Welcome to Canfranc! The tiny mountain town in northeastern Spain has about 600 residents. It is the center of the world for mountain running and trail running right now, though.
The 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships started on Thursday, September 25 with the World Mountain Running Championships Uphill race. The men had an 10:00 a.m. CEST start, and the women went one hour later.
The all-uphill climb started two kilometers north of Canfranc and went 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) in distance, with a steady 990 meters (3,248 feet) of elevation gain. The course climbed through a black pine forest to a finish atop Larraca Mountain in the Spanish Pyrenees.
Runners from 49 different countries were expected to line up for the men’s race, and the women’s entrants list had 44 different countries represented. There was a 24,000 Euro prize purse between the men’s and women’s races, with 5,000 Euro to the winners and cash payouts through fifth place.
A special thanks to The North Face for making our race coverage possible!
Rémi Bonnet (Switzerland) won a showdown against two-time defending Uphill world champion Patrick Kipngeno (Kenya). Bonnet had missed almost the entire summer with an injury but throttled the field from the start, had a runaway lead by halfway, and won in 37:50. He was over a minute in front of everyone else.
The start of the 2025 World Mountain Running Championship Uphill men’s race. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Nina Engelhard (Germany) scored a similar runaway win in the women’s race. Racing at the world championships for the first time, Engelhard was 13 seconds in front at halfway and added to that gap in the race’s late, steeper stretches. Engelhard won in 45:33.
Read on for more race details.
The start of the 2025 World Mountain Running Championship Uphill women’s race. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill Men’s Race
Jackets stayed on at the start as runners lined up in cold, 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures. A narrow start line had one runner per country allowed at the front. Rémi Bonnet (Switzerland) had a backward hat and gloves on next to two-time defending world champ Patrick Kipngeno (Kenya) in long sleeves and multiple layers. Christian Allen (U.S.), Alex García (Spain), and Andrea Rostan (Italy) were all there on the front too.
Rémi Bonnet of Switzerland winning the 2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill men’s race. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
There was a flat, 600-meter paved sprint at the start that had top runners vying for position before the trail narrowed and the climb started. Allen and Bonnet got out fast at the front with Richard Omaya Atuya (Kenya), but race favorite Kipngeno was more cautious several rows of runners back.
After 3.6k, runners had climbed through the lower pine forest and crested a grassy field timing point, and Bonnet was way ahead of everyone. Atuya, Kipngeno, and Allen climbed next in pursuit, but Bonnet’s frontrunning was remarkable just over halfway into the race. He was already 37 seconds in front of second place Atuya, and 46 seconds ahead of third place Kipngeno. Allen was fourth but nearly a minute back of the leader, and Eliud Cherop (Uganda) was fifth at this point.
Bonnet’s lead was significant, being so early into such a short race, and it was despite this being Bonnet’s comeback race from season-long injury.
As the runners continued above treeline onto the high mountain, nothing changed. It was only Bonnet at the front.
Rémi Bonnet won the 2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill race in 37:50. He was over a minute ahead of everyone else.
Richard Omaya Atuya climbed up second in 39:04. It was his first participation in the world championships, though he’s excelled in the Mountain Running World Cup the last two years.
Richard Omaya Atuya of Kenya takes second at the 2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill race. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Patrick Kipngeno’s bid for a third-straight world championships victory fell just a bit short, as he finished third in 39:20, which was still an incredible finish.
Christian Allen sprinted in fourth at 39:28, and Jacob Adkin (U.K.) jumped one spot in the late stage to finish fifth in 39:34.
Each country’s first three runners scored in the team competition, and scored via finish position (not by time). With runners in second, third, and 17th, Kenya won team gold with 22 points. Philemon Kiriago was a late Uphill entrant for Kenya and scored as the team’s third runner for the team win.
Switzerland was second with 34 points and the U.S. won team bronze with 41 points.
Patrick Kipngeno of Kenya rounds out the podium of the 2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill men’s race. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill Men’s Results
- Rémi Bonnet (Switzerland) – 37:50
- Richard Omaya Atuya (Kenya) – 39:04
- Patrick Kipngeno (Kenya) – 39:20
- Christian Allen (U.S.) – 39:28
- Jacob Adkin (U.K.) – 39:34
- Eliud Cherop (Uganda) – 40:09
- Jonathan Castillo (Colombia) – 40:16
- Andrea Elia (Italy) – 40:20
- Quentin Meyleu (France) – 40:20
- Théodore Klein (France) – 40:24
The 2025 World Mountain Running Championship Uphill men’s podium (left to right): 2. Richard Omaya Atuya, 1. Rémi Bonnet, 3. Patrick Kipngeno. Photo: World Mountain and Trail Running Championships
2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill Women’s Race
Not long after the men finished, the women’s race started at the bottom of the mountain, and the Ugandan team gapped everyone within the first seconds of racing.
By the time they hit the 3.6k grassy field timing spot over halfway into the race, the Ugandan lead was gone and instead it was Nina Engelhard (Germany) alone at the front. She split 24:10 and had a 13-second lead, making it a closer race than the men’s was at this point. Engelhard was a double champion at the 2024 European Athletics Off-Road Championships, winning both the Uphill and Up and Down races.
Nina Engelhard, 2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill women’s winner. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Behind the leader, Susanna Saapunki (Finland) ran in second. Martha Chemutai (Uganda) was third in 24:49 and Anna Gibson (U.S.) a single second behind in fourth. Laura Hottenrott was fifth here, roughly halfway up the mountain, to give Germany two runners inside the top five.
As the race turned further uphill up the steeper mountain, Engelhard broke into a hands-on-knees powerhike, and Saapunki had her in her sights. Gibson overtook Chemutai for third, and the finish order stuck the rest of the way.
Nina Engelhard won the 2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill race in 45:33.
Susanna Saapunki couldn’t get any closer to the lead and stayed second in 45:59.
Susanna Saapunki of Finland taking second at the 2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill race. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Anna Gibson closed well on the late uphill to score an individual bronze medal in 46:07.
Martha Chemutai and Francesca Ghelfi (Italy) were fourth and fifth in 46:44 and 47:13.
Ghelfi jumped several spots in the race’s second half and powered Italy to team gold with 31 points. France was second with 36 points and Canada scored team bronze with 41 points.
Anna Gibson of the U.S. finishes third at the 2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill race. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill Women’s Results
- Nina Engelhard (Germany) – 45:33
- Susanna Saapunki (Finland) – 45:59
- Anna Gibson (U.S.) – 46:07
- Martha Chemutai (Uganda) – 46:44
- Francesca Ghelfi (Italy) – 47:13
- Christel Dewalle (France) – 47:16
- Lucia Arnoldo (Italy) – 47:32
- Nélie Clément (France) – 47:40
- Laura Hottenrott (Germany) – 47:43
- Emma Cook-Clarke (Canada) – 48:07
[Christel Dewalle previously served a four-month doping ban after a positive test for the stimulant Heptaminol at the 2016 Skyrunning World Championships.]
The 2025 World Mountain Running Championship Uphill women’s podium (left to right): 2. Susanna Saapunki, 1. Nina Engelhard, 3. Anna Gibson. Photo: World Mountain and Trail Running Championships
