Russia’s Ekaterina Mityaeva climbs the trail running ranks and has her eyes on the ultimate prize

Ekaterina ‘Katya’ Mityaeva starts off orienteering but finds a life in trail running and is now ‘fully immersed’ in the sport

Reading Time:3 minutes

Ekaterina Mityaeva is one of the best trail runners in Russia. Photo: Adidas TERREX

Published: 10:00am, 19 Aug 2020Updated: 10:05pm, 19 Aug 2020

Ekaterina (Katya) Mityaeva is Russia’s best female trail runner. Her path to the top has taken her through a variety of sports and one day she hopes to stand atop the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) podium.

According to the International Trail Running Association (ITRA), in the 34 races she has completed, Mityaeva managed 33 top-10 finishes, 19 top-three results, and 12 victories in premier mountain races around the world.

The Russian considers her fourth place at 2019 UTMB as her best result. The same year she was fourth in Transvulcania Ultra Marathon and fifth in the Vibram Hong Kong 100, and in 2018 she won the prestigious Ultra Pirineu in Spain.

Mityaeva and husband Dmitry, also a world-class mountain runner, are inseparable and even have a joint Facebook athlete profile. The public are more familiar with Dima, who at 1.83m and 82kg is hard to miss in a race line-up.

Ekaterina Mityaeva was an elite orienteering athlete before concentrating on running. Photo: Ian Corless/Adidas TERREX

But Mityaeva is a remarkable endurance athlete – her wins span distances from 400m in Red Bull 400 events, to 100-plus kilometres. She also holds the Russian title of Master of Sport that officially designates an elite athlete, in five different endurance disciplines – trail running, sky running, ski mountaineering, orienteering and radio orienteering.