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.  

From the start line, a fast downhill through beautiful rice terraces leads to the first climb. The cooling shade of the lush jungle canopy, together with the sounds of nature and a fairly gentle gradient, make this a beautiful first uphill section.  

Over the top of the climb, you’ll be rewarded with an awesome downhill through the forest. Magical views unfold of a broad rice valley dotted with picturesque villages and surrounded by lofty limestone peaks. This downhill section is dreamlike territory for trail lovers.  

Next, you’ll run a flatter section through an ethnic village, before the route turns off the small road and onto a long, verdant green trail.  

Entering an expansive rice valley, your first checkpoint awaits. A small village path then leads to a scenic riverside trail, featuring a bamboo bridge crossing, followed by more single track and a deep river valley leading to the next checkpoint. 

The landscape then changes again, with flatter, runnable trail past old wooden waterwheels. You will hear them creak as they turn slowly in the river, feeding water into bamboo channels which flow into the vibrant rice paddies. 

Awesome singletrack then winds through remote territory before you emerge back into a broad valley. The next checkpoint follows more runnable terrain through a series of villages set on the edge of the rice fields.  

From here, the race shifts gear, with a climb and descent into the remote village of Pon where magnificent views of jungle-clad limestone hills await. Then comes the key challenge of your race: a steep climb, which rises through dense 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. This small ethnic settlement of stilt houses is one of many parts of this course where it feels like time stands still.  

An uphill through beautiful, old forest then leads to the next checkpoint. Soon after this you will run into more remote territory – for the next few kilometers there are no villages, just amazing singletrack trail under the shade of the peaceful forest canopy.    

Emerging from this lush jungle section, you will cross a stream, then head uphill through small ethnic villages, before descending back into Don village for your final kilometers through one of the area’s most expansive rice terraces and across a beautiful bamboo bridge, which we build especially for race day.   

Back in our race village, you can enjoy music and the delicious finisher buffet feast that VJM has become famous for.