The 2024 Mountain Running World Cup finished with a pair of competitive races in northern Italy. The Saturday, October 12 vertical kilometer (VK) race and the Sunday, October 13 trail race marked the end of this year’s 12-race series that spanned seven countries.
It was a fitting end. Kenya’s Patrick Kipngeno (pre-race and post-race interviews) and Joyce Muthoni Njeru won the race, while Kipngeno and the U.K.’s Scout Adkin (pre-race and post-race interviews) won the series. Kipngeno and Adkin earned €5,000 for their world cup wins, part of a €30,000 prize purse that paid money 10 deep.
The World Mountain Running Championships happen every other year. The event was contested last year in Austria and will happen again in 2025 in Spain. Absent a world championships event in 2024, the Mountain Running World Cup Finals take on greater importance this year. The World Mountain Running Association administers both.
The Sunday, October 13 trail race was contested as part of the Val Bregaglia Trail race. The course stretched 23 kilometers long and with 850 meters of climbing and 900 meters of drop on a point-to-point course from Switzerland to Italy.
Thanks to the World Mountain Running Association for supporting iRunFar’s 2024 Mountain Running World Cup Finals coverage.
You can also check out our results article from the VK race: 2024 Mountain Running World Cup Finals VK Results: Adkin and Elia Fastest to Top.
Runners line up for the start of the Val Bregaglia Trail race, as part of the 2024 Mountain Running World Cup Finals. Photo: World Mountain Running Association/Nancy Hobbs
2024 Mountain Running World Cup Finals Trail Men’s Race
Kenya’s Josphat Kiprotich (Kenya), this year’s Sierre-Zinal fourth-placer, pushed to an early lead, but with five kilometers to go, France’s Théodore Klein was an even bigger surprise leader. The 29-year-old Klein ran Sierre-Zinal this year too, finishing 205th.
Call that a bad day, though; his better results include a third at this year’s European Off-Road Championships and a sub-30 minute 10,000-meter run as recently as 2021. Klein greatly outperformed that Sierre-Zinal result here.
France’s Théodore Klein leads the 2024 Val Bregaglia Trail at 16 kilometers into the race. He was a pace pusher all race, and ultimately finished in third. Photo: iRunFar/Sarah Brady
Series leader Patrick Kipngeno (pre-race and post-race interviews) was right with Klein though, and Kipngeno was able to pull away over the race’s closing stages. Kipngeno won the race in 1:34:03, and won the series too. He was third in yesterday’s VK race as part of the weekend double.
Kenya’s Patrick Kipngeno wins the 2024 Val Bregaglia Trail, in doing so securing his victory at the 2024 Mountain Running World Cup. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Kipngeno raced seven times in the world cup this year. He won both Broken Arrow races at the start of the season, and won the Vertical Nasego and Trofeo Nasego races in Italy too as part of the world cup. He’s currently ranked second in the Golden Trail World Series ahead of that series’s final next weekend in Switzerland.
Kenya’s Paul Machoka ran down Klein before the finish too for a silver medal 1:34:22 finish, and Klein was third in 1:34:53.
Paul Machoka runs in second early on in the 2024 Val Bregaglia Trail, the same position in which he’d ultimately finish. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Kenya placed five runners inside the top 10 and Italy three inside the top 10.
The top U.S. finisher was 12th-place Liam Meirow in 1:37:51.
2024 Mountain Running World Cup Finals Trail Men’s Results
- Patrick Kipngeno (Kenya) – 1:34:03 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- Paul Machoka (Kenya) – 1:34:22
- Théodore Klein (France) – 1:34:53
- Josphat Kiprotich (Kenya) – 1:35:24
- Ross Gollan (U.K.) – 1:35:24
- Michael Selelo Saoli (Kenya) – 1:35:26
- Michael Galassi (Italy) – 1:35:47
- Henri Aymonod (Italy) – 1:36:09
- Philemon Kiriago (Kenya) – 1:37:33 (pre-race interview)
- Luca Merli (Italy) – 1:37:34
Kenya’s Josphat Kiprotich leads the 2024 Val Bregaglia Trail early in the race. He went on to take fourth. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2024 Mountain Running World Cup Finals Trail Women’s Race
The women’s race looked a lot like so many other shorter trail races this year. Kenya’s Joyce Muthoni Njeru went to the front early and led for a lot of it. She finished in 1:47:45, just over a minute better than everyone else. It wasn’t enough to seal the series win though, as she narrowly lost out to the previous day’s winner, Scout Adkin (pre-race and post-race interviews) of the U.K.
Joyce Muthoni Njeru of Kenya celebrates a win at the 2024 Val Bregaglia Trail. In a very close Mountain Running World Cup, she took second behind world cup winner Scout Adkin. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Muthoni Njeru incredibly contested 10 of the 12 world cup races. She earned wins at both Broken Arrow races, Trofeo Nasego, and Šmarna Gora as part of her world cup season. She’s expected to race the Golden Trail World Series final next weekend in Switzerland, too.
The U.K.’s Scout Adkin running late in the 2024 Val Bregaglia Trail, on her way to third place in the race, but a win at the Mountain Running World Cup. Photo: iRunFar/Sarah Brady
Second for the second-straight day was Kenya’s Philaries Jeruto Kisang (pre-race interview). She trailed Muthoni Njeru with a 1:48:51 finish, and the VK race winner, and overall world cup winner, Adkin, was third in 1:48:58.
There were no U.S. women in the race.
Philaries Jeruto Kisang of Kenya takes second at the 2024 Val Bregaglia Trail. This finish secured her a third place finish in the Mountain Running World Cup this year. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2024 Mountain Running World Cup Finals Trail Women’s Results
- Joyce Muthoni Njeru (Kenya) – 1:47:45
- Philaries Kisang Jeruto (Kenya) – 1:48:51 (pre-race interview)
- Scout Adkin (U.K.) – 1:48:58 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- Naomi Lang (U.K.) – 1:50:07
- Susanna Saapunki (Finland, lives in Italy) – 1:52:08
- Alice Gaggi (Italy) – 1:53:00
- Beatrice Bianchi (Italy) – 1:53:36
- Madalina Ioana Amariei (Romania) – 1:54:19
- Eli Anne Dvergsdal (Italy) – 1:57:20
- Sara Willhoit (U.K.) – 1:57:37
Susanna Saapunki, a Finnish runner living in Italy, running near the lead during the 2024 Val Bregaglia Trail. She went on to take fifth. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
