Hau Ha and Trung Nguyen triumph in Mu Cang Chai

Last weekend’s Mu Cang Chai Trail saw the two anticipated race winners cross the finish line first, indeed. Hau Ha once more demonstrated her speed and trail skills to take the women’s and overall title, while Trung Nguyen proved that on his day and on his type of terrain he is always a serious podium contender. The leading lady of Vietnamese trail running won for the third time in ATM this season and is now virtually guaranteed of her spot in her country’s national team for the ATM Championship Final in Philippines on 17 December. T8 athlete Trung Nguyen also sees a major boost to his qualification chances for… Team Singapore. Because that’s the passport he is holding.

The 50k race in the stunningly beautiful region of Mu Cang Chai did not go entirely smoothless. Alleged marking sabotage caused issues for plenty a runner, including Hau Ha. As in VMM two weeks ago, she had started and set a solid pace from the gun, but found herself off course quite a bit around the 15km mark. When she got back on the right trail, she had dropped down to fourth place overall. Yet, in no time she was catching up with male race leader Trung Nguyen and decided to stuck with him for the remainder of the race. Trung is indeed known and respected for his meticulous planning and ability to self-navigate using GPS. Some ten minutes behind the lead duo, South Africa’s Timothy Lombard and Nguyễn Đức Tuấn Anh had a battle for second place decided in favour of the foreign athlete. Nguyễn Đức Tuấn Anh is doing a great job for his ATM Vietnam ranking with his third top placing of the season and looks set for a Team Vietnam invitation in the ATM Final! The women’s 50k podium was completed by Vũ Thị Lan Hương and Nguyen Phuong, winner of VMM 100 MIles two weeks ago. In fourth place was Japan’s Harada Tamae.

Hau Ha and Trung Nguyen crossed the finish line together as race winners in Mu Cang Chai