PizTriVertical race report written by Alberto Stretti. Photos by Marco Gulberti.
Herny Aymonod (ITA) and Andrea Mayr (AUT) won PizTriVertical on Saturday in Malonno, Italy confirming their impressive fitness on the tough 2.1 mile mountain running course with 3280 feet of ascent. This was Ayomonod’s third win at this historic mountain running race. Having won the World Mountain Running Championship several times over the past decade, Andrea Mayr confirmed her status as pre-race favorite.
Knowing course very well, Aymonod managed his race smartly and in second half was able to close the gap on Tiziano Moia (ITA) who was leading by 18 seconds at the mid-way point. Aymonod also won Italian national championship title finishing in 34 minutes, 27 seconds beating Tiziano Moia (34:33) in a close sprint and ahead of third place finisher Italian Andrea Rostan (34:49).
Herny Aymonod
Fresh off his race win Aymonod said, “I’m really happy about my today success and national championship title. It was really difficult control Moia in first half but in second half, even though it was harder, I was able to give my best and closing on Moia overtaking him in last 50 meters. Congratulations to my team for excellent race and perfect organization. Mountain running in Malonno is special.”
With this win, Aymonod improved his leadership of the new World Mountain Running Ranking.
Just after women’s race start, Kenya’s Joyce Muthoni Njeru gave a massive kick to lead the race early, but Andrea Mayr was controlling herself and staying calm sure of her fitness. After 650 feet of vertical climbing, Mayr finally took the lead of race and pulled away from the field in a big solo to finish line. This was Mayr’s fourth PizTriVertical win, demonstrating once again that she is the real queen of mountain running.
Mayr (AUT) finished PizTriVertical in 38 minutes and 54 seconds over 2nd place Njeru (KEN) in 41:16 and current World Mountain Running Ranking leader Mojca Koligar (SLO) 3rd in 41:31 and new Italian National Champion Erica Ghelfi (ITA) 4th in 41:54.
Andrea Mayr
“When you arrive on last wall of PizTriVertical you know your mental energy will build because of the energetic Malonno fans” said Mayr, “I was able to stay calm at the beginning and then relax myself and running very fast in second part. Yesterday, when driving to the race, I was unsure of what to expect but, when you have a race in Malonno, everything is totally different. I’m very happy for my fourth gold in this special race.”
To find an upcoming mountain running race near you, check out the ATRA event calendar.
Complete PizTriVertical race results are available on the FlettaTrail website.
Race photos by Marco Gulberti can be found at: https://www.flickr.com/gp/mountainrunning/j7q4z2
Race photos by Giacomo Meneghello Photographer can be found at: https://www.flickr.com/gp/mountainrunning/WGe9e6
Joyce Muthoni Njeru
