The 2nd edition of the GlobalLimits' Wild Elephant Trail in Sri Lanka, a 6-day stage race over 220km was won by European runners. Great Britain's Nathan Montague was fastest in the men's, despite a late surge in the second part of the week by Spain's Xavi Marina. Another Spaniard, David Mora, completed the podium in third place. 

Christina Khinast from Austria was clearly the fastest woman in Sri Lanka. The battle for second was more tight, as Cambodia's Sophiethida Kong and Maria Rotger were quite evenly matched, although the Asian runner mainly had the edge. 

All finishers of the stage race score will enter this week's Asia Trail Master ranking with 100 finisher points and each with his or her own's performance points based on the result. The next GlobalLimits boutique stage race is the Last Secret in Bhutan, starting at the end of May. It is still possible to register for that event. 

Male:
1. Nathan Montague - Great Britain 19:10hrs
2. Xavi Marina - Spain 20:41hrs
3. David Mora - Spain 22:3ohrs
Female:
1. Christina Khinast - Austria 25:15hrs
2. Sophiethida Kong - Cambodia 28:12hrs
3. Maria Rotger - Spain 28:56hrs

View fullsize

The 1st Rizal Mountain Run took place in Pintong Bukawe on Luzon in the Philippines and saw many happy faces at the end of a 50km, 30km or 15km mountainous race. Organised by the people behind the specialised gaiter & socks brand Ahon, the longest distance even witness a tremendous battle for victory between Kristian Joergensen and Koy Grey. The event was held as a 2017 Asia Trail Master Candidate Race.

Joergensen, from Denmark but living in the Philippines, and Grey, fourth in last year's CM 50, set the pace and were well ahead of  Juan Sofia in third place. At the end of a tough but beautiful trail run, Joergensen edged out Grey by just over two minutes, showing how closely matched they were. The winner's time was 6:14:47. 

In the women's race, Cheryl Bihag finished ahead of Diorella Cerujano and Alexandria Ahongon in a time of 9:33:05. Mark Sison (men) and Pen Nepomuceno (women) were quickest in the 30km race. 

Afterwards, participants had many great things to say about the Rizal Mountain Run. Not only about the organisation, but also about the beautiful course in what is essentially a spoilt trail running area with already many events. Hailed a successful first edition therefore, the organisers are keen to build on the maiden experience. The 2017 edition is planned for late January or mid-February. Stay tuned for more infos! 

The men's 50k podium

42k winner and local hero Sefli Ahar

Local running star Sefli Ahar and up-and-coming female star Tahira Najmunisaa from Malaysia were the big winners of the first ever trail marathon in Brunei on the island of Borneo last Sunday. The Beach Bunch Trail Challenge, new in the Asia Trail Master series this year, saw approx. 330 enthusiastic runners take the start on Tungku Beach for 42k or 21k. The marathon distance only offered 630 metres of elevation gain, but turned out to be much harder than anyone had expected.  

The so-called Shahbandar rainforest section, from roughly km 5 to 15 was a steep rollercoaster with 14 short but steep hillclimbs that drained runners' legs before they had to cope with loose beach sand in the second half of the marathon.  The choice of running shoe plays a role in this race. While trail shoes gave a grip advantage in the forest, road shoes were gliding better in the loose sand and didn't get sucked in as much. 

Combined with a 30 degree tropical heat, the DNF quote on the 42k was around 50%, so anything unlike the "easy extended training run" some people had in mind! Race winner Sefli Ahar won the Hong Kong Half Marathon a few ears ago, amongst other international victories, and made his debut on the trail scene. While the 42-year-old Bruneian enjoyed the experience, he also admitted to have underestimated the Beach Bunch Trail Challenge. His finishing time of 3:53:23 is over 1 hour and 10 minutes slower than his personal best on the road marathon. Yet he was nearly 40 minutes ahead of Hong Kong's Isaac Wan Ho Yuen in second place, and over an hour of his compatriot Alexander Chung in third. 

Isaac Wan Ho Yuen came second, only a week after finishing 4th in UTHK! He is the new Asia Trail Master points leader

Isaac Wan Ho Yuen delivered a remarkable performance, only a week after finishing fourth in the 156k Ultra Trail Hong Kong! His top placings in the first two races of the 2016 Asia Trail Master series earned him already 900 points for the championship ranking, which he is now leading.  "It was a good race, although it was very hot for a Hong Kong runner," said Wan Ho Yuen afterwards. "I like it that there were so many runnable sections in this race. I prefer that over continuous mountain climbing. To defend my Asia Trail Master ranking, I may consider to run the Magnificent Merapoh Trail in Malaysia in July. Another race with not too excessive elevation gain." 

Isaac Wan Ho Yuen will be one to watch out for this year, and so is the female champion of the Beach Bunch Trail Challenge, Tahira Najmunisaa. In an interview the day before the race, the young mother of three said the Asia Trail Master championship is a goal for her this year. Part of the Running Project Team in Malaysia, Tahira Najmunisaa is not a new face, in fact, as she already won the Bromo Tengger Semeru Ultra 100k last November. In Brunei, she was unbeatable and even finished the marathon in 4th place overall! A solid second place, half an hour behind, went to Singapore-based Japanese runner Itsuko Tanaka. The podium was completed by New Zealand's Moana O'Sullivan. 

Rizan Latif, organiser of the race and President of the Beach Bunch environmental NGO to keep Brunei's beaches clean from waste pollution (a necessary work), was a happy man after the event. Encouraged by the positive feedback on his event, he is already looking forward to 2017. "The race will be back and again in February. Maybe we even add a third ultra distance to the event! But in any case, the most important remains raising awareness in Brunei of the need to keep the beaches clean. Plastic waste pollution is a big and persistent problem."

Well-organised, participants agreed the Beach Bunch Trail Challenge is a great and special addition to the Asian trail calendar!

Top 10 result: Men:
1. Sefli Ahar (Brunei) 3:53:23
2. Isaac Wan Ho Yuen (Hong Kong) 4:32:55
3. Alexander Chung (Brunei) 4:57:56
4. Guillermo Rocco (Argentina) 5:27:03
5. Razif Yahya (Malaysia) 6:10:55
6. Hj Muhammad Yazid Hj Musa (Brunei) 6:14:41
7. Chiew Lie Chieng (Brunei) 6:15:03
8. Hung Zheng On (Brunei) 6:16:37
9. Abang Jamadi Rosli (Malaysia) 6:25:36
10.Mohd Akram Mohd Akbal (Brunei) 6:31:45

Top 6 result: women
1. Tahira Najmunisaa Muhammad Zaid (Malaysia) 5:22:18
2. Itsuko Tanaka (Japan) 5:50:59
3. Moana O'Sullivan (New Zealand) 7:05:06
4. Katherine Mitchell (Great Britain) 7:13:10
5. Melissa Woo (Brunei) 7:30:58
6. Wan Chy On (Brunei) 7:50:34

Isaac Wan Ho Yuen added 450 (100 finisher points + 350 performance points) to his tally after UTHK, and now leads the men's Asia Trail Master ranking with 900 points after 2 races. Tahira Najmunisaa enters in a joint second place with 500 points, behind Yuen Kit Shan, who won the Hong Kong SuperTrail last week (550 points

The first official points scoring race of the 2016 Asia Trail Master series, Ultra Trail Hong Kong, is still one month away, but last weekend in Bandung, Indonesia, we already had a magnificent warm up with the Tahura Trail, a 2017 Candidate Race.  The 4th edition of the event was a big hit with over 2000 participants taking part in the several races! 

Contrary to the previous editions, organiser Agung Adijana, who also does mountainbiking events every year, introduced a proper 42k marathon distance to the programme. The response from the running community was very positive, with a trail course that offered quite a lot of variety and colour. Runners also remarked the many aid stations and the generally positive atmosphere, especially in light of last week's shocking occurrences in nearby Jakarta.

The men's winning time of 4:02:57 indicates that the marathon is not a walk in the park. Champion is local star Abdoullah Mitiche, who is known as a triathlete and aiming to qualify for the IronMan World Championship race in Kona, Hawai this year. Mitiche had an advantage of over one minute to second place Margono Margono. 

The women's champion was Cassidy Jones, who enjoyed a bigger margin over her nearest competitors to grab victory in 4:54:25. 

The champions of the 2016 Tahura Trail Marathon

Top results

Men:
1. Abdullah Mitiche 4:02:57;
2. Margono Margono 4:04:02;
3. Carlos Paz 4:08:26;
4. Rhenaldi Firdaus 4:26:38
5. Aris Sopiandi 4:31:05

Women:
1. Cassidy Jones 4:54:25;
2. Ninik Hauschild 5:14:01;
3. Siti Maemunah 5:35:16
4. Ruth Theresia Hutajulu 5:49:36
5. Ina Budiyarni 6:19:49

A great atmosphere at the start of Tahura Trail 

This year's Annapurna 100,   Nepal's oldest trail race,  took place in October rather than March following local political troubles and the devastating earthquake earlier this year. It has had an effect on the sports industry in the Himalayan country and also resulted in a modest participation field in Pokhara. Nevertheless, the performances of top runners in cloudy and wet conditions was anything but modest! The race was dominated by Nepalese, who took all the podium places in both 100 and 57km. The 100k winner Arjun Kulung in an incredible 10:33:56! Some first time Nepalese runners showed what incredible natural endurance athletes the Nepalese are by making top 5 in this very challenging, extremely hilly race, with one first time runner coming third in the 57km distance.

Annapurna 100km - Men

1. Arjun Kulung (Nepal) 10:33:56
2. Suman Kulung (Nepal) 11:11:00
3. Aite Tamang (Nepal) 12:51:50

50km - Men

1. Bhim Bahadur Tamang (Nepal) 5:33:10
2. Raj Kulung (Nepal) 5:53:50
3. Kiran Kulung (Nepal) 5:53:51

50km - Women

1. Katie McCarver (USA) 10:22:35
2. Eva Svensson (SWE) 10:58:29
3. Sonam Shah (Nepal) 12:40:30

Annapurna 100

Annapurna 100

Annapurna 100 

The 3rd Vietnam Mountain Marathon was won in dominating fashion by Thailand's Sanya Khancai in 8:42:15. He was ahead from start to finish, but always had to keep on pushing because Spain's Roberto Arevalo and Britain's Shorrock Robert Charles were not that far behind. The women's race turned out into a joint victory for Samantha Young and Federica Brugnara.

Rainfall made Vietnam's only serious trail running race tougher than expected for most runners. 154 of them attempted to complete the 70km distance with another 194 going for the 42km distance. The event was well-appreciated by the participants and seems bound to continue growing. A major after party in the mountains of Sapa concluded the event in style. 

TOP 5 RESULT WOMEN:
1. Samantha Young (USA) 10:36:32
2. Federica Brugnara (ITA) 10:36:32
3. Billinda Marshall (NZL) 10:57:26
4. Ann Mari Lilijord (NOR) 10:57:34
5. Napassaporn Chumnarnsit (THA) 11:49:28

TOP 5 RESULT MEN:

1. Sanya Khancai (THA)8:42:15
2. Roberto Arevalo (ESP) 8:54:26
3. Shorrock Charles (GBR) 8:58:05
4. Pharait Varasin (THA) 9:19:31
5. Yuen Wan Ho (HKG) 10:02:50

Last weekend there was not only Borneo 100 TMBT in Malaysia, but also the brand new and promising Epic Valley Malaysia Eco 100 in the Tokun Hills in Penang: a 2016 Asia Trail Master Candidate Race, organised by Endurance Nature, a company led by two experienced and well-known trail runners Seow Kong Ng and Allan Tan. Runners had a choice between the traditional ultra distances of 100km or 50km. Ho Fai Wong (Hong Kong) and Peng Hoon Ng (Malaysia) won the long distance race for men and women respecitively. 

The inaugural event had to cope with rainfall but that did not prevent the participants from having a great run in the scenic Malay countryside. A bit tougher than expected for most people, though. Quite soon after the start the path went up in the area of  the challenging Tokun Hills. Participants therefore really enjoyed the excellent refreshment stations, featuring energy drinks, water and delicious local food. 

The Epic Valley Malaysia Eco 100 clearly has the potential to grow. "We have again established Endurance Nature as a quality event organizer," says Seow Kong Ng. "Eco 100 has proved to be a tough, but beautiful race with yummy food and fantastic volunteers. As first editions go, we have had a few unfortunate problems related to the route marking, but we have analysed these and we will ensure these won't happen again.  Nevertheless, some participants afterwards described our event as 'near perfection'. The future looks good!" 

Avoiding the date clash with TMBT, the event will be held the first weekend of June next year, when it is also an official Asia Trail Master race. 

Start of the 100km race with organiser Seow Kong Ng in the middle

Top 5 results

Men

1. Ho Fai Wong (HKG) 14:38:01
2. Tho Fatt Liew (MAS) 15:19:48
3. Matthew Dyas (GBR) 16:10:57
4. Yew Khuay Lim (MAS) 16:31:19
5. William William (INA) 17:01:04

Women

1. Peng Hoon Ng (MAS) 19:37:14
2. Kelly Hoh (MAS) 19:47:50
3. Soot Goh Ng (MAS) 20:29:10
4. Tsae Ling Toh (MAS) 21:24:33
5. On Tzu Wong (MAS) 21:35:46

The winner of the 50km race 

Trail running in Indonesia has taken off seriously this year, as illustrated with four entries in the Asia Trail Master series, and another fifth event is looking to become part of the series next year. Ijen Trail Running was organised for the first time in Bondowoso, East Java, last weekend and of course had Ijen volcano as its core feature.

On offer in this Candidate Race were 70km, 30km and 10km distances. The long distance was won by Bandung Explorer duo Alan Maulana and Arief Wismoyono, with Hadi Firmansyah completing the podium. Wismoyono  just won the Mount Rinjani Ultra two weeks ago and is said to be focussing on Bromo Tengger Semeru in November as well. If he keeps up this level of form, he could be a favourite to win the first Asia Trail Master championship. 

The 30km race was won by Moh Soni Prasetyo in the men's, and Sara Manurong in the women's. With runners from the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom also on the 30k podium, Ijen Trail running did attract a number of international athletes already. 

Numbers 1 and 2 in the men's 70km flanked by the  winner of the women's 30km. 

Courtesy of Ijen Trail Running

Courtesy of Ijen Trail Running

Courtesy of Ijen Trail Running

Courtesy of Ijen Trail Running

Arief Wismoyono gave the Indonesian trail running community something to cheer about as he became the first local winner of the country’s most renowned trail race, Mount Rinjani Ultra (MRU) on Lombok Island. Hailing from Bandung in Java, the 31-year-old Wismoyono held off a late charge by Hong Kong’s Kwok Lun Ng to cross the finish line in 13 hours and 9 minutes and 39 seconds (gun time). Switzerland’s Caroline Roehrl claimed the women’s title in just over 17 hours, making the difference on the climb up Mount Rinjani. 

450 participants from 38 countries travelled to Senaru, the traditional gateway town for multi day trekking trips on Gunung Rinjani, the active volcano that towers high above the small island at 3726m. MRU may only be 52km in distance, but it has a massive 5800 metres of elevation gain. As if that were not enough by itself, the organiser - Indonesian outdoor hero Hendra Wiyaya - also imposes a strict cut-off time of 22 hours. The DNF quota was very high in the first two editions of the event, and it was no different this year with only 34 out of 183 effective starters beating the challenge. All finishers of course score points for the 2015 Asia Trail Master ranking, and by exception - given the event's high degree of difficulty - also get 1 point for their quest to be come an Asia Trail Grandmaster (6 points required within 2 years). 

Participants were greatly rewarded for their efforts by fantastic views at the peak of the crater lake and even of Gunung Agung on Bali. In addition, there was the enthusiasm and appreciation of the local community. The start of MRU was at 10 p.m., which means that most runners had just reached or were on the way to the peak of Rinjani come sunrise. Those who competed in the 21km shorter Rinjani Altitude Run (RAR) could still look forward to the gorgeous sight of the volcano crater lake at 2600m as well.

Arief Wismoyono is on a roll this year, as he also won the Tambora 200 ultra race on Sumbawa last April. With two more big Indonesian races coming up in the Asia Trail Master series this year, Wismoyono has a good chance to finish high in the championship at the end of the year. His winning time at MRU is not a course record, though,as American Thomas Zachary achieved 12:44 in 2014. Similarly, Caroline Roehrl was half an hour short of the female best mark set by Nora Senn from Hong Kong, i.e. 16:30. 

“This is one of the toughest races out there, and very technical. People usually trek for three days on this volcano” said Pablo Diago, based in Singapore and third on the podium. “It is a bit crazy, but that is why we are here!” Women’s champion Caroline Roehrl was happy but totally empty at the finish. “I ran out of gas in the final part of the summit climb. It was so painful afterwards...” She kept an advantage of 49 minutes over the duo Woon Ping Leung and Lam Lai Po. 

26-year-old Caroline Roehrl was the fastest woman after a rocket climb up Mount Rinjani

The short distance race was won by Hong Kong-based Spaniard Daniel Perez and by local star Ina Budiyarni from Java in the women’s. 

Top results 52 km MRU:

1. Arief Wismoyono 13:09
2. Kwok Lun Ng 13:17
3. Pablo Diago 14:44
4. Regis Cabaret 15:17
5. Alan Maulana 15:57
6. Emmanuel Abade 16:25
7. Anthony Leung Kin Yang 16:33
8. Ullas Narayana 16:52
9. Fandi Ahmad 17:00
10. Caroline Roehrl 17:01
14. Woon Ping Leung 17:51
15. Lam Lai Po 17:51

Daniel Perez was unstoppable on the 21km Rinjani Altitude Run (RAR)

Podium of the women's RAR race with winner Ina Budiyarni in the middle. 

The 17th edition of Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset in the Hovsgol National Park saw a domestic winner on the 100km course. Tumenbayar Shagdar arrived solo at the finish in a time of 11:54., 46 minutes ahead of Spain's Fernando Gonzalez Rodriguez. Fastest woman was Aurelia Veyre from France, though based in South Korea, in 15:16.

As usual a field of close to 100 runners undertook the long trip to the remote national park in the northwest of Mongolia and spend a short week of holiday there. For many people the experience of a lifetime. This year's winner, Shagdar, had previously scored a few podium places on the marathon (42km) distance of this event. His move up to the ultra distance has now given him his first win in a solid time as well. Second-placed Gonzalez Rodriguez is an experienced trailrunner with UTMB and others on his record already. He lost some time as he missed a marker at some point, but the gap to Shagdar was clear nevertheless. 

Top results:

Men 100km:
1. Tumenbayar Shagdar 11:54
2. Fernando Gonzalez Rodriguez 12:40
3. Andrew Eastwood 14:29
4. Michael Hill 14:36
5. James Ferguson 15:16

Women 100km:
1. Aurelia Veyre  15:16
2. Laurel Pardue 16:33
3. Tracy Masuda 17:09

Men 42 km
1. Tuguldur Tselmegsaikhan  5:11

Women 42km
1. Jennifer Pasiciel 5:57

The 1st edition of the Tengri Ultra Trail in Tamgaly Tas, approx 120km from Almaty in eastern Kazakhstan lived up to its pre-race hype. The 300 participants enjoyed a gorgeous day on the varied but tougher-than-expected course, and are already looking forward to more. Local hero George Shejko was the fastest man on the 55km distance in 5:37:15. A member of the national team of Kazakhstan in olympic (speed) walking, Shejko discovered the sport of trail running with this race as also for him it was a new experience. The women's race was won by Akmaral Meirman in 6:48:31. 

The whole event was a true outdoor experience as participants camped in tents along the clean Ili River at Tamgaly Tas, a place where one can also do rock climbing. The long distance race consisted of two laps of 27,5km featuring a variety of terrain, including pristine grassland, steep and bushy hills and an impressive but technical and rocky gorge.  It was the best possible introduction to trail running for local athletes. A select group of non-Kazakhs who had made their way to the event spoke of a lifetime experience. 

Men 55 km:
1.Shejko Georgiy 1989 05:37:15
2. Galimbekov Ilyas 1995 06:13:42
3. Denis Vlasov 1983 06:22:44
Women 55 km:
1.Meirman Akmaral 1983 06:48:31
2. Teich Elizabeth 1991 07:41:55
3.Mergenbaeva Diana 1988 09:03:55

The race is set to continue next year and registrations are likely to open already at the end of this year. 

The Asia Trail Master ranking has been updated with the results of the Tengri Ultra Trail. There are no major changes at the front as Xie Zhangrong (men) and Yuen Kit Shan (women) lead. George Shejko enters in 13th place and Akmaral Meirman in 11th. 

The 1st Bussière Xi Shan Trail Challenge was held in Beijing's Haidian District last weekend, a Candidate Race for the 2016 Asia Trail Master series. Candidate races are races that have already applied for entry into our series next year, and pending evaluation of this year's edition, will indeed do so. Xiaozhao Zhao was at the scene last weekend and reports on an event struck by adverse weather conditions. 

Nearly 700 runners participated in the race which consisted of 4 categories: 88km, 42km, 21km and 10km. Among those runners, approximately 140 raced in the 88km (total ascent  4400m) while 160 in the 42km (total ascent 2300m) respectively. The time limitation for 88k is 24hrs, while the 42km is 12hrs.

The West Hills (= Xi Shan) of Beijing is affiliated to the huge Mount Taihang Shan, which embraces the west and the north of Beijing. The Yangtai Shan (1282m above sea level) of the West Hills is the highest point of Haidian District. There is also a large natural view scenery zone in the West Hills—the Phoenix Ridge. In the sunny days without smog, you can have a splendid view around here—steep cliffs, huge trees and Buddha temples from ancient areas, dense forests and winding trails.

The West Hills is not only famous for its natural beauty, but also for its unique story in the WWII. During the war time, the local guerrillas used this area as their supplying line and covert caches for the fight against Japanese intruders. Many heroes gave their ultimate sacrifice for the final victory in Sep, 1945. A French doctor named Jean Jérome Augustin Bussiere, who had a Master in Chinese and had lived in Beijing for nearly 30 years when the war broke out, stood together with the Chinese people and risked his life and career to smuggle medicine along the trails and footpath in the forest here to help the guerrillas and civilians. The command post of local guerrillas is not far from the Mansion of Bussiere in the West Hills. In 2014, Jinping XI, President of China, highly recommended Mr. Bussiere and his great courage and effort under in the 70 anniversary of China-France establishing diplomatic relations. The organizer of Bussiere Challenge Beijing Xishan Trail also hope to pay respect to Mr. Bussiere in their own way—by organizing a tough running event named after him. 

The 88km category started at 0800AM, 2nd, May while the 42km category started 10minutes later.

In 88km, we can see quite a few familiar faces in the trail running community of Mainland China, such as Zhijian DING, Changgui QIU, Fuyue LI and Shuwen CHEN.

Zhijian graduated from university 3 years ago and has kept running despite a lot of pressure at work. His specialty is coping with technical and steep downhills.

Changgui and Fuyue have something in common: 40+ years old, harsh childhood, dedication to training in their limited spare time and extraordinary toughness and peace of mind, which has made them extremely competitive in all the trail races they ran so far. They often score places on the podium of a trail race.

Shuwen is a finisher of 2013 Tour des Geants, but compared with the 3 abovementioned runners, he does not have unique skills. But he is very experienced in running at night.

In the female field, Runqing MAO, a teacher from a university in Tianjin attracted the most attention before the race. Mao is not only good at descending but also highly resistent to exhaustion. Compared to her results in races, her training is one of high efficiency-cost ratio.

All things went smoothly until top runners stormed to the entrance of a trail after a long ascent by stone stairs. The volunteers showed the wrong direction, and runners followed their instructions. Nearly 30 runners of 88km and 42km ran in the wrong direction until they realized how far they went—almost 3km. Despite this unfortunate incident, most runners considered the extra distance as a surprising bonus. It did not affect the outcome of the race neither. 

Zhijian led the race almost from the start to the end, while Changgui and Fuyue took up the 2nd and 3rd positions in turn. But Changui and Fuyue missed a sign a second time later on in the race. 

Around 5 or 6 o’clock, a downpour began and a strong wind began to blow. The organizer altered the course according to the weather forecast and their emergency back-up plan: a shortcut to lower the difficulty and total distance of 88km to 63km in consideration of the safety of runners and volunteers.

In the end, the rainstorm ensured no more than 20 runners finished the long distance race. By the time of 4 AM, all the runners had returned to the finish line safely, which was of course the most important thing. 

Top 3 male:

1 Zhijian DING-11:18
2 Fuyue LI-11:53
3 Changgui QIU-12:47

For top females, Runqing Mao lost her way several times and ranked 2nd, while a new face, Xuetao ”Bee Queen” Wu,  became the champion in her debut race over a +50km  distance. It took them about 5 hours to run alone in the rain and then the dark wild. Ultra trail running is the game for brave and tough girls.

Top 3 female:

1 Xuetao WU-14:05
2 Runqing MAO-15:28
3 Ning ZHAO-15:54

In the 42km, we also saw familiar elites like Kailun WEI (from Liaoning Province, the fastest Chinese with best rank in the Tour des Geants: 107hrs 25min, 59th overall), Duanyang BI(Marathon PR under 2hrs 45min) and Qiuyu MENG(finished Vibram HK100 within 14 hrs) plus Jingfeng LIU(F, Marathon PR under 3hrs 15min). For those who practiced along the course already a couple of times, experience was their secret to finish, or even prevail. 

There was an innovation in this race, which is also the first attempt in a trail running race in Mainland China. If a runner of 88km category wanted to switch to 42km category, he/she could do so at a special checkpoint under the supervision of organizer’s representative. 1 UTMB point was still available after switching, but of course there was no access to the podium of the 42km. The race director, Mr. Daqing WANG said that it is the TNF100HK gave him inspiration to set this rule in regulation.

Top 3 male:

1 Dunyang BI-04:54
2 Linhu LI-05:06
3 Jindong LI-05:23

Top 3 female:

1 Jing LIU-06:36
2 Yan SHI-06:58
3 Liping WANG-07:12

Father & Son

Maofu WANG is the son of Yan WANG and Jingli ZHANG. Wang is a devoted trail runner and photographer in his spare time along with his wife, Jingli. As a Tecnica-sponsored runner, Wang will run the 2015 Tour des Geants this autumn in Italy and he also finished several 100km in Mainland China and Hongkong with solid performances. In 2014, he completed the TNF100km Beijing (105km, total ascend 6900m) in dark night and in dense fog within 20hrs. In Bussiere Challenge, he ran the 21km with his little son all the way. ”This is a good opportunity to teach him the meaning of challenge and achievement, as well as enjoy and respect the nature. Of course, he is very happy all the time. He finished the 21km all by his own efforts because I told him if he relies on my strength, he will be disqualified by the organizer. And, I trust his determination and fitness.” Wang said. “At the first I am a little worried about them because I lost contact with them, perhaps due to the bad signal of mobile phone. But on seeing them back at the finish line so happy, I am really excited! I am so proud of my family. ”Jingli said. She was a volunteer in the timing group and photographing during the race and offered more than 12hrs service.

The race director also appointed Maofu, the youngest finisher of 21km to distribute medals to some 21km finisher behind him. Maofu enjoyed it as a game, he also set the record of the youngest volunteer.

Furthermore, a charity running group including 10 handicapped runners finished 10km and they will continue their adventure in Gobi desert in Gansu Province soon.

Regarding the many participants on the 21km and 10km, most of them were recreational hikers and it was their first try of trail running.

Despite the bad weather conditions for the long distance runners, the event brought a lot of smiles. The organiser has taken note of the technical issues faced by some of the runners and will solve these for next year's 2nd edition.