Joyce Njeru and Elhousine Elazzaoui each go into the final of the Golden Trail World Series with the maximum of 600 points. Both trail runners do so, thanks to their victory at Mammoth Trailfest in the United States of America.
Patrick Kipngeno had hoped to be the one going into the final with 600 points instead of Elazzaoui. To be able to beat the Moroccan Nnormal runner Kipngeno devised a plan with his Run2gether team mate Kiriago. His Kenyan compatriot was supposed to make the race hard from the start. Kipngeno would follow and shake off his opponents in the second half of the race.
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Sprint finish
The plan almost worked. Almost, because no matter what Kipngeno tried, he couldn’t shake of Elazzaoui. To be fair the other way around didn’t work as well. The Moroccan winner of Headlands tried several times to get rid of Kipngeno, but after every acceleration from Elazzaoui, the Kenyan fought back. Side by side the two athletes sprinted to the finish. Elazzaoui took the bridge into town best, Kipngeno came alongside, Elazzaoui closed the door and won by a hair’s length.
After lying on the floor for minutes, exhausted, Elazzaoui stammered: “I wanted to try a new strategy, so I attacked several times. But Patrick was very strong, and he caught up with me each time. I tried again in the downhill, but he caught up with me again. But I won in the end, so I’m really happy.”
The biggest victim of the battle between Elazzaoui and Kipngeno was Remi Bonnet, last year’s winner of Mammoth Trail Fest and outgoing Golden Trail champion. It hasn’t been Bonnet’s season so far and the Swiss trail runner needed a win to have a chance to defend his title during the final. But just like at Headlands Bonnet finished fourth. This time behind Kiriago, who despite sacrificing himself at the beginning still finished third.
Njeru too strong for the rest
In the women’s race it was clear from the start that Joyce Njeru was the strongest. The Kenyan Atletica Saluzzo athlete took the lead on the first climb of the day and never looked back. She finished in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 56 seconds. “At the start of the race, I wasn’t feeling that great, especially due to the altitude. But from the kilometre 2 mark I started slowly feeling better and then I could attack on the climb and keep the lead to the finish. I’m thrilled with this victory, and I can’t wait for the final.”
The only one who could follow her was Madalina Florea, but also the Romanian trail runner lost ground metre by metre. At the finish, which she crossed after a little ballet dance, she was 3 minutes behind Njeru. “To be honest, considering how I felt before the start, I’m very pleased with this second place, but I must admit I’m getting a bit fed up with coming in second and third. Let’s see if I can change that in the final.”
Gibson vs Drake
Florea will go into that final as the number two of the general standing; 36 points behind Njeru. Which is a small margin, because there are 400 points to be earned in the final weekend: 100 in the prologue, 300 in the final race.
The most interesting battle happened behind Njeru and Florea, where Rachel Drake and Anna Gibson were fighting for third. It was Drake’s for a while, then Gibson’s, Drake’s again and so on. In the end it was Gibson who grabbed it, beating Drake, the winner of Black Canyon, by only 37 seconds: “I tried to hold back in the first few kilometres. I knew that the altitude would take its toll on some of the girls, and I didn’t want to be one of them. So, I found my pace and started to push a little more once we arrived on the ridge. I managed to catch up to Rachel and it was really in the final kilometres that I managed to break away from her to get a podium finish.”
Photo Rising Story / Mathis Decroux
All results Mammoth Trail Fest 2024 here.
