Last weekend we also had the pleasure of the first Asia Trail Master Candidate Race in India! A large new country is slowly opening up to the trail running world and the Solang Sky Ultra in the “Hell Race series” is a great example of what India has to offer to ultra trail runners. The Solang valley is indeed very remote in the north of the country, but very rewarding and the event was a grand success. The Indian Himalayas saw amazing athletes prepared to grit it out on technical terrains. Perhaps the best known Indian runner in Asia and a Grandmaster to boot, Shashwat Rao, managed to win his home race in 23:21:04 for the 100K. The 60K was won by Nupur Singh in 9:46:48.

Stay tuned for more details on the Solang Sky race in 2020.

Full results on https://www.townscript.com/e/solang-skyultra-021131/results

We are happy to announce a new Candidate Race for the 2020 Asia Trail Master Championship series. The Solang Sky Ultra in the Solang Valley in Manali, is also the first time an event in India is formally joining the Asia Trail Master community. The event is scheduled for 6 October. Three distances are on offer for runners of which the 60 km is the main race. Solang Sky Ultra takes place in the north of India and the valley is well-known as a ski and wintersports location. The event name and location of course indicate higher altitudes. The 60 km has a total elevation gain of 3500 metres and is ran well above sea level at 1500m and up. The highest peak during the race is 3448m. The Himalayas offer a breathtaking backdrop.

It is quite a remote area and it will take some traveling time from e.g. New Delhi, but your efforts will be highly rewarded. Shashwat Rao, a regular competitor in our championship series, is one of the technical advisers.

The Solang Sky Ultra is the finale in the Hell Race Trail Series in India. The event organisers write on their own website it is a gruelling and testing race through the rugged, jagged and mean single track technical trails of the Solang Valley. 

You can find out more details on the website of the Hell Race Trail Series, including online registration. The below video might also give you a better idea of what this exciting Candidate Race has in store.