VJM 50KM Ultra Trail

With a convenient start and finish location right in the heart of our VJM race village, just a few hours from Hanoi, this stunning route offers a wide variety of terrain through much of Pu Luong Nature Reserve’s most breathtaking scenery.

Long runnable sections are interspersed with climbing challenges, making this a very well-balanced ultra route.

After the start, a village loop lets you settle into the race, before a fast downhill through beautiful rice terraces. A gentle climb through forest follows; here, the peaceful sounds of the jungle will immerse you in nature.

You’ll then be rewarded with a dream downhill singletrack to a small ethnic village. Some fast flat running then leads to a verdant, green trail, with more forested singletrack.

Next, you will emerge into an expansive rice valley where Checkpoint 1 awaits in a small village.

Then comes a narrow, scenic riverside trail, featuring a bamboo bridge crossing, followed by more singletrack to another river crossing. A double track trail then follows the course of a river North through a beautiful valley to Checkpoint 2.

The runnable terrain then continues, with a narrow trail through more small villages and past waterwheels before crossing the broad valley through rice fields to your next Checkpoint at Lang Doc village.

An awesome singletrack section then weaves around hidden rice paddies, before you emerge back into another broad valley with high mountains surrounding you. Here, more runnable paths take you through a series of small, pretty villages set on the edge of the rice fields.

From the Checkpoint near Ban Nua village, the race shifts gear, with a climb and descent into the remote village of Pon which lies in another of Pu Luong’s incredibly pretty valleys, surrounded by steep, jungle-clad limestone.

Then comes a challenge of your race: a seriously steep climb, which rises through dense, rocky jungle, before emerging at one of the most spectacular lookout points in all of Vietnam. We will never forget the first time we saw this knockout view and we can guarantee you will never forget it either!

A steep, but fun downhill from the lookout brings you to a fast, flat section along the valley floor to the picturesque village of Kho Muong and your next Checkpoint. This small ethnic settlement of stilt houses is one of many parts of this course where it feels like time stands still.

A challenging uphill through beautiful, old forest then takes you to some spectacular rice terraces with yet more incredible views. After a Water Station, you will run through a couple more small villages before hitting a pure jungle section on awesome singletrack. For the next few kilometers there are no villages, just amazing trail under the shade of the peaceful forest canopy.

Emerging from this lush jungle section, you’ll reach your last Checkpoint at Chom Ui, before crossing a beautiful bamboo bridge which we build especially for you. The final section includes a steep climb to Don Village, where you will enjoy some final runnable kilometers through one of the area’s most expansive and beautiful rice terraced valleys.

One last stepping stone bridge leads back to our race village and your finish line. Here, you can enjoy music, good vibes and the well-earned finisher buffet feast that VJM has become famous for.