Kenyan born Lucy Wambui Murigi edged out Sarah McCormack and Emma Clayton to win the first leg of the World Mountain Running Association World Cup at the Salomon Gore-Tex Maxi-Race, in Annecy, USA.
Murigi won the 16.5km race, which took place near Lake Annecy, yesterday. The Kenyan international built up a go ahead of more than two minutes by the central point, reaching the plateforme telepherique in 52:23.
Ireland’s Sarah McCormack, one of the favourites, who came out third behind Murigi in the 2018 World Cup, bagged a second place finish ahead of French international Iris Pessey, while Britain’s Emma Clayton sealed the top four slots.
Murigi took the lead after descending from the mountain beating McCormack who had slightly reduced her pace in the final kilometre as Murigi crossed the line clocking 1:30:27.
French international Iris Pessey seized the third position clocking 1:37:07 with her French teammate Lucille Germain finishing fourth.
“I am indeed very happy to take my first world cup for this year; the course was not that easy climbing for 9.5 kilometers and descending for at least 6 kilometers. I kept on checking at my pace so that I could finish the race on a very high note,” said Murigi.
The Kenyan international started the race as a favourite after finishing second overall in last year’s mountain climbing world cup.
The Maxi-Race involves seven races in a year with event an Annecy, marking the first Maxi-Race of the year with Murigi bagging the win in the first race of 2019 WMRA World Cup.
“My focus is now on the remaining six mountain running races and ensure I secure the first position, that means I must head back to serious training because I also have tough competitors who will also be aiming at winning the race,” added Murigi.
The 2019 WMRA World Cup circuit will now be heading to Squaw Valley in the USA, Heiligenblut in Austria, Llanberis in the UK, Sierre in Switzerland and Sesto in Italy before its ultimate conclusion in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana before the 2019 WMRA World Cup curtains roll down .
Additional reporting by IAAF
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