Patrick Kipngeno of Kenya goes into the 2024 Mountain Running World Cup Finals as leading man in the series, and will compete in both Saturday’s vertical kilometer and Sunday’s 23-kilometer trail race. In this interview he talks about how he found mountain running and transitioned from the road, how he will focus on one race at a time this weekend, and his hopes for how he would like to end his season.
For more on who’s racing, check out our in-depth men’s and women’s previews and follow our coverage here on the website and on Twitter/X over the weekend.
Patrick Kipngeno Pre-2024 Mountain Running World Cup Final Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Sarah Brady of iRunFar. I’m here in Chiavenna, Italy, before the finals of the 2024 Mountain Running World Cup. I’m with Patrick Kipngeno. Patrick, how are you?
Patrick Kipngeno: I’m doing good.
iRunFar: Great, it’s great to meet you. So, we’ve never interviewed you before, but you’ve been doing strongly on the mountain running circuit for a few years now, so it’d be nice to hear your background. Where in Kenya are you from?
Kipngeno: I’m from Nakuru County.
iRunFar: Ok, and you just started mountain running in, I think, 2020, was it?
Kipngeno: Yeah, I started mountain running in 2020.
iRunFar: And before that had you run on the roads for a long time?
Kipngeno: Yeah, I was running road races before.
iRunFar: And what kind of distance?
Kipngeno: 21 kilometers, 10 kilometers.
iRunFar: Ok, and what made you switch over to the mountains?
Kipngeno: It was my first time to do mountain running in Mount Kenya where we met with my manager, and he told me that there is mountain running in Europe, and I was so excited to hear that about it, and I’m running well in mountain running.
iRunFar: Ok, and is it just much more enjoyable than the roads do you think?
Kipngeno: Yeah, for me, I’m seeing right now, mountain running is good for me.
iRunFar: Ok, brilliant. You’ve found your niche. And then you train with the Run2gether group. So, I believe you have a training camp in Austria where you train part of the year, and then you do the other half of the year in Kenya. How does that work?
Kipngeno: Yeah, it’s working good because we normally experience Kenyan style in Austria and when we are in Kenya, we experience Austrian style in Kenya.
iRunFar: It sounds like a good combination.
Kipngeno: Yeah.
iRunFar: And then just this year, you’ve had a really, really good world cup already. You won the Broken Arrow Skyrace and VK. You won the Trofeo Nasego, and the uphill race there as well. You podiumed at Sierre-Zinal. So, what for you is the highlight of all that?
Kipngeno: For me this year, it was a nice, good year for me, and I’m looking forward to the final. I’m very excited to run the final tomorrow, and I think everything will be good.
iRunFar: I know you’re racing the Golden Trail World Series at the same time, so it’s been a really hectic season. So, how does your body feel now? Do you feel tired? Or are you still ok?
Kipngeno: For now, I think I’m in good shape, but you know, the season has been too long, and I’m just pushing hard every day to make sure that I finish the final group.
iRunFar: Ok. And I know you didn’t race last weekend, and you’ve just been home in Kenya for a couple of weeks. Did you take it a little bit easier while you were back home or was it still full hard training?
Kipngeno: The first week I was just relaxing, going for easy, easy. And then this week I was pushing just a bit because I knew this coming weekend it will be a very tough competition.
iRunFar: And I know you’re doing both races. Is the uphill more your focus or do you think they’re equally important?
Kipngeno: For me right now, I’m just focusing to try to participate in the vertical, and also up and down. So, for me, I’m just experiencing everything.
iRunFar: And do you try to take it one race at a time? Will you just think about the one that’s next and just focus on that until it’s over?
Kipngeno: Yeah, every day we just say that. I normally focus on the first race, and then when I finish, I just think about the next race.
iRunFar: Ok, just turn the page straight away.
Kipngeno: Yeah.
iRunFar: Ok, very good. And then after this is over, do you have plans for the rest of the year, or is that your season done?
Kipngeno: When I finish the world cup final this weekend…
iRunFar: Yes, this weekend.
Kipngeno: Just focusing on Golden Trail. And then when I finish the Golden Trail, I still have one race in Kenya, in our camp, in November. Then I think that one will be the last race for me this year.
iRunFar: What will your training be like then for the rest of the year? Is it mostly on the road for winter?
Kipngeno: Yeah, for when we finish running mountain races, I’m going to relax for one month, and then I start doing preparation for cross country in Kenya.
iRunFar: Ok, you do cross country as well?
Kipngeno: Yeah.
iRunFar: Ok, very good. Big winter ahead. Well, thanks very much. I hope you have two fantastic races this weekend, and we’ll see you out there.
Kipngeno: Thank you.
iRunFar: Thank you.
