Joyce Njeru and Elhousine Elazzaoui have won the Headlands 27k trail run race in the United States, that’s part of the Golden Trail World Series (GTWS). Both are now leading the GTWS general standing of 2024.
It was a mighty sprint that brought Elazzaoui the win. Directly from the start the Moroccan Nnormal runner broke away from the field, together with Philemon Kiriago, Patrick Kipngeno (both Kenya and Rémi Bonnet (Swiss). The four of them stuck together until the very last kilometre. In that last kilometre Elazzaoui showed he’s the fastest of them all: “It was a crazy race. The craziest race of my life,” he said directly after the finish. “It was so fast. I tried to attack, but they didn’t let me get away, so I had to attack even harder in the final downhill. I’m thrilled to finish victorious in this race.”
Kiriago beaten again
For Kiriago it meant his second defeat in the last couple of hundred metres in a row. At Sierre-Zinal Kilian Jornet beat him, by taking more risks in the final descent. “The race was very fast. I had a good pace and led the group from the start until the last downhill when Elhousine overtook me. He was the strongest and I’m very happy to finish on the podium of this crazy race.”
Patrick Kipngeno didn’t take part in the sprint. Yet, he managed to finish third, before Bonnet: “I think I lacked a bit of technique on the downhills; the other three were better. And that’s probably where it counted.”
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Njeru lives up to her role as favourite
Joyce Njeru started the Headlands 27k trail as favourite and lived up to it. Not Madaline Florea, nor Lauren Gregory, not Judith Wyder or Miao Yao could follow the Kenyan Atletica Saluzzo runner. Where the men had the sprint for the victory, Njeru crossed the finish line solo. “I wanted to see how fast I could really go, and above all how long I could keep it up. So, I stayed with the front group at the start, but from the 3-kilometre mark Madalina accelerated. I chose to take it easy because I knew the race was long, but at the 20K mark I managed to catch and overtake her. I’m really pleased with this second victory.”
Madalina Florea, who led the race for a long time, and who finished with a somersault, could live with her second place: “I felt pretty confident that this race suited me better than Sierre-Zinal. But when Joyce caught up with me, I just couldn’t keep up. I held on to reach the finish line and am happy I managed it without injuring myself. I’m very satisfied with today’s result.”
Miao Yao not recovered yet
Judith Wyder just missed the podium (fourth). Miao Yao finished sixth. Both had UTMB OCC still in their legs. Yao: “I know two weeks isn’t enough time to fully recover or shift from the mindset of a 50K to a 20K race, but I wanted to give it a try”, she said on her Instagram page. “Maybe not this year, perhaps next year, I will never give up trying, since one of the most beautiful things about trail running is the uncertainty, or as I like to think of it, the hope. I’ll never stop chasing victory. Sometimes I have great races, sometimes I don’t, but a smile always finds its way to my face as I approach the finish line. Congrats all the amazing girls who have finished the race. I feel incredibly fortunate to have so much love and support from all of you. That’s the greatest reward of all.”
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Photos: Rising Story/Mathis Decroux
You'll find all results of the Headlands 27k here.
