a lead of more than 1:40 over Rayle by the 7km checkpoint and extended her advantage across the repeated climbs and technical descents that defined the course, finishing 3:48 clear at the finish in Porąbka.

It capped a season in which the Italian had also raced the Broken Arrow Ascent and Skyrace, the Grossglockner Mountain Run, both Vauban Mountain Trail races, and the Vertical Nasego and Trofeo Nasego — her eighth World Cup start of the year, and the one that finally delivered a win.

Rayle completed an impressive World Cup debut in second (1:58:52), with Céline Aebi (SUI) third in 2:02:04. Eden O'Dea (GBR) was fourth and Natalie Beadle (GBR) fifth, with Rena Schwartz (USA), Selina Burch (SUI) and Sara Willhoit (GBR) completing the top eight. Izabela Wysluch gave the host nation a top-10 finish in ninth, with Alicia Shay-Vargo (USA) rounding out the top 10.

Nilsson takes control late

Maciej Lachowski (POL) led at the 7km checkpoint in 31:21, with Nilsson just 12.3 seconds back before the course turned into its toughest sequence of climbs and descents. From there the Swede pulled clear, eventually winning by 3:07 — a first World Cup title after a strong season that included eighth place at Trofeo Nasego.

Grant made his move in the second half to take second in 1:41:58, with Paul Knight (USA) — bringing 28-minute 10,000m credentials to the mountains — just five seconds back in third (1:42:02). Luca Merli (ITA) was fourth ahead of Pavol Orolin (SVK), while Lachowski held on for sixth as first Pole home. Oscar Subuh-Symons (GBR), Casey Campbell (USA), Andrew Douglas (GBR) and Karol Matyssek (POL) completed the top 10.

Course and context

Rollercoaster 21 covered 21.6km with 1511m of ascent. From the start in Międzybrodzie Bialskie, runners climbed more than 500m in the opening 3km towards Czupel, before a long, technical descent towards Czernichów. After crossing the Soła river, the course climbed again towards Mount Żar for a demanding final approach into Porąbka.

The race was the 14th of the World Cup season and the fifth and final Long Distance round, following the Transvulcania Half Marathon, Broken Arrow Skyrace, Sierre-Zinal and Trofeo Nasego. The World Cup concludes at the Défi des Couleurs in Canada on October 10-11, with the Uphill final on the Saturday and the Up & Down final on the Sunday.

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