Harwood runner to compete on U.S. Youth Skyrunning team in Italy
July 29, 2023 | By John KerriganHarwood Union High School junior Heidi Haraldsen of Waterbury is with 13 other runners from across the United States to compete in the 2023 Youth Skyrunning World Championships in Italy next week.
Harwood junior Heidi Heraldsen of Waterbury on a training run at Lincoln Peak in Warren. Photo by Ryan Kerrigan
Heidi is headed to Fonte Cerreto, L’Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy, along with a team that includes two other Vermont runners: James Underwood of Woodstock and Baxter Harrington of Middlebury, both in the age 17-18 boys category.
A three-season Harwood varsity student-athlete, Heidi is a member of the Harwood Cross Country team that competes in the fall, the Alpine Ski team in winter, and Track and Field in the spring.
“While Skyrunning is not a new concept, it is also certainly not an easy one. We’re excited to see Heidi combine her prowess on XC trails and track with her passion for the mountains,” said team Head Coach Ryan Kerrigan.
Heidi is competing in the age 15-16 girls category. She says she’s looking forward to her first international competition doing something she loves. “For me, skyrunning is about trying something new while staying active and enjoying the outdoors,” she said.
With five runners on the U.S. team, Alaskans dominate American Youth Skyrunning. Only Vermont with seven competitors in 2017 had more representatives. While U.S. Skyrunning was born in Vermont, Alaska appears to be the current nursery for U.S. youth skyrunners. Other U.S. team members hail from Colorado, Montana, Ohio and Oregon. The 14-member roster is the program’s largest showing at the international competition to date with runners in each of its age categories.
Kerrigan noted that interest in the team this year was high. “We had dozens of qualified athletes apply for the limited spots on the team. We had to turn some exceptional athletes down,” he said.
USA Youth Skyrunning’s first appearance at the World Youth Championships was in 2017 in Andorra when seven Vermont high school cross country runners made their debut finishing 4th in a nine-team field. A year later, a dozen U.S. runners took 4th place again and 2019’s 10-member team came in 5th place. The pandemic brought a cancellation in 2020 and the U.S. team participated the past two years but struggled with injuries and illness. Last year’s team placed 15th out of 26 teams.
Vermonters launch Canadian team
In addition, Vermont runners with dual citizenship have helped launch Canada’s first Youth Skyrunning team which has a total of seven members. They are Coach Naia Tower-Pierce and runners Evi Tower-Pierce (girls age 15-16) and Finn Tower-Pierce (boys age 17-18) – all of East Burke, Vermont.
Dual citizenship allowed for more of the athletes to be included making this year’s U.S. and Canadian team entries the largest group from North America to paricipate in the Youth Championships.
Naia Tower-Pierce maintains American, Canadian and French citizenship. She first appeared on the U.S. Skyrunning team in 2018 and has competed for team USA in six Youth World Championships.
“The Youth Skyrunning World Championships is a place where the best youth athletes and mountain lovers from all around the world come to compete and race their hearts out. I could not be more excited to watch and support the Canadian team fire off at the starting line,” Tower-Pierce said, calling it “truly a once-in-a-lifetime race and opportunity” to participate in this unique competition. “I look forward to seeing my Canadian athletes test [their] limits against the world’s best youth skyrunners, and seeing them experience the international race culture, thrive, and grow in this high-level environment.”
Evvi Tower-Pierce will be the youngest member of Team Canada making her first appearance at the Youth Skyrunning World Championships. “I’ve always been drawn to the mountains but having grown up in a family of high-level athletes, I’ve always been intimidated by running and competition. Now, with the opportunity to represent Canada, I want to show other young women that what makes an athlete is not just your training or DNA, but attitude, mindset, and determination. Any woman can be an athlete,” she said. “I’m going to prove that by showing up on race day with a positive attitude, mindset, and the determination to conquer the world.”
How to follow & support the team
Organized by the International Skyrunning Federation based in Switzerland, the skyrunning competitions attract runners from more than 50 countries to compete in two disciplines of skyrunning – the vertical kilometer which involves a run straight up a mountain, and the sky run which is a distance race along the crest of mountains. The World Youth Skyrunning Championships involves runners ages 15 to 23 from more than two dozen countries including the U.S., Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, Germany and Japan.
The 2023 Youth Skyrunning World Championships will be held Aug. 4-6 on Gran Sasso, Fonte Cerreto, L’Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy. More information and race results can be found online at skyrunning.com/2023-youth-skyrunning-world-championships.
In addition, the U.S. team has an online gofundme fundraising link to help support its efforts to grow the program, host clinics and races in the U.S. Follow the U.S. team in Italy on their Facebook and Instagram sites.
See previous stories about the U.S. Youth Skyrunning program in 2022 here and in 2021 here.
John Kerrigan is assistant coach of the U.S. Youth Skyrunning program and Harwood’s XC head coach.