Kenya’s Patrick Kipngeno clinched his second medal on the last day of the inaugural World Mountain and Trail Running Championship in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Kipngeno clinched silver in the classic up and down 11.2km race which was dominated by athletes from neighbouring Uganda.
On Friday, Kipng’eno won classic uphill 8.5km race becoming the first Kenyan man to win a World Mountain Running title. His compatriot Philemon Kiriago came second in the race.
On Sunday morning, Kipngeno who entered the race as the favourite, having won six Gold Label races on the Valsir World Cup circuit this year, was beaten to second place by Uganda’s Samuel Kibet.
Kibet finished in 40:02 while Kipngeno clocked 40:12 in the tightly contested race.
Timothy Toroitich, also from Uganda, bagged the bronze medal after crossing the finishing line in 40:26. Leonard Chemonges (40:51) and Eliud Cherop (41:17) also from Uganda, finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Kenya’s other representative in the race, Philemon Kiriago, a Mountain Running World Cup runner up, did not finish the race.
In the women’s category, Joyce Njeru’s hopes for a medal went up in smoke.
Njeru, who won six Gold Label races on the Valsir World Cup circuit, finished a distant 35th, clocking 1:06:15 in the classic uphill 8.5km race. Only three athletes represented Kenya in the first-ever World Mountain and Trail Running Championships.
The championships is a collaboration between World Athletics, the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA), the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU), and the International Trail Running Association (ITRA).
Next year’s championships are planned for June 6-10 in Innsbruck -Stubai, Austria where Kenya is expected to enter a full team, according to Athletics Kenya Mountain Running coordinator Peter Angwenyi.
Angwenyi said he was impressed by the performances of the three athletes, adding that Njeru's poor showing on Sunday was understandable since she sustained an ankle injury after stepping on a stone.
“We are now focusing on next year’s Mountain Running championships across the country. We plan to have three or four events,” added Angwenyi, the AK Nyanza South chairman.
