70km - Ultra Marathon
70km | +3,169m gain
Race date: Saturday, 19 January 2019
Start: 4AM, Muong Thanh Moc Chau Luxury Moc Chau Hotel
Qualification: Registration is only open for very experienced runners, at least 18 years old on race day, who have previously completed at least 1 ultra-marathon of 42km+ or an equivalent (Adventurerace, Ironman etc.).
You will start in darkness with your headlamps on for a 3km run out of Moc Chau town to your first challenge – a steep, narrow farmer’s track taking you up into the hills.This testing 300m climb will see the first selection of the faster uphill participants.
At the top a beautiful narrow trail leads between peach blossom orchards and tiny ethnic minority villages. You will not find these settlements named on Google maps and there is no road system connecting them. In January the trees will be full of white and pink blossom and the ground will be carpeted in wild flowers.
After 8km of runnable rolling terrain and a section of ancient jungle you will emerge into a broad valley from which there is only one way out the other side – a very sharp climb to test your legs! Your reward at the top will be grand views back across the valley and into the next which you will then descend into.
The following section of the course is largely very runnable with plenty of trail variety and undulation before you join back up with the 42km and finally the 21km and 10km runners for and head into the area’s famous tea plantations. The VTM finish line is located right in the centre of the stunning rows of tea surrounded by hills.
Here the 42km runners will turn off and you will continue deeper into remote territory. A slither of trail cuts along the valley side to a tiny village which is home to a big family of very inquisitive goats. On our research trip the sole villager here told us we were the first people not from the local area he had seen – this is truly remote running!
