Joyce Muthoni Njeru and Patrick Kipngeno have won the 23k (1.433m+) Broken Arrow 2024 Skyrace in the United States. Both Kenyan trail runners also won the vertical kilometre race of the same event.
Njeru was up against Allie McLaughlin (USA, Hoka), who won the snow-affected race of last year. This year the conditions were perfect: warm, with a beautiful blue sky. Directly from the start Njeru made her intentions clear by running away from the rest of the field. At the first timing point, around kilometre 7,5 she had a lead of almost two minutes over Tabor Hemming (USA, Adidas Terrex). McLaughlin was trailing Hemming by a minute, closely followed by two other Americans; Jade Belzberg (Topo) and Daniella Moreno (Adidas Terrex).
Strong finish Belzberg
With just one third to go, at High Camp, Njeru was already 2,5 minutes in front of her first chaser; Hemming, who looked to have secured second place. Behind the two Belzberg hadn’t just shaken Moreno, but also overtaken McLaughlin for third.
On the last downhill Belzberg showed she had built up her race the wisest, by overtaking Hemming. She finished in 2:12:29. The Adidas Terrex athlete did manage to hold on to third; 2:13:31. McLaughlin finished fourth in 2:14:53. All of that happened behind the back of Njeru, who won the race in 2:11:52.
Kipngeno leads from start to finish
Just like Njeru, Patrick Kipngeno started the 23 kilometres long race full of confidence, after already winning the vertical kilometre. And just like Njeru, Kipngeno opened hard. At the first checkpoint he was leading Eli Hemming (USA), the winner of last year, by a minute. Philemon Ombogo Kiriago (Kenya, Run2gether) followed 30 seconds later in third position.
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That order wouldn’t change for the rest of the race, although Hemming made up some time on the last downhill. Kipngeno stopped the clock at 1:45:37. Hemming clocked 1:47:00. Kiriago finished third in 1:50:23.
Broken Arrow was the first race of the 2024 Valsir Mountain Running World Cup. The next race is the Grossglockner Mountain Run on July 7, 2024.
Photos: Scott Rokis and Jonathan Wyatt
All results Broken Arrow 2024
