Ruby Lindquist ran plenty of technical trails and mountains while growing up in tiny Moose Pass.

That experience paid off at the recent World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in the Pyrenees Mountains of Spain, where she placed a stellar 11th against a deep field of elite athletes.

“So much of the terrain was (technical) and really slows you down,” Lindquist said by text on Sunday. “Knowing how to be efficient in that environment is key, and I did so much of that my entire life that I felt very comfortable on it and confident as well.”

The result: a time of 5 hours, 57 minutes and 7 seconds that landed her agonizingly close to the top 10. The Short Trail championship covered 28 miles with 12,000 feet of vertical gain — including four major climbs and descents. The course was so arduous that only 112 of the 162 starters reached the finish line.

“It was the most competitive race I’ve run in my life,” said Lindquist, 26, who is sponsored by The North Face and now lives in Truckee, Calif. “I always believed I could stack up well in that environment. It is just awesome to see my day go as I knew it could.”

Truly a global event, 57 different countries were represented in the women’s race, which was broadcast via Livestream and showed off the stunning scenery of the Canfranc area, located between Bilbao and Barcelona near the southern French border.

Lindquist, a graduate of Seward High School, placed second among American women in the Short Trail race and was honored to be part of Team USA.

“There is something special about racing not just for yourself,” Lindquist said. “I thought about my other teammates out there and that we were all doing this together. And that we have to do the best we can for each other. … That’s not something we get to experience much in racing year to year.”

She also experienced the encouragement of competitors from around the world.

“During my race, I was cheered on by so many different teams from different countries. We were all supporting each other, and it was such a surreal and special experience for me,” she said.

Lindquist is not satisfied, though, having missed a coveted top 10 result by just 24 seconds to a racer from Czechia. Lindquist had been in 9th place at the penultimate checkpoint with only about a half-hour of racing remaining.

“Just missing (top 10) has really lit this fire in me that I want to come back and do it better,” she said.

Lindquist, a graduate of Seward High School, returns to Alaska a couple times a year.

“I am hoping to spend a bit more time training next summer back home, and possibly jumping into Mount Marathon again,” Lindquist said of the famous event near Moose Pass, where she placed second in 2021 and seventh in 2022.

Lindquist had some Alaskan company in Canfranc.

In the Long Trail race that covered 51 miles, Tracen Knopp of Anchorage placed 25th in 9:58:03. He moved up steadily after being 42nd at 30 kilometers. Anchorage’s Klaire Rhodes, meanwhile, took 35th among women in 12:15:39 in her second World Championships appearance.

In the 14-kilometer Up-and-Down race (also called the Mountain Classic), Mount Marathon record-holder David Norris, an Alaskan currently living in Colorado, placed 36th.

Also, former UAA All-America cross country runner Dominik Notz of Germany took 40th in the Vertical Uphill event.