British mountain runner wins WMRA World Cup event in Italy

Anticipation was high for stage 11 of the World Cup at the Giir di Mont Uphill event on Saturday (July 26) in Premana, Italy. With competition really hotting up in the World Cup competition, podium places here could prove pivotal to this year’s contest, and many of the top mountain runners made the trip to Premana for this historic race.

The Giir di Mont race’s origins date back to the 1960s and over the years it has attracted the best mountain runners in the world. The uphill race was added in 2022 but from the off it has showcased the highest level of competition.

Premana provides a perfect playground for the Giir di Mont races, with 2000m peaks all around, alpine pastures, ancient woodland and a local community that lives and breathes mountain running. Hundreds of local volunteers make it an unforgettable race experience for anybody who takes part.

The uphill race starts benignly, with a fast and runnable first kilometre, but over the course of the next 6.5km it climbs 800m, with 400m of that in the final kilometre. The final, steep section sees runners really digging deep to reach the finish line at Alpe Solino.

The women set off first, and while the drizzly rain cooled the temperatures for them, it did make the conditions underfoot slightly more challenging.

The line-up for the women included World Cup leader Scout Adkin (HOKA EU), seven-time world champion Andrea Mayr, Valentine Jepkoech Rutto (Pegarun) and Joyce Muthoni Njeru (Nnormal), currently second and third in the World Cup standings. In addition, the presence of Gloria Chebet (Run2gether), Susanna Saapunki (On Running) and Philaries Jeruto Kisang (Run2gether) made the start line feel almost like a World Championship.

It was very close, with the lead changing hands many times, but eventually Adkin got away and took the win in 47:52. It was Francesca Ghelfi (ASD Podistica Valle Varaita) who chased her to the end and took second in 47:58, with the unstoppable Mayr competing the podium in 48:31.

Women's results
Scout Adkin (GBR) 47:52
Francesca Ghelfi (ITA) 47:58
Andrea Mayr (AUT) 48:31
Valentine Jepkoech Rutto (KEN) 48:46
Gloria Chebet (KEN) 49:24

The men’s race was equally stacked and it, too, got off to a very fast start through the cobbled streets. With the top three in the men’s World Cup competition - Paul Machoka (Pegarun), Philemon Ombogo Kiriago (Run2gether) and  Michael Selelo Saoli (Run2gether) – in addition to Richard Omaya Atuya (Run2gether) and Josphat Kiprotich (Run2gether), it was one of the strongest Kenyan line-ups we’ve had this year.

This race was also the Italian Uphill only Mountain Running Championship, so there was an incredibly strong cohort of Italian athletes in both the men’s and women’s race too. Andrea Rostan (Atletica Saluzzo) , who took a podium spot in Chongli, and Andrea Elia (La Recastello Radici Group), who finished as top Italian last weekend at Vauban.

It was an all-Kenyan podium, with Atuya eventually breaking free to in in 39:49. Kiriago was close behind in 40:07, with another narrow gap to Machoka in third in 40:17. The top five were all Kenyan and within one minute of each other.

Men's results
Richard Omaya Atuya (KEN) 39:49
Philemon Ombogo Kiriago (KEN) 40:07
Paul Machoka (KEN) 40:17
Josphat Kiprotich (KEN) 40:32
Michael Selelo Saoli (KEN) 40:45

On Sunday the action starts again at 7.45am local time for the Giir di Mont long mountain race.