About
Ieva is a trained athlete, honor student and lover of sports and the pursuit of competitive excellence. In the Spring of 2024, as a Freshman, Ieva joined the Wellesley High School Track and Field team. New to the sport of running and an accomplished figure skater formerly, she was eager to learn the fundamentals of running. She found success in the Spring track season with Wellesley High School, earning Varsity. Eager to continue learning and training, Ieva joined the roster at Emerging Elites in the late Spring/Summer 2024.
Quality, personal coaching and hard working teammates are qualities she values. Equally important is spending time with her family, playing with her two dogs, testing new recipes and exploring world cuisine, traveling and watching her favorite sports.
Summer 2024
In July 2024, Ieva was thrilled to take on the challenge of her first mountain running race at the Loon Mountain Race, which was the 2024 U20 US Mountain Running Championships. This vertical race with 934m of elevation gain was Ieva’s debut in the mountain / trail discipline. Widely regarded as the one of the country’s toughest mountain races, Loon is a nearly 10km vertical race, with rocky, difficult terrain and the Upper Walking Boss, a kilometer long section with grades above 40%. Ieva’s athleticism was quickly revealed as she secured the victory over her accomplished Emerging Elites teammates and the entire field of U20 women. She crossed the line as the US Mountain Running U20 Champion, finishing in 1:07.17, 5 minutes ahead of her Emerging Elites teammate who finished as the 2nd place U20 woman. When including the boy’s competition, Ieva finished 3rd overall out of 36 U20 competitors!
Fall 2024
Following her win at Loon, Ieva’s summer and fall training featured long training blocks with limited racing, focusing on her aerobic development. Through a blend of running and cross training, Ieva has developed a strong aerobic engine. With weekly hill repeats on Heartbreak Hill last fall, Ieva became a more powerful athlete. In November 2024, Ieva had a breakthrough cross country race at the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals, where she ran 18:47.50 at Franklin Park, good for 28th overall.
Winter 2024-2025
Fueled by her experience at Foot Locker Northeast Regionals, Ieva was eager to attack her first ever season of indoor track. Ieva opened her season in December by debuting in the 3000m, running 10:18.60 and qualifying for the New Balance Nationals Indoor Championship 2 Mile. She then focused on developing her speed and dropped down to race shorter distances. Competing in congested collegiate and post-collegiate fields at Boston University, Ieva debuted in the 1000m in 2:57.51 and lowered her mile personal best by 26 seconds, running 5:04.96. By February of her debut indoor season, Ieva had qualified for the New Balance Nationals Indoor Championship 800m, mile and 2 mile.
Heading into her first NBNI track nationals, Ieva decided to focus on the 800m and mile. Her experience as an international figure skater who thrives in a high-stake environment was evident. Arriving to The TRACK at new balance, Ieva remained composed and calm despite being in a stimulating environment surrounded by the nation’s best athletes. She took control of her warm-up and was determined to arrive to the line ready to race. In both the 800m and mile, Ieva found herself in slow, tactical championship-style races with a fast close, a different racing experience from the faster time-trial racing style she experienced at BU this winter. As a curious student of the sport, Ieva carefully watched the seeded championship races, analyzed how the races developed and learned about what it takes to perform at the championship level on the track. This provided a great learning environment for Ieva. We’re thrilled that she had a positive experience at her first track national championships as an underclassman and can use this as a springboard for championship racing at future national races.
Ieva MacInnes places 11th, top American at International U18 Mountain Running Cup in Donovaly, Slovakia
In her Team USA debut, Wellesley sophomore Ieva MacInnes raced up the epic Slovakian mountain course of 5.8 kilometers (3.6 miles) with an elevation gain of 513 meters (1,680 feet). Starting at 3,150 ft above sea level, the Donovaly course runs mainly through forest terrain and meadows and is considered one of the hardest U18 courses ever designed.
After exploring the course on Thursday, Ieva knew that this would be a physical and mental challenge to distribute her effort on the uphill race. In chatting with the Team USA leaders, Ieva felt confident in her plan to put herself with the leaders and not get stuck in traffic on the trail.
Racing athletes from 18 countries, Ieva’s efforts and savvy racing were rewarded with 11th overall, just missing a top 10 finish. Ieva paced the Team USA women to a fourth place team finish (45 points), behind France (19 points), Poland (20 points) and Switzerland (42 points).
Special thanks to Team USA co-leaders Paul Kirsch and Melody Fairchild, WMRA, ATRA, USATF and USATF New England for their collective efforts to support mountain trail running and this team.
ATRA Recap
WMRA Recap
Full Results from Donovaly
Ieva MacInnes – Making Strides in Mountain / Trail
After returning from racing for Team USA in Slovakia, Ieva turned her attention to returning to the Loon Mountain Race on July 13, 2025. With a slightly different course at Loon in 2025, including more downhill sections and a longer route, Ieva repeated as the U20 Female champion. Joining her was Emerging Elites teammate Mia Rent who took third overall in the U20 Female division.
With the mountains calling, Ieva was eager to test her summer fitness at the Kismet Cliff Mountain Trail Race outside North Conway, New Hampshire. The classic mountain loop course featured 5.14 miles of racing with 1,437ft elevation gain and killer views of the Mount Washington Valley. Ieva found a consistent rhythm and found herself in a strong position in the lead pack heading into Kismet Cliff. Ieva’s efforts yielded a strong result as the overall female champion and second place overall.
In mid-October, Ieva was itching to get back to the trails and focused on the Vulcan’s Fury Mountain Trail Race in Nottingham, New Hampshire. Joined by her Emerging Elites teammate Mia Rent, they quickly moved to the lead pack and sought to create separation before the climb. With a looming multi-day storm on tap for the afternoon, Ieva knew that the dry trail conditions were prime for a fast effort. Racing her way to the front, Ieva won the 5.64 mile race with 745ft elevation gain and chopped nearly 6 minutes of the women’s course record. Mia took fourth overall and second female to also place on the Vulcan’s Fury podium.
Ieva wanted one final mountain trail race for her 2025 campaign, so coming off of Vulcan’s Fury, she targeted the Cranmore Mountain Race the following weekend in North Conway, New Hampshire. Cranmore Mountain Race is a classic and historic USATF New England mountain race with a two-lap up / down mountain format featuring grassy ski slopes, singletrack, and technical switchback descents. The Cranmore course hosted the 2017 US Mountain Running Championship and includes the signature experience of running up the Koessler Trail, a .2 mile black diamond trail with an average grade of 37% and a max slope of 53%.
This was Ieva’s first-time racing in a multi-lap up / down mountain race, so she was eager to gain some experience with this format. With race temperatures hovering around 40 degrees at the start, Ieva settled into a strong rhythm and established herself with the lead pack. Coming through lap 1 in 27:45, Ieva was in third place in the women’s race and then she turned and headed back up the mountain for her second lap, which she covered in 28:49. For her efforts, Ieva secured her podium spot, covering the 4.84 miles in 56:34. Breaking the hour mark at Cranmore is a significant benchmark at this classic mountain race and with 2,264ft of elevation gain, this was the most elevation gain (and loss) Ieva had experienced in a mountain race.
Ieva was in good company on the Cranmore podium, which was swept by women with Team USA racing experience. New England trail legends Casey Enman and Corey Dowe took the top two honors with Ieva rounding out the podium with her bronze finish.
Many thanks to Chris Dunn and the Acidotic Racing team on hosting a fantastic event at Cranmore and for making this race a USATF-MUT Running Youth Initiative event, which encourages and supports youth athletes ages 14-18 to explore the mountain trail discipline.
Since racing her first mountain trail event in July 2024, Ieva has consistently been the top U20 performer at Loon (2024 and 2025), Kismet (2025), Vulcan’s Fury (2025), and Cranmore (2025), and was Team USA’s top finisher (11th) at the U18 International Mountain Cup in Donovaly, Slovakia.
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