V Trail in Laos: open race to discover new names

This weekend the spotlights are put on Laos again for the only time in our ATM championship season. It’s time for the 4th edition of V Trail in Vang Vieng, the first international trail running event in the country. Now exclusively organised by Green Step, V Trail has kept the traditional courses of 85km and 55km with significant elevation gain in them (5470hm and 3290hm, respectively). Considered as one of the very toughest mountain jungle races in Asia, V Trail is as much as mental challenge as a physical challenge.

Participants on the 85km and 55km score points for the ATM Championship ranking. That’s also important for the local Lao runners, who only have one chance in their own country to put themselves on the board. The Lao community has been growing since 2018 - year of the first V Trail - and last year we even celebrated a local victory in the women’s 55km race: Sou Soulivanthong even finished third overall. We are curious to find out if anyone will follow into her footsteps.

The 85km start list shows lots of different nationalities and several well-known ATM Grandmaster point seekers, including 4-star Grandmaster and 2022 ATM Finalist Masafumi Yamamoto of Japan, and Malaysia’s Phua Cho Kai. The battle for the podium places appears open on paper in both male and female categories. Siriporn Leumathong, ATM Finalist for Thailand last season, might as well have an opportunity to score her first ATM race win. Belgium’s Olivia Becu could be a challenger, too.

The 55 km start list for men has Thailand’s Amorn Kimnguan on it, ATM Finalist last season and always a contender for a top placing. Kimnguan has plenty of experience in tough ultra trails, and alread ran V Trail five years ago - finishing fourth on that occasion. France’s Arnaud Beck has a decent trail record in his home country and could be a potential winner, too. Of course, running in France is not the same as in the tropical rainforest in Laos. We also look forward to the performance of two Indonesian youngsters: Surydratama Yanizar and Zenal Arifin.

The 85km starts in the early morning at 6 am, the 55km half an hour later.