It’s nearly right here! The 2025 World Mountain and Path Working Championships kick off Thursday, September 25, in Canfranc, Spain, with the World Mountain Working Championships (WMRC) Uphill race. The lads begin at 10:00 a.m. CEST, and the ladies an hour later.
Thanks a lot to The North Face for sponsoring iRunFar’s protection of the 2025 World Mountain and Path Working Championships!
The all-uphill climb is 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) in distance, with a gentle 990 meters (3,248 ft) of elevation acquire. That is the occasion’s solely race that doesn’t begin from the Canfranc Worldwide Railway Station. As an alternative, it begins two kilometers north on the Resort Santa Cristina. The course climbs by a black pine forest to a end excessive on Larraca Mountain within the Spanish Pyrenees.
Following the 2022 occasion in Thailand (which was delayed a 12 months because of COVID-19) and the 2023 occasion in Austria, that is the third time that the World Mountain and Path Working Championships have come collectively below a standard umbrella, combining the Uphill and Up and Down races of the WMRC and the Lengthy Path and Quick Path races of the Path World Championships. The merging has definitely added to the occasion’s status.
Runners from 49 international locations will participate within the males’s race, and the ladies’s race has 44 totally different international locations represented. There’s a 24,000 Euro prize purse between the boys’s and ladies’s races, with 5,000 Euro to the winners and money payouts by fifth place.
To see extra of who’s racing, take a look at the entire begin record for all the occasions.
Along with our pre- and post-race protection, we’ll present some race-day protection, each liveblogging right here on the web site and throughout our social media.
The 2023 World Mountain Working Championships Uphill race males’s podium (left-to-right): 2. Levi Kiprotich, 1. Patrick Kipngeno, 3. Josphat Kiprotich. Kipngeno returns in 2025. Picture: Marco Gulberti
2025 World Mountain Working Championships Uphill Males’s Preview
Podium Potential Males
Name it a three-peat, or name it a hat trick, Kenya’s Patrick Kipngeno goes for it. Kipngeno’s already a double world champion. He gained the WMRC Uphill race in 2022 in Thailand and gained once more in 2023 in Austria. He additionally gained Golden Path World Sequence races in Japan and China at the beginning of this 12 months, and most lately was second at Sierre-Zinal in August. A 3rd win on the world championships would cement his standing as one of many world’s greatest climbers ever.
Patrick Kipngeno, 2023 WMRC Uphill race winner. Picture: iRunFar/Sarah Brady
Solely three months after Patrick Kipngeno gained his world title in 2023, Switzerland’s Rémi Bonnet beat him on the Pikes Peak Ascent in Colorado, after which Bonnet outclimbed him, in addition to many different of the world’s greatest climbers, on his technique to victory every week later on the 2023 Mammoth Path Fest 23k. Bonnet wasn’t at both of the sooner world championships, and so this was an enormous blow to Kipngeno’s standing because the world’s greatest uphiller. That was two years in the past although, and Bonnet hasn’t reached these ranges since. Bonnet began 2025 with a shock Thirty first-place end on the Il Golfo dell’Isola Golden Path World Sequence race after which shut the season down with damage. He hasn’t raced since, and his social media shared that he was nonetheless solely biking in early August. If Bonnet makes the beginning line, can he be near world-class kind so quickly into his comeback?
Rémi Bonnet successful the 2023 Pikes Peak Ascent and setting a brand new course document. Picture: Golden Path Sequence | Pikes Peak Ascent | The Journey Bakery
Rémi Bonnet’s outclimbed Patrick Kipngeno earlier than, and so too has Italy’s Andrea Elia. The uphill all-star gained final 12 months’s Mountain Working World Cup Finals VK in Italy, in a race the place Kipngeno was third. Extra lately, Elia was third at this 12 months’s Vertical Nasego in Italy in Could. He was, although, solely nineteenth at 2023 WMRC Uphill race.
Italy’s Andrea Elia, the 2024 Mountain Working World Cup Finals VK champion. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Uganda’s Eliud Cherop was fourth on the 2023 WMRC Uphill, however that was practically two full minutes behind winner Patrick Kipngeno. Cherop was second at this 12 months’s Ugandan Nationwide Mountain and Path Working Championships Uphill race, and he ran 29:31 for the ten,000 meters on the monitor on the Ugandan Nationwide Championships earlier this summer season too.
Joseph Grey of the U.S. has been right here earlier than, many instances. He’s a two-time world champion, having gained the WMRC Up and Down course in 2019 and the WMRC Uphill in 2016. Grey was fifth on the WMRC Uphill in 2023 and sixth in 2022, too. At age 41, Grey continues to be on the entrance of many fields, together with putting second on the 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent — which was the U.S. choice race for the WMRC Uphill — and can also be prone to be the quickest masters runner within the race.
Joseph Grey, first U.S. male within the 2023 WMRC Uphill race. Picture: iRunFar/Sarah Brady
Joseph Grey was overwhelmed on the 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent by Christian Allen, who’s a 2:10 marathoner and has been actually up and down on the paths. He’s performed effectively within the U.S. however struggled when racing in Europe. Within the U.S., he gained each the 2024 USATF 10k and Half Marathon Path Nationwide Championships, however he was simply twenty first at Sierre-Zinal, fifteenth on the Pitz Alpine 23k, which is a part of the Golden Path World Sequence, and dropped on the Val d’Aran 50k, all earlier this summer season.
Christian Allen on his technique to a win and spot on Workforce USA for the 2025 WMRC Uphill on the 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent. Picture: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Extra Males to Watch
Richard Omaya Atuya (Kenya) – 1st 2025 Vauban Mountain Path Uphill; 1st 2025 Vertical Nasego; 1st 2024 Mountain Working World Cup Finals VK
Johan Bugge (Norway) – twenty first 2023 & eleventh 2022 WMRC Uphill; seventeenth 2023 & forty fifth 2022 WMRC Up and Down
Samuel Cherop (Uganda) – Has run 13:29 for 5k on the highway in 2025
Xavier Chevrier (Italy) – ninth 2023 WMRC Up and Down; eighth 2022 WMRC Uphill
Lukas Ehrle (Germany) – fifth 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k
Alex García (Spain) – third 2022 WMRC Uphill; 14th 2025 & twelfth 2024 Sierre-Zinal
Zak Hanna (Eire) – fifth 2022 WMRC Uphill
Isaac Kibet (Uganda) – 1st 2025 Ugandan Nationwide Mountain and Path Working Championships Uphill
Alex Kiplangat (Uganda) – third 2025 Ugandan Nationwide Mountain and Path Working Championships Uphill
Théodore Klein (France) – third 2024 Mountain Working World Cup Finals Path Race; twentieth 2023 WMRC Uphill; tenth 2025 Vertical Nasego
Remi Leroux (Canada) – twenty fifth 2023 & 14th 2022 WMRC Uphill; sixth 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent; 4th 2025 & 2nd 2024 Mount Washington Highway Race
Quentin Meyleu (France) – 18th 2023 WMRC Uphill; seventh 2025 Vauban Mountain Path Uphill; seventh 2025 Vertical Naego
Emmanuel Meyssat (France) – sixteenth 2023 WMRC Uphill; fifteenth 2023 WMRC Up and Down; fifth 2025 Vauban Mountain Path Uphill
Julius Ott (Germany) – thirteenth 2023 WMRC Uphill; eleventh 2023 WMRC Up and Down
Alexandre Ricard (Canada) – 1st 2025 Mount Washington Highway Race; seventeenth 2023 & tenth 2022 WMRC Uphill; 1st 2024 Canadian Mountain Working Championships Uphill
Dominik Rolli (Switzerland) – eleventh 2023 WMRC Uphill; seventh 2025 & tenth 2022 Sierre-Zinal; seventh 2025 Pitz Alpine 23k
Andrea Rostan (Italy) – 14th 2023 WMRC Uphill; 4th 2025 Vertical Nasego
Cam Smith (U.S.) – twentieth 2022 WMRC Uphill; third 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent
Jonas Soldini (Switzerland) – twenty fourth 2023 & twelfth 2022 WMRC Uphill
Richard Omaya Atuya, the 2025 Giir di Mont Uphill males’s winner. Picture: World Mountain Working Affiliation/@marcogulberti_photography
2025 World Mountain Working Championships Uphill Girls’s Preview
Potential Podium Girls
Kenya’s Philaries Kisang gained an WMRC Uphill silver medal in Austria in 2023, and he or she is the highest returning lady. Uphill legend Andrea Mayr from Austria, the 2023 champion, is not going to defend her crown. Kisang has continued to shine in uphill races. She gained this 12 months’s Vertical Nasego race, in addition to the Trofeo Nasego, and was second on the 2024 Mountain Working World Cup Finals VK.
Philaries Kisang on her technique to second on the 2023 WMRC Uphill. Picture: iRunFar/Sarah Brady
Scout Adkin from Nice Britain gained the 2025 and 2024 Mountain Working World Cup sequence, and has gained Uphill races within the course of. She skipped the 2025 Mountain Working World Cup Finals in August due to damage. If wholesome, Adkin may enhance on her 2023 WMRC Uphill eighth-place end. Adkin was eleventh on this identical race in 2022 in Thailand. In 2024, she gained the Mountain Working World Cup Finals VK forward of Philaries Kisang.
Scout Adkin, the 2025 Giir di Mont Uphill ladies’s winner. Picture: World Mountain Working Affiliation/@marcogulberti_photography
Italy’s Francesca Ghelfi excels in Mountain Working World Cup uphill races too. Scout Adkin edged Ghelfi to win this 12 months’s Giir di Mont Uphill in Italy, and Philaries Kisang beat each of them on the Vertical Nasego race the place Ghelfi positioned third. Ghelfi was this 12 months’s uphill nationwide champion for Italy. She was, although, solely 18th on the 2023 WMRC Uphill race.
It’s from the World Athletics Championships to the World Mountain Working Championships for Kenya’s Janeth Chepngetich. Within the 10,000-meter monitor race in Tokyo, Japan, on September 13, Chepngetich didn’t end. Her social media pointed to potential damage. For what it’s price, Chepngetich’s 29:55 10,000-meter highway greatest from 2024 is probably going one of the best of the sector. Earlier this 12 months, she gained the Tindiret Barng’etuny Mountain Run in Kenya, a 14k mountain race, which we expect is what certified her for this staff.
We would not but know what we’re going to get from Janeth Chepngetich then, however Switzerland’s Maude Mathys is near a positive guess. Third at this 12 months’s OCC, third at this 12 months’s Sierre-Zinal, and third on the 2021 WMRC Uphill race, Mathys is all the time across the podium.
Maude Mathys climbing her technique to victory on the 2024 Kobe Path. Picture: Golden Path Sequence/Kobe Path/Justin Galant
In April, Germany’s Laura Hottenrott ran 2:26 on the Düsseldorf Marathon. That’s under no circumstances uphill, however she was fourth on the 2023 WMRC Uphill and fifth at this 12 months’s Sierre-Zinal race.
American Anna Gibson is a rising star who may put collectively a podium problem. Gibson’s performed effectively at aggressive races within the U.S., together with successful the Damaged Arrow Ascent and putting third on the 23k, however she has not but gained internationally. She was eighth at this 12 months’s Sierre-Zinal and sixth in 2024, and eleventh on the 2025 Zegama Marathon.
Anna Gibson, the 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent ladies’s champion. Picture: Damaged Arrow Skyrace/Howie Stern
Allie McLaughlin of the U.S. gained the 2022 WMRC Uphill and positioned thirteenth on the occasion in 2023. McLaughlin gained the 2024 USATF Half Marathon Path Nationwide Championships and was third on the 2024 Damaged Arrow Ascent.
Allie McLaughlin, 2022 WMRC Uphill Champion. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Extra Girls to Watch
Jade Belzberg (Canada) – twenty seventh 2023 WMRC Uphill; third 2025, 2nd 2024, & fifth 2022 Damaged Arrow Ascent
Anne-Marie Comeau (Canada) – 4th 2023 WMRC Uphill; seventeenth 2023 WMRC Up and Down; third 2025 Mount Washington Highway Race
Emma Prepare dinner-Clarke (Canada) – 2nd 2025 Speedgoat 50k; 2nd 2022 Damaged Arrow Ascent
Christel Dewalle (France) – sixth 2023 & eighth 2022 WMRC Uphill
Naiara Irigoyen (Spain) – 1st 2024 Skyrunning World Championships Vertical
Onditz Iturbe (Spain) – fifth 2022 WMRC Uphill
Ruth Jones (Nice Britain) – 14th 2022 WMRC Uphill
Oria Liaci (Switzerland) – 4th 2025 & eighth 2024 Sierre-Zinal
Marie Nivet (France) – sixteenth 2022 WMRC Up and Down; sixth 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k
Sydney Petersen (U.S.) – 4th 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent; tenth 2025 U.S. Mountain Working Championships
Susanna Saapunki (Finland) – seventh 2025 Sierre-Zinal; 4th 2024 Mountain Working World Cup Finals VK
Jade Belzberg working onerous to take third on the 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent. Picture: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
[In 2015, Maude Mathys received a warning without suspension from the Disciplinary Chamber for Doping Cases of Swiss Olympic for two positive tests for clomifene (previously clomiphene) after it was determined that she was mistakenly taking the drug without first obtaining a World Anti-Doping Agency Therapeutic Use Exemption.]
[Christel Dewalle previously served a four-month doping ban after a positive test for the stimulant Heptaminol at the 2016 Skyrunning World Championships.]
Name for Feedback
Who’s your decide for the fasted man to the highest of the mountain? Is there anybody we missed who may very well be at or close to the entrance?
The ladies’s Uphill race could be probably the most broad open of any on the championships. Who’s a darkish horse or newcomer that we’d’ve ignored?
