PIZTRIVERTICAL | Sportdimontagna.com

Almost 200 athletes competing on the starting line in Moscio (820 m) this morning gave their all to climb the vertical wall towards Malga Campél at 1820 m, which, never as crowded as this year, has gathered a enthusiastic and inspiring audience waiting to applaud the champions. And Andrea Mayr and Patrick Kipngeno arrived crossing the finish line with the best times ever and, confirming the predictions, they won the highest place on the podium of this special edition of PizTriVertical, the “solo up” test of the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup 2023, which with a 4.3 km route and 1000 m D+ opens the US Malonno sixtieth anniversary races. The Austrian lowers the record she always set in 2019 by seven seconds and finishes with 37’13”, while the Kenyan beats Andrea Rostan’s previous one from 2022 by almost a minute and a half and takes home the best time ever , almost science fiction, of 32’03”.

Both the women’s and men’s competitions gave life to a more unique than rare show, bringing together the best top runners in the world, gathered here after the recent World Championships in Innsbruck and the Broken Arow (Vertical and Skyrace) and Montemuro Vertical Run stages of the World Cup. Malonno is confirmed as the country of mountain running and underlines the importance of its historic routes, the PizTri and the FlettaTRAIL, crowned as unmissable events in the discipline. And invariably today the PizTriVERTICAL has given emotions to both those who competed and those who assisted along the way, especially in the last stretch, i.e. the wall of the last 100 meters, now an iconic and recognized image of this race.

The women’s start at 9.00 saw Philaries Kisang in the lead in the first stretch, more passable, perhaps a kind concession granted to her by the queen of the race Andrea Mayr, who knows this area and the route well, where she won six times today with the ‘gold seamlessly, and knows it has to keep up for the next steep stretches. And in fact already at the first detection the Austrian had taken the lead with a 10″ gap on Kisang, a gap which she will then maintain (+36″ at the second detection) and will increase throughout the race by pushing her legs to the maximum until the end, where she arrives triumphant by beating his latest record with 37’13”, anticipated on the trail only by his most faithful and inseparable four-legged friend. The welcome at Malga Campèl is for her, 7 times world champion, triumphal: a very large public that continues to repeat her name to the bitter end ringing cowbells and a breath-taking panorama, “an open balcony on Val Camonica”, for mention Paolo Germanetto, coach of the Italian national team and exceptional live commentator on PizTri. Second as expected the British Scout Adkin in 38’59 “and third of her Philaries Kisang closes after her with 39’49”. A podium level all under 40 minutes, but very little above this watershed the results of all the other great interpreters present to embellish this sixtieth anniversary, among these sixth the hostess and already queen of PizTri in 2016 Valentina Belotti (41 ‘ 53”) and seventh Vivian Bonzi(42’58”).

The moment for the men athletes arrives at 9.30 where the shot launches the group of 109 aggressive participants to climb after a short stretch in the woods after Moscio on the Malonnese mountain PizTri, where the Kenyan Patrick Kipngeno, 2022 and 2023 uphill world champion and World Cup 2022, leaves no room for anyone and rules the entire race from the very first steps. Elegance, power and rhythm accompany him up to the final climb where he takes home the incredible record of 32’03”, best time ever. He is followed by the up&down silver at the recent world championships, his teammate (Runtogether) Ombogo Kiriago Philemon with 34’04”, and third place for the British Joe Steward, eighth at the world championships, who finishes here with 34’35”. The holder of the previous record, Andrea Rostan of Athletics Saluzzo, is the first of the Italians to cross the finish line and fourth with 34’50”, but the whole group has always remained compact both during the course and at the finish, to show how much the most important athletes have engaged in a hard fight between them and thus maintaining very close gaps: Abraham Filimon (35’”02”), Sylvain Cachard (35’18”), Andrea Elia (35’22”), Luciano Rota (35’51”), Henri Aymonod (36’01”), Tiziano Moia (36’07”), Alex Baldaccini (36’13”).