A thriller. There is no other word to describe the Sierre-Zinal trail run race of 2024. Less than two seconds, that’s what the gap was on the finish line between Kilian Jornet and Philemon Kiriago. With Jornet as winner. Behind the two gladiators Joyline Chepngeno won the women’s race, as the great unknown.
With seven of the 31 kilometres to go, Sierre-Zinal looked like a regular Sierre-Zinal race. Kilian Jornet was leading and nothing could stop him. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth, because Philemon Kiriago had a big surprise in store for the Catalan GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).
Jornet versus the Kenyans
Directly from the start it was clear that Sierre-Zinal was going to be a battle between the Spanish Nnormal runners and the Kenyan Run2gether runners. But it wasn’t last year’s winner Philemon Kiriago, nor Patrick Kipngeno, the number two of last year, who gave Jornet the first troubles. The nine-time winner had opened hard, in an attempt to leave the Kenyans directly behind him, but Josphat Kiprotich had other plans and boldly overtook Jornet.
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At Tignousa, around kilometre 16, Jornet was trailing Kiprotich by 45 seconds. At that moment Remi Bonnet (Switzerland) and Kipngeno played leapfrog for third; two minutes and ten seconds behind the leader. Kiriago was following somewhere behind the two.
Jornet takes the lead
Knowing the course like the back of his hand, Jornet made his move just before Hotel Weisshorn, and quickly opened up a gap of 30 seconds on Kiprotich. With only eleven kilometres to go – almost all downhill – Jornet looked to be on his way to victory number 10. Especially since he is known as the best descender of all.
Behind Jornet, Kipngeno had dropped Bonnet and moved into second place, overtaking Kiprotich with just seven kilometres to go. To his surprise it wasn’t Bonnet who overtook him only minutes later, but Kiriago, who had fought his way forward from the back of the field. And the young Kenyan was on fire, because not only did he drop Kipngeno quickly, he also closed the gap on Jornet in no time.
Kiriago shows Jornet his heels
With the finish line less than three kilometres away, he eyed Kilian for a couple of hundred metres. Watching closely the path the Spaniard was choosing. Then he did, what almost nobody ever has done in the history of trail running; overtaking Kilian Jornet on the downhill and showing him his heels.
The gap grew. Ten metres, twenty metres, thirty metres. Jornet was grinding his teeth, and would later say that he was struggling with cramps. With his last bit of strength he stayed close to Kiriago and when both runners hit a very steep section of the downhill, Jornet showed his experience and squeezed past the Kenyan.
It must have been a blow for the young Run2gether runner, because Jornet ran away from him, and was the first to hit the streets of Zinal; with the victory beckoning. Kiriago was trailing by three hundred metres, but refused to give up. He gritted his teeth one more time and squeezed a last sprint out of his tired legs; closing the gap to Jornet rapidly.
The Spaniard didn’t dare to look back, didn’t dare to give a high five, but sprinted to the finish as fast as he could; hearing the breath of Kiriago behind him. In the end he made it. With only a second and a half to spare.
New course record
That final sprint, also meant a new course record; by one second; 2 hours, 25 minutes and 34 seconds. The old record, also set by Jornet in 2019, was 2:25:35. “It was a really tough race, and this 10th victory was really hard to get”, he said in his finish line interview. “For me it’s more than a tenth victory. For me it’s being able to do even better, 15 years down the line on the same race. It was very hot, but I was prepared for it Yet despite everything, I did end up cramping. On the last downhill I saw that Philemon was catching up, and I thought there’s no way I’m letting go of this victory. I gave everything and luckily I found one more gear.”
Kiriago came close, but was satisfied with his second place: “I’m proud of myself. Honestly, I didn’t think I could finish on the podium. I’m coming back from an ankle injury that’s been dragging on since the first two stages in Asia. Thanks to careful treatment I have managed to be in good enough shape for this race. If I can keep this fit, I think I can contend for the podium in the Golden Trail Series from now on.”
Patrick Kipngeno completed the men’s podium. Kiprotich held on to fourth.
The great unknown
In the women’s race Joyline Chepngeno (Milimani Runners) surprised everyone, including herself. The Kenyan athlete weighed 30 kilos more than now, a year ago, when she decided to start running again. Today she ran her first trail race and led from start to finish: “I’m very happy to have won. It means for the next race I’ll be even stronger. I’m now preparing for Poland (Tatra Sky Marathon, the next race; jk), and I hope to finish well in the Golden Trail Series overall ranking.”
Behind her the British Scout Adkin, who normally runs shorter mountain races, finished second: “It was a very long race for me. I tried to push hard on the climb but then I suffered on the flat sections which were very fast. I twisted my ankle around the 22-kilometre mark, I even thought I was going to get caught on the downhill, but I’m thrilled to have been able to keep this second spot.”
Madalina Florea completed the podium of the women’s race.
Sierre-Zinal is part of the Golden Trail World Series and the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup.
Photos GTWS / Rising Story/ Justin Galant
