“I’ll be even stronger next time!” New trail star Joyline Chepngeno sets sights on Tatra SkyMarathon

Has there ever been a better European trail race debut that Joyline Chepngeno‘s at Sierre-Zinal?

In one of the deepest women’s start lists, the Kenyan was a massive outsider.

She’d never flown to Europe before, had mostly run on the track and was only returning to the sport after taking time off to start a family.

But what unfolded in the Valois Alps in Switzerland was remarkable.

She led from the start and while others expected her to come back to the field, the opposite happened as she won by over eight minutes from Britain’s Scout Adkin, with Madalina Florea of Romania – last year’s winner of the Golden Trail World Series Grand Final – in third.

18 months to lose 30 kilos

Remarkably it’s not long ago that Joyline weighed 30kg more than she does today and talking about that in the post-race interviews, she said: “It took me a year and a half to lose 30 kilos, but I knew I had to do it and I’m so proud of this victory.”

And the scary news for her rivals is that she feels there’s room for improvement!

She explained: “It was my first race and I’m very happy to have won it. It means for the next race I’ll be even stronger!

“I’m now preparing for Poland [the Tatra SkyMarathon takes place there this weekend], and I hope to finish well in the Golden Trail Series overall ranking.”

‘A real champion’

Chepngeno is now part of Milimani Runners – billed as “the first professional Trail Running Team in Kenya” – and her team posted on their Instagram page:

“We are so proud of you Joyline 🥇😊

“You worked so hard for it
You sacrificed so much
You totally deserve it 💯

“By the grace of lord 🙏🏾
You did it 😃
You won @sierrezinal_officiel 🏆

“You are a real champion and an amazing person
We are glad to have you in the team ⛰️🇰🇪
You inspire us to keep working hard together 🫶🏾”

Adkin ‘thrilled’ with second

Given the deserved acclaim for Chepngeno, Scout Adkin’s own performance in second possibly didn’t get the attention it should have as it was a superbly-impressive display over a distance further than she’s used to racing.

The Kendal-based runner said: “It was a very long race for me. I tried to push hard in the climb but then I suffered on the flat sections which were very fast.

“I twisted my ankle around the 22-kilometre mark, I even thought I was going to get caught on the downhill, but I’m thrilled to have been able to keep this second spot.”