Dalat Ultra Trail the light at the end of the corona tunnel

It has been four months exactly since the last Asia Trail Master Championship points race took place. That was Ultra Trail Koh Chang in Thailand. At long last, this weekend we can all again enjoy some real action rather than ‘virtual’, even when Dalat Ultra Trail is not immune to the corona pandemic neither. The Vietnamese country border remains closed for the time being, so that only residents inside Vietnam can participate. And afterwards, we will all be in the waiting zone again until mid-September when the Vietnam Mountain Marathon is on the agenda, which will then hopefully launch an exciting final three months of the 2020 ATM season. Brief, let’s cherish the Dalat Ultra Trail as a light at the end of the tunnel and enjoy as runners or spectators to the fullest!

Originally scheduled for its usual mid-March date, DLUT attracted close to 5000 registrations, confirming its position as one of the most popular trail running events in Asia as a whole. A new 100K category has been added on top of the classic 70K, and both races offer ATM Championship points. The 100K as the A-race with 500 points for the winner and the 70K as the B-race with 370 points for the winner. After three points races in the early months of the season, Hisashi Kitamura leads the men’s ranking with 850 points and the trio of Fredelyn Alberto, Charlotte Taquet and Amy Sproston top the women’s ranking with 500 each. Kitamura theoretically only has to fear one man, and the female trio is set to become a quartet of race winners. It could, however, become a sweet year for Vietnamese elite runners. Touch wood, they have three domestic points races still on the ATM calendar and with the new updated regulations for 2020 saying “best-three-count” instead of “best-five” , they could have an ideal starting position for the ATM Final on 19 December, Borneo TMBT Ultra 100.

All the known elites of the Vietnamese trail scene are logically in Dalat this weekend. That includes Quang Tran, who led the race last year until he ‘hit the wall’. Hisashi Kitamura and John Ellis caught him after he had also missed a marking sign, and he decided to DNF. Quang Tran is the measuring stick, the reference, for all male elites in his country, and he will be keen to show that the 2019 non-finish was just an accident. He started his 2020 with a victory in a significant domestic race in a time faster than the year before. “I was very motivated to train and do well in that race,” says Quang Tran, who had also planned to move to a town closer to Dalat. “But then the covid 19 broke out and the government ordered social distancing and other preventive measures, so I returned immediately to Ho Chi Minh City as that would be easier for self-quarantine.”

Quang Tran has one A-race in mind for this shortened 2020 season: “after three years, I will return to Sapa and the Vietnam Mountain Marathon (a race he won in 2017, kvdv). I m very excited already, I spend time thinking about it almost every day.” But first Dalat. “Last year I made a mistake, I was too greedy and when I lost the right track I continued too long, stubbornly.” It is a lesson that nearly all elites once in their careers learn the hard way. “Now I m looking forward to racing again against Nhon Trong and the others. Maybe even the regional elites in Asia later in 2020, yes. In Vietnam, Nhon Trong is the one to watch in the future.”

And finally Quang Tran has some advice for all participants this weekend: “My advice is to stay calm, pace yourself well from the start, and don’t treat the ultra-trail like a race.”

Nhon Trong has been tipped by Quang Tran as the biggest trail talent for the future, and the youngster will try to show that once more in Dalat. A very fast runner, Nhon Trong went beyond his own comfort zone at the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival by doing the 84k race (which he finished in 6th place). It was his first long ultra. At the end of January, he challenged Alessandro Sherpa for the win at the Cau Dat Farm 55K race, a Candidate Race for the ATM Championship in 2021. This weekend will be his first 100K.

The same applies for Hanoi-based Frenchman Valentin Orange, who has been tipped as a dangerman this weekend. Having made consistent progress over the past year, Orange considers himself a real mountain trail runner and this weekend’s Dalat Ultra Trail is likely to fit him much better than when it is organised in March. The wet season has already started in southern Vietnam and the usual dry, runable trails in the pine forests are much muddier and therefore slower now. This creates opportunities for elites who otherwise lack the top speed to fight for victory.

Last but not least to mention is of course Hung Hai, another great Vietnamese multisport talent. Winner of the aforementioned Vietnam Mountain Marathon in the past two years, Hung Hai represented his country in the South East Asia Games last December for the duathlon race. It will be exciting to see how he deals with Quang Tran tomorrow.

Trung Nguyen has kindly enough been assisting Asia Trail Master in Dalat the past days, and will run the 100K himself, having just fulfilled the mandatory 14-day quarantine earlier in the week. Trung lives in Singapore and has had to travel to his native country for work reasons. After his 5th place in EcoTrail Al Ula in Saudi Arabia last February, he has 375 points in the bank and a theoretical chance to overtake Kitamura as points leader in the Asia Trail Master Championship. To achieve that, he needs to win and grab the 500 points that come with it. As Quang Tran said in our interview yesterday: “motivation is key”.

Highlights of the 2019 70K race

Hung Hai has trained extensively for this Saturday’s big 100k race in Dalat

A typical view: running in the pine forest. This year it could be a lot muddier and technical than normally