Njeru and Kiriago secure Mountain Running World Cup wins with victory in Gran Canaria

The third and final day of the Valsir Mountain World Cup Finalissima at Sky Gran Canaria provided a dramatic and fitting end to what has been a superb season as Kenyan duo Joyce Muthoni Njeru and Philemon Kiriago took the spoils on Sunday (15).

It all started in mid-June, in Broken Arrow, Lake Tahoe, USA and ended on this demanding, rugged coastal route. There’s been a long list of winners in that time that includes runners all over the world, but Njeru and Kiriago had been the most dominant runners throughout it all and so it proved once more in the final race of a fabulous Valsir Mountain Running World Cup and overall mountain running year.

Originally billed as a super-fast race with lots of downhill, the race was a much quicker 22km, reduced in altitude because of local conditions and the danger of forest fires, which ultimately resulted in a fantastic fast classic mountain running course.

With the race held over two laps, both Kiriago and Njeru employed similar tactics to the ones they’d used to great effect all season on what was another hot day, seizing control as early as the first 5km.

For Kiriago that meant keeping things moving as he had compatriot Patrick Kipngeno, the world mountain running champion and multiple winner of World Cup races this year, tracking his every stride. Kipngeno, in fact, led for the first 5km.

For Njeru, however, it was a case of simply running away from her opposition. She established a 40-second gap on Philaries Kisang, also from Kenya and a podium finisher on five occasions in 2023, and maintained that margin all the way to the finish.

While the win was of course important, it also meant something far more significant for Kiriago. Victory confirmed he had secured enough points to become overall World Cup champion.

“I’m excited today as I hoped I win the World Cup and it all went well,” said Kiriago, who had also won at Fletta Trail, Sierre Zinal and Trofeo Nasego.

Like Kiriago, the win also confirmed Njeru’s status as world No.1 in the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup rankings.

“I just feel good; the race was good. It was a nice feeling to finish and defend the World Cup trophy. It really well worked well for me,” said Njeru, winner at Fletta Trail, La Montee du Nid d’Aigle and Canfranc.

Winner of the vertical race on day one, Britain’s Joe Steward moved from fourth to third in the overall men’s standings. Behind him, season-long rival Remi Leroux of Canada switched positions – third to fourth – because of his sixth place in the vertical 4km.

Njeru never looked in danger of losing her crown, but behind her the competition for a podium position was intense. Britain’s Scout Adkin enjoyed a rewarding weekend in Gran Canaria, winning the vertical race on Friday and doubling back with a third-place finish in the 22km to move up from fifth to second overall.

Valsir Mountain Running World Cup overall top 10

Women
1 Joyce Njeru (KEN) 295
2 Scout Adkin (GBR) 230
3 Philaries Kisang (KEN) 215
4 Andrea Mayr (AUT) 190
5 Lucy Murigi (KEN) 190
6 Camilla Magliano (ITA) 173
7 Susanna Saapunki (FIN) 166
8 Sara Willhoit (GBR) 160
9 Anna Gibson (USA)  111
10 Madalina Florea (ROM) 109

Men
1 Philemon Kiriago (KEN) 285
2 Patrick Kipngeno (KEN) 280
3 Joe Steward (GBR) 211
4 Remi Leroux (CAN) 168
5 Christian Allen (USA) 160
6 Andrea Rostan (ITA) 139
7 Henri Aymonod (ITA) 135
8 Alex Baldaccini (ITA) 102
9 Ondrej Fejfar (CZE) 98
10 Alric Petit (FRA) 91

Adkin and Steward take uphill wins, Allen and Laktab victorious at long distance

Great Britain’s Scout Adkin and Joe Steward opened the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup Finalissima at Sky Gran Canaria with victories in the uphill race on Friday (13), while the long distance race on Saturday (14) was won by USA’s Christian Allen and Spain's Ikram Rharsalla Laktab.

Pace adjustment is key to successful mountain running as conditions, terrain and – as it turned out – even distances can change in the blink of an eye.

A weather alert was issued for the heat and possibility of forest fires and this meant the 6km uphill race – traditionally the opening event on this action-packed weekend – was reduced to 4km on a significantly altered route. Not only was the race shorter, it also didn’t climb above 400m due to the restrictions.

In the brutally hot conditions, with the temperature at 36°C at the start, it was Steward who quickly made the best of a tough situation as he raced to victory in the Sky A4Uphill event in 17:42. Steward placed eighth at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Innsbruck earlier this year, but his recent results included wins at Canfranc and the Challenge Stellina mountain race in Italy, so he lined up as the man to beat.

Kenya’s Patrick Kipngeno, who is in the running for the overall men’s World Cup title, finished 11 seconds behind Steward’s winning time and secured second place. Allen was third in 18:00, Italian Henri Aymonod finished fourth in 18:18 and Philemon Kiriago – who led the men’s World Cup standings going into the event – was fifth in 18:33.

The women’s race was equally exciting as Adkin once again demonstrated her superb form. An early starter in a race that spanned 40 minutes from the first gun, she had to watch as the field tried – and failed – to match her 21:17 finish time. Looking incredibly strong on the technical section going into the final climb, it would clearly take something special to beat the Scot, the bronze medallist in last year’s European Off-Road Running Championships on the neighbouring island of La Palma.

As for the race in Gran Canaria, it featured a fast opening kilometre as the runners eased out of the coastal village of Agaete and then climbed steadily before the tough final ascent to Lomo del Manco on the volcanic rock paths the Canary Islands are so well known for.

With athletes starting every 30 seconds, the race was a superb spectacle and the results were in doubt all the way to the finish line. With no specific order, it was a case of hitting the climbs flat out. Tactics were for another day and for the two longer races (35km and 22km) taking place on Saturday and Sunday.

Adkin, who finished 15th overall, won the women’s race ahead of Finland’s Susanna Saapunki, who clocked 21:30.

Kenya’s Joyce Muthoni Njeru, who leads the overall women’s World Cup standings, placed third in 22:12, with her compatriot Philaries Kisang ­– currently second in the standings – finishing fourth in 22:58. Britain’s Sara Willhoit was fifth in 23:13.

Allen and Rharsalla Laktab prevail

Day two featured the longest race of the weekend, the Sky TPT38 Long. It was a demanding 38km, which had to be changed from the original 2736m of ascent and the sections of steep, technical ground due to the weather alert. However, it remained a great course, one that saw runners start down on the coast of Maspalomas before traversing a series of volcanic canyons.

If day one and the uphill-only race over 4km was all about flat-out power, this was very much a story of tactics, endurance, fuelling strategies and grit, not to mention the superb descending skills required for the final 12km.

Fortunately for the competitors, conditions had cooled slightly and the canyon walls provided much needed shade, so it was possible to really push hard from the gun.

It was the USA’s Christian Allen who did just that to seize the early initiative to open up a commanding lead of more than three minutes by 22km.

Allen has been in great form this year as his 2023 race programme demonstrates. The 28-minute 10km track runner has posted a string of impressive results all over the world, highlighted by a seven-minute victory in the Speedgoat 50km in the Wasatch Mountains, USA, an impressive second place at Vertical Nasego, and a third place at the Trofeo Nasego this Valsir Mountain Running World Cup season.

Allen, who is also a member of a newly formed Trail Team created to help athletes progress in the world of off-road running, crossed the line in 2:29:29, comfortably ahead of his compatriot Andrew Wacker, who clocked 2:35:52. Czechia's Ondrej Fejfar was third in 2:36:50.

"I’m tired, but I’m glad to be done," said Allen after his second race in two days, which began with a third place in the uphill race on Friday. "I was a little tired after yesterday and didn’t get much sleep because of the caffeine I’d taken, but competing is all about adapting and going out there and having fun."

A strong race on Sunday over the classic distance could see him move to as high as third in the overall World Cup rankings, but speaking after the long race, he was not sure if he will be on the start line for the third race of a packed weekend. “But you never know,” he laughed. “We’ll see how I sleep tonight.”

In the women’s race, a superb final 12km from Spain’s Ikram Rharsalla Laktab saw her haul back a four-minute deficit to win by more than a minute. At first glance it appeared to be down solely to her sensational running over the closing stages, given Italy’s Camilla Magliano had passed 22km more than four minutes ahead of Rharsalla Laktab, the Spanish representative in the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Innsbruck earlier this season.

Unfortunately for Magliano, however, the Italian had taken a wrong – and costly – turn in the final canyon and it was Rharsalla Laktab who crossed the line first in 2:27:26 with Magliano close behind in 2:59:01. After her fifth place in the uphill race, Britain’s Sara Willhoit was third in 3:17:14.

“I’m happy with the win,” said Rharsalla Laktab. “It was a very runnable course, although I do like a bit more of a technical course with a touch more climbing."

Now it is all about Sunday and the Sky A21 Classic, which starts and finishes at the Muelle Viejo de Agaete. Initially, this race was going to be over 50km, but the extreme weather conditions in Gran Canaria means this will now be a shorter two-lap race over 22km.

WMRA for World Athletics

Full uphill race results  
Full long race results
2023 World Cup rankings