Johan Bugge’s victory pose under the arch of the finish line has become a familiar sight in Smarna Gora and the Norwegian was celebrating there again on Saturday (6) after winning the fifth and final WMRA World Cup race in Ljubljana.

After an unforgettable fight along the 1074 metres of climb, Kenya’s Geoffrey Gikuni Ndungu took the men's victory at the Adelholzen Hochfelln Mountain Race, while Austria’s Andrea Mayr won the women’s race in Bergen on Sunday (30), the fourth of five stages in the WMRA Mountain Running World Cup.

Andrea Mayr of Austria and Kenyan Gikuni Ndungu were the victors at the Grossglockner Berglauf in Heiligenblut, Austria, on Sunday (15), the opening race of the 2018 WMRA World Cup.

All the predictions of who would win the 24th edition of the Nordea Riga Marathon had pointed to a Kenyan runner winning in the Latvian capital for the fourth year in succession but Japan’s Yu Chiba had not been listening to the pundits and triumphed at the IAAF Bronze Label Road Race in a course record of 2:13:44 on Sunday (18).

Kenya’s Duncan Koech will be bidding to retain his Nordea Riga Marathon title and will start as favourite not only to break the tape but also set a course record in the Latvian capital at the IAAF Bronze Label Road Race on Sunday (18).