Kipngeno wins on the Great Wall, six for six in Asia; Gitonga comes from two minutes down

The last Golden Trail race before the final was run on Sunday at Jinshanling, in the Yan Mountains a couple of hours from Beijing, where the course climbs onto one of the best-preserved stretches of the Great Wall. It is 24 km with 1,889 m of ascent: more than a thousand uneven steps at gradients over 35 percent, then a second half of sandy climbs and descents.

Joey Hadorn led across the Wall, with Philemon Kiriago and Patrick Kipngeno about two minutes behind and in no hurry. Kiriago took the uphill and sprint segments and their bonus points; by the downhill at 15.8 km the gap was 30 seconds. When the gradient turned up again in the closing kilometres Kipngeno went alone and won in 2:12:30, 30 seconds quicker than his 2025 time here. Kiriago was second, 1:54 back, and Hadorn third at 3:12, the same podium as last year. Kipngeno has now won all six Golden Trail races held in Asia in the last three seasons. Kiriago takes 870 points into the Grand Final at Muju in South Korea on 24 and 25 October, ahead of Kipngeno on 830 and Elhousine Elazzaoui on 824.

Hanna Gröber, a week after winning in Japan, led the women's race with Caroline Kimutai, last year's winner here. Ruth Gitonga, two minutes down, ran the second half as she had failed to in Myoko, caught Kimutai on the climbs, then Gröber, and won in 2:39:47, her first series victory. Gröber held on for second, 1:26 behind, and Kimutai was third. Madalina Florea still leads the standings on 872 points, 66 ahead of Kimutai, with Gitonga third.

Steps built to stop armies, run in two hours twelve. The Wall lost again.

Sources: Golden Trail World Series; Golden Trail World Series; iRunFar.