Kenyan Joyce Njeru is the world mountain racing champion

In one of the less familiar athletic disciplines the country is used to, Kenya’s Joyce Muthoni Njeru was crowned the overall women’s World Mountain Racing Association (WMRA) World Cup champion.

Despite finishing seventh in the final Kilometro Verticale Chiavenna-Lagunc short uphill race held on Sunday in Italy, Njeru still managed to win the overall gold medal as the sixteen points she got from the race ensured her winning 685 World Cup points proved insurmountable.

In the women’s final race where winners of the overall World Cup title would be decided, Austrian Andrea Mayr was dominant in the women's race, winning by more than three minutes after clocking 35.42. Home favourite Francesca Ghelfi clocked a time of 39:16 for silver and bronze went to Ireland's Sarah McCormack, not far behind Ghelfi in 39:56. Njeru crossed the line in seventh after clocking 41.22.

In the men’s category, Geoffrey Gikuni Ndungu managed to take third place in the overall World Cup that was won by Italy's Henri Aymonod with Hungary's Sandor Szabo finish second overall.

The World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) is the global governing body of mountain running.

For World Athletics purposes, mountain running takes place on terrain that is mainly off-road, but if there is significant elevation gain on the route, surfaced roads may be used. Courses involve considerable amounts of ascent (for mainly uphill races), or both ascent and descent (for up and down races with the start and finish at similar heights). The average incline is normally between five and twenty per cent. Courses are clearly marked and should avoid dangerous sections.