Dalat Ultra Trail celebrates new ATM race winners

The 2022 edition of Dalat Ultra Trail confirmed the emergence of two new trail stars based in Vietnam. Frenchman Gaetan Morizur was too strong for Nhon Trong and Nguyen Si Hieu in the men’s, and Ha Ti Hau dominated the women’s race in highly impressive manner, proving that all the rumours about her were true. DLUT was the first major trail running event in the country after the relaxation of anti-covid measures in Vietnam some weeks ago. Despite the short notice, more than 4000 runners took part in the event across the various race distance categories. About 280 signed up for the longest one: the 70 km, on a new course that was significantly different from 2019 and featured the technical late-race ascent and descent of Lang Biang mountain, the highest peak in the Central Highlands at over 2100 metres above sea level.

From the start at 4 am, roughly an hour-and-a-half before sunrise, three runners distinguished themselves already by the km 10 mark (CP1). Gaetan Morizur, Nguyen Si Hieu and Nhon Trong, the trio that would stay ahead and battling for the podium places for the whole day. Behind them already then was Ha Ti Hau, first woman, who put distance between her and a small group of ther women led by Vu Thi Lan Huong at this point but also including Julia Nguyen Thi Duong , the highest ranked female in the 2020/21 ATM series before it got cancelled due to the covid pandemic.

Approaching the halfway point at CP5 and following a long uphill section in a magnificent pine forest with great vistas, Morizur dropped Nhon Trong, who was fighting hard to keep the gap to a minimum. Nguyen Si Hieu lost about ten minutes. Ha Ti Hau looked strong and safe, as the gap to the next women had increased to over 40 minutes already. Julia Nguyen Thi Duong and Vu Thi Lan Huong were still together and eventually also rank in that order at the finish line in the afternoon. And so did the men in fact. Morizur did not wait for anyone after the midway climb and pressed on. Nhon Trong could not bridge the gap and on Lang Biang mountain felt Nguyen Si Hieu creeping closer to him again.

Morizur took his first ever victory in an ATM race, visibly tired from the effort but excited nonetheless. He had a 39-minute advantage over Nhon Trong, who struggled towards the end and managed to keep Nguyen Si Hieu behind by 7 minutes. Nhon Trong said he had just recovered from illness and still felt it, while Nguyen Si Hieu looked relatively fresh after scoring his fourth podium place in an ATM points race (he won once, VMM 70k in 2018).

On our ATM facebook page you can find several video clips shot during the 70km race, including the race finish of Gaetan Morizur, Nhon Trong, Nguyen Si Hieu and Ha Ti Hau.