Cuc Phuong Jungle Paths in Ninh Binh on 1/2 April

A new entry on our 2023 Asia Trail Master Championship calendar is Cuc Phuong Jungle Paths in Vietnam on 1/2 April. An event organised by Race Jungle who previously brought us the Cau Dat Farm Ultra in early 2020 won by Alessandro Sherpa, and Tam Dao Mountain Trail in Hanoi in 2017 - won by Steven Ong during his amazing season back then. Cuc Phuong Jungle Paths is in its second edition this year and brings runners to the popular national park, on the trekking and hiking itinerary of many since over two decades. Accessible via Ninh Binh in the north of the country - not too far from Hanoi - CPJP offers a 100km and 42km as points race categories for the ATM Championship ranking. For Grandmaster Quest runners, there is also a 70k option to choose.

Cuc Phuong National Park (or Cuc Phuong forest) is a nature reserve, a special-use forest located on the boundary of three provinces: Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh and Thanh Hoa. This national park has a diverse flora and fauna system featuring tropical rainforests and was also introduced as the first national park in Vietnam.

The race courses are generally quite runable, which explains the rather tight cut offs. The 100 km needs to be covered in 22 hours, for instance. Start of all catgeories is at the Ho Mac Area. Long distance runners need to be aware that the start time of the 100km is on Saturday night , 10 pm. Many will thus run mainly at night. The 42 km race starts at 7 am on Sunday morning with a cut off of 13 hours. If you arrive in Vietnam early, there will be an option to collect your race kit already on Thursday in Hanoi city.

Accommodation and transportation options are available, please check the link to the official website below.