Patrick Kipngeno of Kenya goes into the 2024 Mountain Working World Cup Finals as main man within the sequence, and can compete in each Saturday’s vertical kilometer and Sunday’s 23-kilometer path race. On this interview he talks about how he discovered mountain working and transitioned from the street, how he’ll concentrate on one race at a time this weekend, and his hopes for the way he wish to finish his season.
For extra on who’s racing, take a look at our in-depth males’s and girls’s previews and comply with our protection right here on the web site and on Twitter/X over the weekend.
Patrick Kipngeno Pre-2024 Mountain Working World Cup Last Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Sarah Brady of iRunFar. I’m right here in Chiavenna, Italy, earlier than the finals of the 2024 Mountain Working World Cup. I’m with Patrick Kipngeno. Patrick, how are you?
Patrick Kipngeno: I’m doing good.
iRunFar: Nice, it’s nice to satisfy you. So, we’ve by no means interviewed you earlier than, however you’ve been doing strongly on the mountain working circuit for just a few years now, so it’d be good to listen to your background. The place in Kenya are you from?
Kipngeno: I’m from Nakuru County.
iRunFar: Okay, and also you simply began mountain working in, I believe, 2020, was it?
Kipngeno: Yeah, I began mountain working in 2020.
iRunFar: And earlier than that had you run on the roads for a very long time?
Kipngeno: Yeah, I used to be working street races earlier than.
iRunFar: And what sort of distance?
Kipngeno: 21 kilometers, 10 kilometers.
iRunFar: Okay, and what made you turn over to the mountains?
Kipngeno: It was my first time to do mountain working in Mount Kenya the place we met with my supervisor, and he advised me that there’s mountain working in Europe, and I used to be so excited to listen to that about it, and I’m working nicely in mountain working.
iRunFar: Okay, and is it simply rather more pleasing than the roads do you assume?
Kipngeno: Yeah, for me, I’m seeing proper now, mountain working is sweet for me.
iRunFar: Okay, good. You’ve discovered your area of interest. And then you definitely prepare with the Run2gether group. So, I consider you may have a coaching camp in Austria the place you prepare a part of the yr, and then you definitely do the opposite half of the yr in Kenya. How does that work?
Kipngeno: Yeah, it’s working good as a result of we usually expertise Kenyan fashion in Austria and after we are in Kenya, we expertise Austrian fashion in Kenya.
iRunFar: It appears like an excellent mixture.
Kipngeno: Yeah.
iRunFar: After which simply this yr, you’ve had a extremely, actually good World Cup already. You gained the Damaged Arrow Skyrace and the VK. You gained the Trofeo Nasego, and the uphill race there as nicely. You podiumed at Sierre-Zinal. So, what for you is the spotlight of all that?
Kipngeno: For me this yr, it was a pleasant, good yr for me, and I’m wanting ahead to the ultimate. I’m very excited to run the ultimate tomorrow, and I believe the whole lot might be good.
iRunFar: I do know you’re racing Golden Trails on the similar time, so it’s been a extremely hectic season. So, how does your physique really feel now? Do you’re feeling drained? Or are you continue to okay?
Kipngeno: For now, I believe I’m in good condition, however you understand, the season has been too lengthy, and I’m simply pushing laborious on daily basis to be sure that I end the ultimate group.
iRunFar: Okay. And I do know you didn’t race final weekend, and also you’ve simply been residence in Kenya for a few weeks. Did you’re taking it just a little bit simpler when you have been again residence or was it nonetheless full laborious coaching?
Kipngeno: The primary week I used to be simply stress-free, going for straightforward, simple. After which this week I used to be pushing only a bit as a result of I knew this coming weekend it is going to be a really powerful competitors.
iRunFar: And I do know you’re doing each races. Is the uphill extra your focus or do you assume they’re equally vital?
Kipngeno: For me proper now, I’m simply focusing to attempt to take part within the vertical, and likewise up and down. So, for me, I’m simply experiencing the whole lot.
iRunFar: And do you attempt to take it one race at a time? Will you simply take into consideration the one which’s subsequent and simply concentrate on that till it’s over?
Kipngeno: Yeah, on daily basis we simply say that. I usually concentrate on the primary race, after which after I end, I simply take into consideration the subsequent race.
iRunFar: Okay, simply flip the web page immediately.
Kipngeno: Yeah.
iRunFar: Okay, superb. After which after that is over, do you may have plans for the remainder of the yr, or is that your season finished?
Kipngeno: Once I end the World Cup remaining this weekend…
iRunFar: Sure, this weekend.
Kipngeno: Simply specializing in Golden Trails. After which after I end the Golden Trails, I nonetheless have one race in Kenya, in our camp, in November. Then I believe that one would be the final race for me this yr.
iRunFar: What’s going to your coaching be like then for the remainder of the yr? Is it totally on the street for winter?
Kipngeno: Yeah, for after we end working mountain races, I’m going to chill out for one month, after which I begin doing preparation for cross-country in Kenya.
iRunFar: Okay, you do cross-country as nicely?
Kipngeno: Yeah.
iRunFar: Okay, superb. Massive winter forward. Properly, thanks very a lot. I hope you may have two implausible races this weekend, and we’ll see you on the market.
Kipngeno: Thanks.
iRunFar: Thanks.