Ruth Gitonga Mwihaki and Michael Selelo Saoli achieved a Kenyan double at the São Brás Cross, the first WMRA Mountain Running World Cup event of the year, in Castro Daire, Portugal, on Sunday.
The São Brás Cross made an immediate impression on its World Cup debut. Classified as a classic up & down race, the 10.9km route with 628 metres of ascent was a fitting season opener for the World Cup.
In the women’s race, Great Britain’s defending World Cup champion Scout Adkin headed a breakaway group, closely followed by one of the breakout stars of last year’s World Cup, Nélie Clément of France, plus World Championships classic race runner-up Gitonga Mwihaki and Elle Twentyman, with Marie Nivet 15 seconds behind.
For the men, as expected, it was last year’s World Cup third-place finisher Selelo Saoli who set the early pace. He was joined initially by a group of nine, including Théodore Klein of France, Great Britain’s 2019 World Cup champion Andrew Douglas and Matthew Knowles, the world junior champion in 2019.
The first gaps started opening in the long uphill taking the runners to the summit at 3.5km. Adkin led Gitonga Mwihaki and Clement was 30 seconds behind them, closely followed by Twentyman, with another gap back to Martina Falchetti and Nivet. The uphill had a similar effect on the men’s race. Selelo Saoli broke away from the group to take the lead, with Douglas just 10 seconds behind and closely followed by Oscar Subuh-Symons, Klein and Knowles.
While the long uphill shook things up, it was the downhill section between kilometres four and six that proved decisive. It was here that Gitonga Mwihaki made her move and passed Adkin, and Selelo Saoli also pulled away from the chasing Douglas.
By the timing point at 7.5km, Gitonga Mwihaki had a 25-second lead over Adkin, with a 30-second gap back to Clement, who remained in third, then a minute gap back to Twentyman, with Nivet completing the women’s top five another minute behind.
At the same point for the men, Selelo Saoli had a 30-second gap back to Douglas and Klein, with a small gap back to Subuh-Symons, with Knowles slightly further back. The men’s podium was still within reach for a number of runners and it was all going to come down to the next climb, the superfast downhill and the final lung-busting uphill sprint in town to the finish.
Despite Adkin keeping the pressure on, Gitonga Mwihaki proved impossible to reel in and she took the women’s win in 49:12. Adkin was second in 50:13 and Clement claimed third in 51:20, having increased her gap to Twentyman to almost two minutes.
Selelo Saoli also couldn’t be caught and won the men’s race in 42:22, with Douglas second in 43:27. Subuh-Symons overtook Klein in the final kilometres to claim third, a major landmark in his mountain running career so far.
The World Cup now heads to China, for a double header in Beijing with an uphill race and a classic up & down race at Yanshou Trail Challenge next weekend.
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics
Leading results
Women
1 Ruth Gitonga Mwihaki (KEN) 49:12
2 Scout Adkin (GBR) 50:13
3 Nélie Clément (FRA) 51:20
4 Elle Twentyman (GBR) 53:07
5 Marie Nivet (FRA) 53:20
Men
1 Michael Selelo Saoli (KEN) 42:22
2 Andrew Douglas (GBR) 43:37
3 Oscar Subuh-Symons (GBR) 44:07
4 Théodore Klein (FRA) 44:39
5 Matthew Knowles (GBR) 45:37
