Kenyans claim mount running double gold in Portugal

Kenyan duo of Joyce Muthoni Njeru and Patrick Kipngeno claimed a Kenyan double in both the male and female categories at the Montemuro Vertical Run in Portugal, on Sunday.

This was the first Gold Label World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup race of the year with more set for July, August, September and October.

The women set off first and the 25-year-old Kenyan set the pace, with Finland's Susanna Saapunki right on her heels, leading the chasing pack of Italy's Camilla Magliano, Lorenza Beccaria and Vivien Bonzi, together with Spain's Maria Ordonez Marina, Charlotte Cotton of Belgium and Portuguese duo of Rosa Madureira and Joana Soares.

Muthoni was in the lead by the halfway point, but she wasn’t running away with it as Saapunki was chasing hard and was going to make her fight. Around a minute separated the two, with Magliano just under a minute further behind. It was still anybody’s race, with Madureira, Soares and Beccaria not far back.

The route – 10.2km with 980m of ascent – started in a small village just outside of Castro Daire and incorporated a reasonably flat kilometre loop around the streets, before the course made its way up to the summit at 1200m, with one downhill kilometre in the first half. The track was mainly wide and runnable, with just one steep, technical section right at the end.

Men set off 10 minutes after the women and it was a fast kilometre loop to start out with. With no Henri Aymonod due to injury, it may have been expected that Geoffrey Ndungu, who had posted great results last year to finish third in the overall World Cup standings, would take the race on. But it was his fellow Kenyan Kipngeno, new to the WMRA World Cup races, who led from the start.

With a 10km PB of 29:22 and a half marathon best of 1:02:42, it was clear Kipngeno was capable of setting the pace.

At half way he was looking comfortable, with no let up on the pace. Hanna kept him in his sights, though, and continually tried to close the gap. Rostan, Chrascina and Ndungu were also chasing hard for third at this point.

As the races neared their conclusion, Muthoni and Kipngeno actually looked like they may finish together. But in the final metres Kipngeno overtook his compatriot, taking the men's race win in 50:45.

Muthoni crossed the finish line moments later to win the women’s race in 1:00:33 with Saapunki finishing second on 1:01:19 as Magliano completed the women’s podium in 1:04:23.

For the men, Hanna held on to second, finishing in 52:37. Afterwards he explained how he could see Kipngeno ahead of him at many points of the course, but when Kipngeno surged he just wasn’t able to match his pace. Rostan rounded out the men’s podium with a strong run, finishing in 53:02.

Additional reporting by World Athletics