Philemon Kiriago leads men's Mountain Running World Cup standings after dominant exploits in Casto

Philemon Kiriago was a comfortable winner of the men’s race at the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup race in Casto on Sunday, September 3.

Kiriago’s win now makes him lead the men’s World Cup standings from his compatriot Patrick Kipng’eno who has been leading for the longest time with his dominant wins.

Kiriago has accumulated 250 points while Kipng’eno has 230 points. In the women’s standings, Joyce Muthoni has a comfortable 58-point lead with 248 points.

Meanwhile, the men’s held on a relatively fast and runnable course over 21km and it featured many of the athletes who had contested the Vertical Nasego just 24 hours prior, including the two eventual winners.

As reported by World Athletics, USA’s Christian Allen, a 28:36 performer over 10km, took the men’s race out from the gun, with Kiriago on his heels and a chasing pack just behind.

By 4km, Kiriago had established a five-second lead over Allen. Behind the duo, Kipng’eno lay 18 seconds back.

By 11km, just before the big climb, Kiriago still held the lead. Kiriago kept going and opened up a leading margin of about a minute on the descent.

Kipngeno chased hard but Kiriago proved too strong, eventually winning in 1:31:00 with Kipngeno clocking 1:31:45 for second and Allen placing third (1:32:33).

The women’s race saw Madalina Florea of Romania take control in the early stages alongside Muthoni.

By 4km, Florea had opened a gap of 15 seconds on the chase pack, which was being led by Philaries Kisang.

At 11km, Florea had a one-minute lead over Muthoni with Kisang and Andrea Mayr trailing behind. Mayr climbed strongly and reduced the gap on Florea before eventually passing her. Muthoni and Kisang were close behind as the lead quintet began their descent.

Mayr eventually won in 1:46:06 as Florea was second in 1:46:52 while Muthoni completed the podium in 1:48:33.