SIERRE-ZINAL HISTORY: FIFTY YEARS OF THE RACE OF THE FIVE 4000M PEAKS
Every August since 1974, runners have left the Rhone Valley town of Sierre and climbed toward the mountain village of Zinal, 31 kilometers and roughly 2,200 vertical meters away. Along the route, five summits above 4,000 meters come into view. The race that follows this path, Sierre-Zinal, has become one of the most important fixtures in mountain running, and its start list each summer reads like a census of the sport.
The numbers explain the reputation. The men's course record has moved by less than 13 minutes in more than 50 years of racing, and 10 of the last 17 editions have been won by the same man. Winners have come from at least 15 countries across five continents. Few races in any discipline can match that combination of history and depth.
Origins
Jean-Claude Pont, a mathematician from the region, founded the race in 1974 and gave it a second name that stuck: La course des cinq 4000, the race of the five 4,000-meter peaks. The label refers to the summits visible from the course, the Weisshorn (4,506 meters), Zinalrothorn (4,221 meters), Obergabelhorn (4,073 meters), Matterhorn (4,478 meters), and Dent Blanche (4,357 meters).
The first edition went to Swiss runner Eddy Hauser in 2:38:14. Chantal Langlacé of France won the inaugural women's race in 3:51:59. The event drew international winners almost immediately. Britain's Jeff Norman took the second edition in 1975, Italy's Aldo Allegranza won in 1976, and American Chuck Smead won in 1977.
Hauser's winning time is worth pausing on. Fifty years of professionalization, shoe technology, and course knowledge have taken barely 13 minutes off it. The course, 31 kilometers with about 2,200 meters of climbing between Sierre and Zinal in the Swiss canton of Valais, has always been too steep and too long to flatter anyone.
The Vigil Years
The race found its first defining champion in Pablo Vigil. The American won four consecutive editions from 1979 to 1982, with a best time of 2:33:49 in his first victory. No other man matched four straight wins at the race for more than three decades.
On the women's side, Britain's Véronique Marot won three editions in the 1980s, in 1984, 1985, and 1987. Her 3:01:57 in 1987 stood close to the three-hour barrier that would not fall until 2001, when Angela Mudge of the United Kingdom ran 2:56:41.
An International Race Before the Sport Was International
Long before trail running had a global calendar, the winners' list at this race looked like one. Colombian runners arrived at the start of the 1990s, with Jairo Correa winning three editions in 1990, 1993, and 1995, Francisco Sánchez Martínez winning in 1991, and Jacinto Lopez in 1994. Ethiopia's Eticha Tesfaye won in 1996.
Then came the Mejia era. Ricardo Mejia of Mexico won five editions between 1998 and 2005, a total only one man has ever exceeded. His 2:30:59 in 2001 was the fastest winning time of the race's first three decades.
In 2002, snow on the course forced organizers to shorten the race to 12 kilometers, the only such interruption in its history. New Zealand's Jonathan Wyatt won that abbreviated edition, then returned in 2003 and ran 2:29:12 over the full distance, the first finish under 2:30 in the race's history.
The 2000s also produced the most consistent woman the race had seen to that point. Anna Pichrtova of the Czech Republic won four consecutive editions from 2006 to 2009, a record streak that stood until the pandemic years. Italy's Marco De Gasperi, one of the great technical descenders of his generation, took three men's titles in 2008, 2011, and 2012.
The Jornet Decade
Kilian Jornet first won the race in 2009. He won again in 2010, then in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. In 2019 he ran 2:25:35 and took nearly four minutes off Wyatt's long-standing course record.
The Spaniard returned in 2024 after two years away and won his 10th title, the most in the race's history. He also lowered his own course record by a single second, finishing in 2:25:34. Between his first and last wins, 15 years passed, and only five other men won the race in that span: De Gasperi, Switzerland's Marc Lauenstein in 2013, Eritrea's Petro Mamu in 2016, Spain's Andreu Blanes Reig in 2022, and Kenya's Philemon Ombogo Kiriago in 2023.
No athlete in any major mountain race has dominated a single event for so long. The 10 wins came against every generation of competition the sport produced, from the skyrunning circuit of the late 2000s to the professional trail fields of the 2020s.
The Women's Record Book
The modern women's era belongs to Maude Mathys. The Swiss runner won four consecutive editions from 2019 to 2022, matching Pichrtova's streak. Her 2:49:20 in 2019 broke the course record and made her the first woman under 2:50. She ran faster still in the pandemic editions of 2020 and 2021, but those races used a modified course and her 2019 mark remains the standard.
Kenya's Lucy Wambui Murigi won three editions, in 2015, 2017, and 2018. American Sophia Laukli took the 2023 title in 2:53:17, and Joyline Chepngeno of Kenya won in 2024 in 2:54:06.
The 2025 women's race ended in controversy. Chepngeno crossed the line first again but was disqualified, and she was later banned for doping. Caroline Kimutai of Kenya was declared the winner in 2:55:31.
The Race Today
Kenyan runners have moved to the front of the race in recent years. Kiriago won the 50th edition in 2023 in 2:27:27, the second-fastest winning time ever recorded, and won again in 2025 in 2:28:45. On the women's side, Kenyan athletes have taken the last three titles on the road from Sierre.
The winning times tell the story of the sport's growth in compressed form. The men's mark has moved from 2:38:14 in 1974 to 2:25:34 half a century later. The women's record has come down further, from 3:51:59 in the first edition to 2:49:20, an improvement of more than an hour.
The 53rd edition is scheduled for August 8, 2026. Whoever wins will join a list that includes road marathoners, skyrunners, fell runners, and orienteers from 15 countries, which has always been the point. The course from Sierre to Zinal does not care what kind of runner you are. It has been asking the same question since 1974.