It’s been Transvulcania week on La Palma in the Canary Islands and the results are in from the big three races.
Read on to find out more…
Transvulcania Uphill (7km)
The fourth stage of the 2026 WMRA Mountain Running World Cup kicked off on Thursday evening as La Palma, widely regarded as the steepest island in the world, provided an uncompromising backdrop for the competition.
A high-calibre elite field took to the start line in the Port of Tazacorte for a 7.3-kilometre course demanding 1,200 metres of vertical ascent and both the women’s and men’s course records fell to Kenyans Joyce Muthoni Njeru (Atletica Saluzzo) and Richard Omaya Atuya (Run2gether On Trail) respectively.
The two runners who set an early mark in what was a ‘time trial’ race were Kirsty Skye Dickson in the women’s with 55.37 and Tyler McCandless with 50.09 for the men. But they had a nail-biting wait to see if they could hang on to their positions.
Philemon Ombogo Kiriago and Atuya have had so many close battles in World Cup uphill races, and this was no different. Kiriago set off last, and the chase was on. Ephantus Mwangi Njeri took a chunk off McCandless’s lead, finishing in 47.39 but then Atuya reached the summit in a new record time of 45.01. Only Kiriago could beat him but he fell short for once, making do with second place in 47.33.
In the women’s race it looked as though Dickson could hang on as Ruth Mwihaki Gitonga, one of the major threats, reached the finish line in 58.00. But we still had the threat of Njeru out on the course and she showed the form we saw in the last stage of the World Cup in Changping and took the win in 55.02, a new record. Dickson maintained a strong second place, Gitonga kept third.
And both Kiriago and Gitonga would soon gain compensation…
Transvulcania Long Distance (25km)
Moving onto the weekend then and it was no surprise to see the Kenyan Run2gether On Trail trio of Richard Omaya Atuya, Philemon Ombogo Kiriago and Ephantus Mwangi Njeri striking out from the start in the men’s race. They arrived at the Canarios aid station at 7.5 kilometres just 15 seconds apart.
It also remained very close in the early stages in the women’s race, with Ruth Mwihaki Gitonga (Run2gether On Trail) taking an early lead ahead of Kirsty Skye Dickson and Joyce Muthoni Njeri.
The next timing point was at the highest point of the course at Las Deseadas at 1873 metres and Atuya reached the summit first and it became clear that he had indeed managed to open quite a gap on Kiriago and Njeri.
Unfortunately Njeri fell and sustained an injury on a small uphill after the beginning of the descent. He was helped by runners from the marathon and had to retire.
The finale of both races delivered high drama. In the men’s race Kiriago showed his dominance on the downhill, running a perfect final section, overtaking teammate Atuya and opening the smallest of gaps. Anthony Felber also overtook Atuya and pushed Kiriago all the way to the finish at El Pilar. But Kiriago couldn’t be beaten and he won in 2.07.43, a new course record, with Felber second in 2.07.47.
There was a photo finish worthy of a track race between Atuya and Linus Hultegard for third, with the runners being awarded equal third place.
The climb to the summit also proved decisive in the women’s race, with Gitonga arriving three minutes before Njeru, who had now overtaken Skye Dickson.
Gitonga showed similar level of dominance on the descent in the women’s race and also demonstrated what a rising star she is on the circuit, winning in 2.22.50, another new course record. Njeru maintained second place but didn’t manage to claw back time on Gitonga, finishing in 2.25.39. Skye Dickson held strong in third, finishing in 2.33.21
Transvulcania Ultra (72km)
It was a day for course records in the longest event of the week.
David Sinclair (Craft) took the men’s title in the Transvulcania Ultramarathon in 6:33:24.
That was a massive 19 minutes better than the previous mark.
Petter Engdahl was second in 6:41:19 while Nadir Maguet was third in 6:42:31.
There were no fewer than six men under the prior course record of 6:52 of Transvulcania legend Luis Alberto Hernando – the others being Damien Humbert, Ben Dhiman and Andreas Reiterer in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
And it was an almost identical story in the women’s race as current UTMB champion Ruth Croft’s course best of 8:02 was shattered.
Blandine L’Hirondel (Kiprun) took the title in a brilliant 7:43:47.
Lucy Bartholomew was second in 7:49:26, also well under the previous mark.
And Emelie Forsberg rounded out the podium in third in 8:14:40.
