15TH SEPTEMBER 2024, Start 8:00 AM (PDT) 5:00 PM (CET), 27KM, 1,280M V+ MILL VALLEY, USA Elhousine Elazzoui wins Headlands 27K in a sprint after an epic 4-way battle.
A fight to the top, a sprint to the win
What a race! Never has a trail running race been so fiercely contested, and never at such incredible speeds. Very quickly, 4 men broke away in this Sunday's race. Elhousine Elazzaoui (MAR – Nnormal), Philemon Kiriago (KEN – Run2gether/ON AG), Patrick Kipngeno (KEN – Run2gether/ON AG) and Rémi Bonnet (CHE – Salomon/Red Bull) fought a battle of unprecedented intensity, going neck and neck both in the climbs and downhills. The runners were still stuck together in the very last kilometre, the decisive moment came in the sprint to the finish line where Elhousine Elazzaoui edged out Philemon Kiriago. "It was a crazy race, the craziest race of my life," concluded Elhousine at the finish line. "I've never ever seen a race like this in trail running. It was so fast. I tried to attack, but they didn't let me get away, so I had to attack even harder in the final downhill. I'm thrilled to finish victorious in this race."
After Sierre-Zinal, Philemon Kiriago had to lose out to a sprint victory for the second time in a row. But the Kenyan was still smiling at the finish. "The race was very fast. I had a good pace and led the group from the start until the last downhill when Elhousine overtook me. He was the strongest and I'm very happy to finish on the podium of this crazy race."
Patrick Kipngeno opted out of the sprint yet still finished very close to his teammate to take 3rd place. "This race was really competitive. To be honest, during the race I didn't expect to finish 3rd. I think I lacked a bit of technique on the downhills; the other three were better than me on the downhills and that's probably where it counted."
The Californian dream continues in Mammoth
After this incredible 7th stage, now it's time for the last stage of the season: join us on 22nd September for Mammoth 26K at Mammoth Lakes.
Results
Men
1 – Elhousine Elazzoui (MAR – Nnormal): 1:55:27 (+200 pts)
2 – Philemon Kiriago (KEN – Run2gether/ON AG): 1:55:29 (+188 pts)
3 – Patrick Kipngeno (KEN – Run2gether/ON AG): 1:56:01 (+176 pts)
4 – Rémi Bonnet (CHE – Salomon/Red Bull): 1:57:48 (+166 pts)
5 – Christian Allen (USA – Nike Trail): 2:01:39 (+156 pts)
6 – Miquel Corbera (ESP – Brooks): 2:02:12 (+150 pts)
7 – Frédéric Tranchand (FRA – Scott): 2:02:46 (+144 pts)
8 – Cesare Maestri (ITA – Nike Trail): 2:03:30 (+140 pts)
9 – Bart Przedwojewski (POL – Salomon): 2:04:01 (+136 pts)
10 – Cade Michael (USA – The Trail Team): 2:04:33 (+133 pts
