The African fund has shown in 2024 that runners without the level to compete among the best on asphalt have a place in the mountains. And its imposing rhythm is not exempt from the ability to overcome broken stones, roots and mud. The first victory of the continent in a general of the Golden Trail Series came twice: the Moroccan Elhousine Elazzaoui and the Kenyan Joyce Njeru confirmed their dominance in the Swiss final in Locarno, a route of about 24 kilometers and 1,500 meters of paradigmatic positive slope of the fastest circuit in the world.
The clouds hide the beauty of Locarno, its alpine lake formed in the last ice age that connects with northern Italy, its dominant culture, from the language to the pizzerias. To get to Cardada, your undiscovered paradise, you have to take a funicular and a cable car to go up from 200 to 1,350 meters above sea level. A balcony with privileged views that has hosted cultural events in a place with international fame for its film festival and which has been joined by nature lovers with low heart rates: walks, no running. The city has embraced outdoor sports after the pandemic to extend its tourism beyond the period between March and October. And the Golden finals offered a global window.
A week that began on Thursday with the women’s prologue – about seven kilometers and 400 meters of positive gradient – and its spectacular descent under the chairlift. Time trial format for an agonizing race – some runner doubted after doing the first kilometer in three minutes if he was going fast enough – that leads to a muddy slope of 630 meters at 33.2%, a spectacular straight line visible from the finish line. The girls had to sense them through the fog; The boys finally shone the sun on Friday afternoon and cleared the view of the spectators. The two overall winners strengthened their leadership with victories in the prologue, leaving the title in their pockets barring a debacle in the final race of the weekend.
But Joyline Chepngeno was missing, the Kenyan who won Sierre-Zinal, the cathedral of trail running, in her first mountain race, Njeru’s only failure all season. As he only reached the final with those points – the three best results of a calendar with seven races count – he took advantage of the fact that he was not competing in the general classification to skip the prologue and leave with renewed legs on Saturday while the quads of his rivals cried. He left alone, ahead of Njeru by 1m13s on the first summit. But his compatriot left the general calculator behind, launched into a wild descent, passed her and made a bad gesture with his left ankle that almost cost him the 20,000 euros for first place.
Whether it was because of that slight limp or because she had fewer legs, Chepngeno left and reached the finish line so well that she sprinted again after passing the tape in 2h08m39s. Lauren Gregory, the American breakout at the end of the season who ran with an extra e on her number, made sure that this will be the last time someone misspells it with her second place, 4m20s behind, beating Njeru, happy with his crown . Like Judith Wyder, who showed off her capacity for suffering after an ugly fall to finish fourth and repeat second place overall after the collapse of Madelina Florea, one of the many victims of a route full of roots and stones hidden among the dry leaves. of autumn. This is how Malen Osa maintained his third place overall after a difficult weekend: cramps in the prologue and eighth on Saturday. Sara Alonso closed the circle after the pneumonia that frustrated her dream in Zegama with a fifth place and tenth overall. Alain Santamaría – tenth in the final and ninth overall – completes the list of Spaniards in the top-10.
The final is not only the last fight between the elite, but also the prize of the National Series, with representatives from twenty countries winning their ticket in their territories. Exploits like that of the Mexican Jael Morales, fourteenth in the final after stunning Anna Gibson, fifth overall, with her downhill skills after picking up the bottle that Osa dropped and reaching her to hand it to her. A gesture that defines the winner of the second step: this is how the door to the elite is knocked down.
Fate punished the men’s race by peppering the Cardada traps with rain: wet stone, double fun on a flower format circuit that allows up to five steps through the finish area, a consolation and torture at the same time: slopes that oscillate between 10 and 20% with a final thrust. The gentle climb of the prologue, a consolation after more than 20 kilometers in the bag, is interrupted with a turn to the right for a wall that mortals crawl and that the male leader of the race avoids with an elegant short stride.
Elazzaoui applied the same medicine there to Rémi Bonnet, the best climber in the world whom he can withstand climbing this year, as when he beat him in San Francisco or in the Mont Blanc Marathon: he wheeled to the top to launch himself headlong on the final descent, that muddy slide that I had already flown down on Friday in the dry. He didn’t need it to take the overall, but he had the pleasure of winning with a time of 1h 50m18s, 38s faster than the Swiss, who thwarted the African podium in the general standings, rising to third place, behind the Kenyan Patrick Kipngeno, second, and ahead of his compatriot Philemon Kiriago, fourth. It was the icing on the cake for a continent that also dominates the mountains.
