Course record holders Joyce Njeru and Patrick Kipng'eno reign supreme in France

Course record-holders Joyce Njeru and Patrick Kipng’eno successfully retained their titles at the La Montee du Nid d’Aigle, the latest gold label event in the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup, on Saturday, July 22.

Njeru went into the women’s race as a pre-race favourite and successfully managed to live up to expectations. She was bound to face tough competition from her compatriot Philaries Kisang who is also in the form of her life.

With two third-place finishes at last weekend’s Fletta Trail and Piz Tri Vertical, combined with a second place at the World Championships in the vertical uphill race, Kisang posed the biggest threat to Njeru retaining her title.

Njeru and Kisang went head-to-head in the thrilling race. At the 12km mark, Kisang was ahead of Njeru but her reign was short-lived when Njeru pulled up a surprise to take the win. Njeru came out on top cutting the tape in 2:06:28 ahead of Kisang by just five seconds. Susanna Saapunki managed to maintain her third place in 2:10:42.

In the men’s race, Kipng’eno was up against his compatriot and last year’s runner-up Philemon Kiriago, who has also been in impeccable form since the season started.

Kipng’eno was smart enough to open a lead a few minutes into the race. By the 12km mark, he was clear of Kiriago who was fighting hard to close the gap.

It was no surprise to see Kipng’eno emerge from the final climb with a clear lead and he took the win in 1:46:44. Kiriago finished second just over two minutes behind, in 1:48:47, as Xavier Chevrier sealed the podium in 1:51:11.

The points won here have shaken up the World Cup rankings. For the women, Njeru – who was joint leader with Scout Adkin – has now stretched out a lead with 160 points. Adkin is now second, but Kisang jumps from sixth to third with 100 points.

For the men, Kiriago has increased his lead and now has 130 points. Kipngeno jumps up to second with a total of 100.

After a break of a few weeks, the next gold-label event in the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup will be at Sierre-Zinal on August 12.