This is a preview of the 2024 race – to read more about INCREDIBLE wins for Kilian Jornet and Joyline Chepngeno just click on their names.
Sierre-Zinal is also known as the race of five 4000s (La Course des Cinq 4000), as the route takes competitors in sight of five peaks of over four thousand meters: Weisshorn, Zinalrothorn, Obergabelhorn, Matterhorn, and Dent Blanche.
It’s 31km long and with 2,200m of elevation gain, Sierre-Zinal is widely considered one of the world’s most coveted ultrarunning titles.
The first Sierre-Zinal took place in 1974 and over the years it has seen some prestigious winners, including Kilian Jornet (a record nine times) and Maude Mathys (four times), with that duo also holding the current respective course records.
In addition to its individual status, the race is both a stop on the Golden Trail World Series and a Gold Label Race for the WMRA Mountain Running World Cup.
Here’s everything you need to know, including two incredible start lists…
The main elite events get under way at 11:00am on Saturday 10 August.
Live tracking for the race is available HERE.
And you can watch the whole race live without leaving this page via the embed below.
Sierre-Zinal
start list
The full start lists for both the men’s and women’s races are here – and what stellar line-ups they are!
Take a look a little lower down as we highlight some of the star names in our analysis section…
Notable runners
Route
In the heart of the Valais Alps, the 31km course tests the mettle of some of the world’s greatest trail runners.
Beginning in Sierre, runners face a steady climb in the early stages of the race as thy pass through Beauregard and Ponchette before reaching Chandolin – a climb of 1,420m to the mid-point of the race.
A further, shallower climb takes competitors through Tignousa and Hotel Weisshorn before the course peaks at Nava, which has an altitude of 2,424m.
That comes 85% of the way through the course, with the remaining 15% of the course taking athletes on a steep descent down to Zinal.
These final salvos take them to Barneuza, from which there is a final frantic 535m of descent to the finish line in Zinal.
Check out the 3D video of the route below for a different perspective…
Analysis
In the women’s race all of last year’s top five runners return, headed by Sophia Laukli (Salomon).
She had an incredible run to win here last year but was injured at the start of this season. Her fourth place at Marathon du Mont Blanc at the end of June suggests that she is recovering well and that was underlined in our pre-race preview piece with her – she says this will be her “real comeback”.
Joyce Muthoni Njeru (Atletica Saluzzo) was second here this year and is having a strong World Cup with two wins at Broken Arrow as well as the Four Sisters Mountain race on the GTWS.
Philaries Jeruto Kisang (Run2gether) completed the women’s podium here last year and we’ve also seen her on World Cup podiums this year at Grossglockner, Montemuro and La Montee du Nid d’Aigle.
In fourth place last year was Miao Yao (Salomon), who, with a recent third place at Mont Blanc
Marathon, is strong on these longer races. Alice Gaggi (Brooks) rounded out last year’s top five and
finished sixth at Giir di Mont two weeks ago.
![The top five women at Sierre-Zinal in 2023 [Photo credit: Marco Gulberti/WMRA]](https://run247.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2023-top-5-women-Sierre-Zinal-2023.jpg)
Maude Mathys (Asics Trail) on the start line. However she announced on Wednesday that she is still plagued by pain in the back of her thigh and will now NOT take part.
Scout Adkin (HOKA) will be strongly fancied after her recent wins at La Montee du Nid d’Aigle and Montemuro Vertical run.
Americans Anna Gibson (Brooks) and Allie Ostrander (NNormal) will also be ones to watch, as will Camilla Magliano (Altra), who won the recent Eiger E35, Madalina Florea (Salomon) and Judith Wyder (HOKA) in what is an incredibly deep women’s field.
For the men, he may not be defending champion, having missed last year’s race (and come
fourth in 2022), but it’s hard to bet against the nine-time winner, Kilian Jornet (NNormal).
However, Philemon Kiriago (Run2gether) will not be giving up his crown easily and is currently leading the 2024 men’s WMRA World Cup competition – here’s what he told us about his chances.
The men’s runner-up last year was Patrick Kipngeno (Run2gether) and he will also be back to try to go one better, after winning the first two GTWS races in 2024, followed by both the VK and the Skyrace at Broken Arrow.
Another Swiss runner who could well feature is Rémi Bonnet (Salomon). He has finished in the top 10
here several times, with a third place in 2020, and has a string of high profile podiums on his running
CV – he now just needs to “break his Sierre-Zinal jinx”!
Previous winners
Kilian Jornet has dominated Sierre-Zinal in recent years, with a record nine wins since 2009. He set a course record of 2:25:35 in 2019.
Maude Mathys, who was a late withdrawal from this year’s race, has the women’s record with a time of 2:46:03, set when she won the 2021 race.
The current men’s champion is Kenya’s Philemon Kiriago, with American star Sophia Luakli winning the women’s title.
Men’s winners
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- 2009 Kilian Jornet (Spain)
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- 2010 Kilian Jornet (Spain)
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- 2011 Marco De Gasperi (Italy)
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- 2012 Marco De Gasperi (Italy)
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- 2013 Marc Lauenstein (Switzerland)
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- 2014 Kilian Jornet (Spain)
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- 2015 Kilian Jornet (Spain)
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- 2016 Petro Mamu (Eritrea)
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- 2017 Kilian Jornet (Spain)
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- 2018 Kilian Jornet (Spain)
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- 2019 Kilian Jornet (Spain)
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- 2020 Kilian Jornet (Spain)
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- 2021 Kilian Jornet (Spain)
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- 2022 Andreu Blanes Reig (Spain)
Women’s winners
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- 2009 Anna Pichrtova (Czech Republic)
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- 2010 Megan Lund (USA)
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- 2011 Oiha Kortazar Aranzeta (Spain)
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- 2012 Aline Camboulives (France)
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- 2013 Italy Elisa Desco (Italy)
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- 2014 Stevie Kremer (USA)
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- 2015 Lucy Wambui Murigi (Kenya)
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- 2016 Michelle Maier (Germany)
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- 2017 Lucy Wambui Murigi (Kenya)
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- 2018 Lucy Wambui Murigi (Kenya)
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- 2019 Maude Mathys (Switzerland)
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- 2020 Maude Mathys (Switzerland)
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- 2021 Maude Mathys (Switzerland)
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- 2022 Maude Mathys (Switzerland) NOTE: Esther Chesang (Kenya) was stripped of her title
Past winners
Tab 2 content.
![Katharina Hartmuth at the Tor des Géants [Photo credit: Tor des Géants press office | Stefano Coletta - Zzam Agency]](https://run247.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Katharina-Hartmuth-Tor-des-Geants-2024-912x720.jpg)
