IMPORTANT!
Distance: 54.8km | Elevation gain 2,000m
Race Start: 7:00, Saturday, 08-03-2025
Departure to start: 5:45 (last bus) – Lac village’s parking area – Google maps
Start location: Bản Cang, Pa Co Commune
Finish location: Sân Cộng Đồng Bản Lác – Google maps
CUT-OFF TIMES (COT): 12:30 at CP3 (Hang Kia) – 14:30 at CP4 (Điểm Săn Mây) – 16:30 at CP5 (Xóm Pạnh) – 19:00 at CP6 (Xóm Nám) – 20:30 at CP7 (Xóm Te) – 22:00 at CP1 (Nà Mo) – 00:00 at FINISH
Age Restriction: Entrants to VUM 55km must be at least 18 years old on race day.
Qualification: To run VUM 55km, you must have previously completed at least one chip timed trail race of 20km+ with significant elevation. Loop runs / virtual races do not qualify.
On registration, please provide a URL link to your qualifying result (Topas result link, UTMB Index, ITRA Index, or similar). If you plan to complete a qualifying race between now and race day, you must send us your result by 30 days prior to the race date.
Failure to provide evidence of a qualifying past performance will result in refusal of entry and the refund terms stand.
Distance: 49,4km | Elevation gain 2,450m
Start time: 5:00, Saturday
Bus to Start: 3:45 (last bus), Bãi đỗ xe bản Lác (Lac village’s parking area), Mai Chau – Google maps
Start location: Sân bóng xóm Báo (Báo Hamlet’s football field), Bao La Commune, Mai Chau District – Google Maps
Finish location: Sân lửa trại bản Lác, Mai Chau – Google maps
COT: CP3 5.1km at 11:00 – CP4 13.8km at 14:00 – CP5 20km at 16:00 – CP6 30.9km at 19:00 – CP7 43.1km at 22:30 – Finish 49.4km at 23:59:59
Please note, the Cut Off Time (COT) is the time you must leave the checkpoint. If you leave after the COT, the timing system will automatically list you as DNF (Did Not Finish). Also, if you leave on time, but you go back to the checkpoint after the COT, you will be listed DNF.
Age restriction: Open to experienced runners at least 18 years old on race day.
Qualification: It is recommended you have completed at least 1 trail race over 20km with significant elevation.
Finish Bag
01 bag/runner.
Handing in your bag: at the START LINE
Please prepare your own bag. Bags must be sealed/closed. Do not include valuables – the organiser cannot be held responsible for any loss. BRING your luggage tag (given at the race pack collection), we will staple it for you.
Picking up your bag after the race: at the FINISH
Course description
New for 2025, this beautiful 55km ultra route has a high percentage of trail through a wide variety of stunning landscapes. Large sections are retained from 2025, but the direction of running is reversed.
Moreover, the start is now in the abandoned Hmong village area of Ban Cang at an altitude of almost 1,000m. This cuts out much of the long climbing from the 2024 route, on which the start was down at an altitude of around 150m.
From the start you will run directly onto single track and soon climb from one beautiful remote valley to the next on a wide variety of great trails.
You will then come to the fabled land of Hang Kia, where Hmong communities live not far from the border with Laos. For many years, this area was completely off the tourist map. Now you can run here and discover another side of Mai Chau.
You will run past the unique, circular village of Thung Mai which sits at the highest point of the course. From here, you will run downhill, past the famed “San May Hang Kia”.
Grand mountain panoramas spread before you here, with steep, jungled mountains forming a dramatic backdrop across the valley.
A long descent through forests brings you down to the valley floor at Xom Panh, home to the Muong ethnic group. The character of the course changes dramatically here, with flatter trails taking you through villages and through stunning rice terrace scenery.
After passing through Xom Te village checkpoint, you will head onto a new single track section which we love. This part is uphill, but the gradients are not too steep and the climbing is interspersed with some easier parts. Here you will be rewarded with ever more stunning views of forested mountains and rice terraced valleys.
Following your final checkpoint, the last section is full of trail variety and brings you down to the quintessential scenic beauty of the main Mai Chau valley. Here we will have a finish line in the heart of the community, with music, food and the good trail vibes our races are famous for.
We look forward to welcoming you to Vietnam Ultra Marathon on The Trails of Mai Chau.
Please read the Finish Area information here.
MANDATORY EQUIPMENT
Top 3 VUM Runners will have mandatory kit inspections.
Other kit inspections are carried out at random, including at the start line.
Lack of mandatory kit will result in disqualification (DSQ) or time penalty.
Refusal of kit check = DSQ
Please note we disqualified runners at every event in the past year for lacking kit. Be prepared and carry what you need.
- Details to Run Only Program
- Details to 3-day Inclusive Package Program
VUM 55km is a 2-point qualifying race for ITRA, an ITRA National League race, and a 50K UTMB Index race.
