We’re rolling up our sleeves for day two of our annual TROY awards, and we cannot wait to celebrate two more incredible runners and their seasons. Today, we have two atheltes at the top of their game, both outstanding veterans of our sport – and if you missed yesterday’s tenth-place announcement, you can find that here.
In ninth position this year we have HOKA’s Judith Wyder and On and Run2gether’s Patrick Kipngeno.
Mom of two and five time Orienteering World Champion (there is something in the water) 2025 marks Judith’s third year in a row appearing in the TROY Top Ten. What impresses us so much about Judith is her ability to seek out the world’s best competition, showing up consistently when it matters most. She’s not one to over race, meaning, when she toes the line you know you are about to witness a runner surgically tackle a podium performance. 2025 was nearly that fairy tail, eight bibs, seven performances never worse than second place, and then a DNF at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships (WMTRC) Short Trail from the uncontrollable – an allergic reaction to being stung by a ground nest of wasps early in the race.
So while the season ended not how she had hoped, 2025 brought Judith success in some of the most competitive races in the world. She kicked off her season with three straight victories, winning The North Face Transgranaria KV El Gigante (VK) and Half Marathon as well as the Chianti Ultra Trail by UTMB Marathon. From there Judith finished second at Zegama-Aizkorri, the Swiss National Mountain Running Championships, the Marathon du Mont-Blanc 42-kilometer, and the HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc OCC (55-kilometer). 2026 – guard your podiums!
We asked Judith what the highlight of her 2025 season was and she said, “2025 was a very special year. All the moments I have shared with different athletes on the trail in the races are big highlights for me! Like sharing the trails with Sara, Malen, Miao, Theres, Rosa… it was so cool! And off course my stable season is just another great year with 3 second places on the most competitive races of the year!”
It took Patrick Kipngeno a criminally long time to break into the TROY Top Ten, but last year he finally cracked through the voting to land himself in third for his efforts over the 2024 season. While he didn’t land quiet as high this year Patrick still put together one of the more impressive seasons, finishing 2025 ranked second in the Golden Trail World Series (GTWS) for the third year in a row. True to the Kenyan contingent of trail running, Patrick is often a prolific racer competing in events across the GTWS, the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) series, and this year looking to defend his 2023 world title at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships (WMTRC) in the Vertical Uphill discipline. Patrick lined up ten times in 2025, and outside of one DNF at the Pitz Alpine Glacier Trail (GTWS) he never finished off the podium.
In 2025 Patrick racked up three victories, jumping out early by winning the first two GTWS events at Kobe Trail and the Jinshanling Great Wall Race as well as Dolomitenmann (WMRA) in the fall. In addition to those wins he placed third at the Broken Arrow Skyrace 23-kilometer (GTWS), second at the Tepec Trail 34-kilometer (GTWS), second at Sierre-Zinal (GTWS), second at the Šmarna Gora Record (WMRA), second at the GTWS Grand Finale (Ledro Sky Trentino), and snagged a brozne medal at the World Championships in the Vertical Uphill race. The consistency over the course of a calendar year (let’s face it, YEARS) in many of the most competitive sub-ultra trail races in the world is no easy feat, but somehow Patrick makes it look easy. Here’s to climbing one more step on the GTWS podium in 2026!
Judith and Patrick continue to impress season after season and 2025 was no exception! We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again, 2026, guard your podiums! Any guesses as to which two runners, and newbies to the TROY top ten, made the leap to eighth position this year? Check back here tomorrow morning to find out!