{"id":160910,"date":"2026-04-24T15:06:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/saoli-aims-for-wmra-mountain-running-title-after-win"},"modified":"2026-04-24T16:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T16:13:08","slug":"saoli-aims-for-wmra-mountain-running-title-after-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/saoli-aims-for-wmra-mountain-running-title-after-win","title":{"rendered":"Saoli Aims for WMRA Mountain Running Title After Win"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Kenya. <\/strong> <\/span>Tinderet Barng\u2019etuny Mountain Run champion Michael Selelo Saoli has vowed to win the overall WMRA Mountain Running World Cup title this year.Saoli started the Mountain Running World Cup campaign on a bright note on Sunday, winning the Sa\u0303o Bra\u0301s Cross in Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>The 10.9km classic up-and-down race, with 628 meters of ascent and descent, was the first WMRA Mountain Running World Cup event of the year and was held in Castro Daire.Saoli clocked 42:22, beating Great Britain\u2019s 2019 World Cup champion Andrew Douglas, who finished second in 43:37, while Oscar Subuh-Symons was third in 44:07.Speaking on the phone on Wednesday before departing for Beijing, China, for this weekend\u2019s races, Saoli said he was happy with the winning start.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have started the season on a winning note. I want to remain focused, train hard, and become the overall winner this year. Last year, I finished third,\u201d said the Run2gether athlete.Winning the annual Tinderet Barng\u2019etuny Mountain Run in January gave him fresh impetus ahead of the gruelling season.\u201cTinderet Barng\u2019etuny race was a good preparation for the season. Winning the race against the best mountain runners in the country gave me confidence that I will do well this season,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, Saoli said he expects a podium finish at the double-header in Beijing, featuring an uphill race and a classic up-and-down race at the Beijing Changping Yanshou Trail Challenge.The race is set against the mountainous landscape surrounding the Great Wall, followed by a demanding classic up-and-down race (18 km \/ 1,275 m +\/\u2212) in the Silver Mountain Pagoda Forest.\u201cThe Yanshou Trail Challenge is a technical route, and the top mountain runners will take part in the races. My target is a podium finish. I have had good preparations, and I\u2019m in good shape,\u201d said Saoli, who also won the Meru University Mountain Run last year.<\/p>\n<p>During last year\u2019s World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Canfranc Pirineos, Spain, he finished sixth and led Team Kenya to a team gold medal.Kenya\u2019s Ruth Gitonga Mwihaki, who won the Sa\u0303o Bra\u0301s Cross race, will, however, not travel to China due to a visa hitch.<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, World Championships classic race runner-up Mwihaki proved impossible to reel in as she took the women\u2019s win in 49:12.Great Britain\u2019s defending World Cup champion Scout Adkin was second in 50:13, and Nelie Clement claimed third in 51:20.Defending World Cup champion Philemon Kiriago will start his title defence on May 9 when the circuit reaches the Canary Islands for the Transvulcania weekend in La Palma.The uphill race climbs 1,248 metres over 7.3 km across volcanic terrain, while the 25 km +2,000 long-distance race tests endurance across the island\u2019s ridge-lines and exposed sections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Kenya<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Kenya. Tinderet Barng\u2019etuny Mountain Run champion Michael Selelo Saoli has vowed to win the overall WMRA Mountain Running World Cup title this year.Saoli started the Mountain Running World Cup campaign on a bright note on Sunday, winning the Sa\u0303o Bra\u0301s Cross in Portugal. The 10.9km classic up-and-down race, with 628 meters of ascent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":160909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[544],"class_list":["post-160910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-kenya"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Saoli Aims for WMRA Mountain Running Title After Win - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Kenya. 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