Joyce Njeru became the first African woman to win the overall title in the Golden Trail World Series after finishing a brave third in the Grand Final in Ascona-Locarno, Switzerland, behind her fellow Kenyan Joyline Chepngeno.
The remarkable story of Chepngeno – who lost 30 kilos by running 40km a day for a year – continued as she made it two wins in two trail races following her fairytale victory at Sierre-Zinal.
But it many ways it was really about Njeru who went into the race in pole position having extended her relatively narrow lead in the standings by winning Thursday’s prologue.
Madalina Florea (ROM) needed to finish three places ahead to overhaul her and midway through the 23.5km race that suddenly looked a possibility after Njeru appeared to roll her ankle.
But she battled on brilliantly and in the end it was Lauren Gregory (USA) who came through for second place, with third more than enough for Njeru to take the title.
Former champion Judith Wyder (SUI) was fourth, Sara Alonso (SPA) fifth and last year’s champion Sophia Laukli (USA) sixth.
Read on to find out how the race played out…
Ankle anxiety
The “flower format” route contained 1,400 metres of climbing and it was Chepngeno who made a statement start to show her Sierre-Zinal triumph was no fluke.
Njeru was the only one who could keep her in range and the pattern was set early on as Chepngeno bossed the climbs before Njeru closed on the descents.
Approaching the halfway mark they were almost together and it was nearly three minutes back to Florea in third – though as the Romanian was part of a small group, any let up from Njeru could prove costly.
And the big scare came at that point when Njeru’s left ankle left her crying out in pain.
However she was able to continue and – more than that – began to close right up again on Chepngeno.
However the final, brutal climb settled the race as Chepngeno put more than three minutes into Njeru who was reduced to a walk on the steepest slopes near the top.
And Gregory closed dramatically too, so much so that on the final descent she would ease past into second.
The last lap was a short 1.3km burst and that was how the placings remained – Chepngeo taking the win in a time of 2:08:39, four minutes and 20 seconds ahead of Gregory, with a further 30 seconds back to Njeru who was able to high five her way to the line as she celebrated her title.
History maker
“This is amazing, I’m finally the winner,” Njeru said afterwards.
“I’m not disappointed that I didn’t win the final, everything was going fine, but I twisted my ankle halfway through the race and it became very complicated. But it doesn’t matter today, I’m just over the moon!
“This wasn’t my expectation or motivation this year – I just wanted to compete in the Golden Trail World Series and see how it would go and yet here I am at the top of the rankings!
“And to be the first woman from Africa to win the World Series means a lot and it’s a big progression for me in terms of my career.”
Chepngeno meanwhile revealed: “I wasn’t expecting to win this race because I’ve been suffering from a knee problem for several weeks, but I managed to get back into shape for the final.
“I’m thrilled because I showed what I could do at Sierre-Zinal but I haven’t been able to prove it again until now by winning the final. I really hope I can do the whole Series next year!”
And there was delight too for Gregory, who said: “I had a blast on this race course, especially on the technical parts. I love this type of downhill and I managed to catch Joyce in the final loop to go neck and neck for second place.
“I’m definitely coming back to the Golden Trail Series next year, so I’ll be choosing my races carefully to go for the more technical ones, even if I’ve already ticked Sierre-Zinal 2025 on my calendar.”
GTWS Grand Final results, Ascona-Locarno – Elite Women
Saturday 19 October 2024, 23.5km
- Joyline Chepngeno (KEN) -2:08:39
- Lauren Gregory (USA) – 2:13:00
- Joyce Njeru (KEN) – 2:13:30
- Judith Wyder (SUI) – 2:13:57
- Sara Alonso (SPA) – 2:14:07
