Under the dense jungle canopy and the first light of dawn, Iris Pessey and Marcos Villamuera emerged victorious at the 2025 Kailas Penang Skyrace, Malaysia, the sixth stage of the 2025 Merrell Skyrunner® World Series, with Villamuera also taking gold at the U23 10km race the following day, joined on top of the podium by Betty Bergstrand.
The skyrace kicked off early on Saturday morning in complete darkness, with runners relying on headlamps and instincts to navigate the steep, twisting trails of Penang’s lush rainforest. As the sun rose over Georgetown, it revealed a stunning but grueling 30 km course, with 2,400m+ — thick with humidity, intense heat, and endless elevation. Despite the brutal conditions, the spirit among athletes and spectators was electric, with vibrant support echoing through the jungle. French skyrunner Iris Pessey (team Scott) delivered a perfect performance, securing a decisive win in the women’s division with a time of 04:48:03. Meanwhile, Spain’s Marcos Villamuera (team Scarpa), who originally signed up to the U23 10km the following day but decided at the last minute to try his hand at both events, powered through the tropical heat to claim the men’s title with a time of 03:45:22.
Pessey comments: “It was a great race for me. I started easy but then I quickly realised that I had quite an advantage on the climbs so I started pushing a bit harder and taking it easy on the downhills to preserve my body. I tried to play it smart and managed to stay in control the whole time. For once I stuck to my race plan, although I found it so hard to fuel and with humidity which made me feel like I was working much harder than I was. Thanks to everyone for an amazing event.”
Villamuera comments: “My race was good. It was maybe the hardest race of my career so far, mainly because of the heat. My plan was to come and run the 10km U23 but then I thought I would try this one too and maybe run well. It was a great training for me to get used to running in really hot conditions. I started in the front, trying to set my pace and just tried pushing a lot in the start but this resulted in me suffering quite a lot for the last 10 kilometers. Running in the jungle was quite an experience with wild animals that I am not really used to but it was a great experience and the sun rising at the beginning was very nice.”
Second place in the women’s race was claimed by Simone Brick of Australia (team Salomon), who finished eight minutes behind Pessey, and Dulamsuren Myagmar of Mongolia closed the podium in third. In the men’s race, Luvsansharav Natsagdorj of Mongolia finished in second place, 15 minutes behind Villamuera, and Milton Amat of Malaysia closed the men’s podium.
U23 YOUTH RACE
The skyrunning party continued on Sunday, with the 10km race, the fourth stage of the U23 Trofero Esteban Olivero, where Marcos Villamuera, once again came out victorious together with Betty Bergstrand of Great Britain (team Salomon running).
Full results here.
The season enters its second quarter next weekend with the Ueda Skryace in Japan on the 4th of May.
