Sherpa returns to victory lane in Dalat Ultra Trail

Alessandro Sherpa scored his first ATM points race victory since Penang Eco 100km in June 2019, and his 5th ever at last Saturday’s 5th edition of Dalat Ultra Trail in Vietnam. After running initially together with local talent Le Tan Hi, Sherpa went ahead by himself in the last 25 km of the race through the pine forests of the Central Highlands. The Italian T8 runner crossed the finish line in 9:06:17. Afterwards, Sherpa declared great satisfaction with the trail course design in Dalat as being ‘textbook’ trail running. A good half hour later, Le Tan Hi managed to hold onto second despite a late charge by the experienced Nguyen Si Hieu, who scored yet another podium in an ATM points race. France's Jean Haniqaut came in fourth, showing competitive improvement after his 5th place in the 100 miles of VMM last year. Especially considering he preceeded the Japanese tandem of Yuta Matsuyama and Tomohiro Mizukoshi in fitfh and sixth places. Trung Nguyen finished 7th, Nguyen Tien Vo 8th and Singapore’s Deric Lau 9th.

Hau Ha was best woman, and fifth overall in a time of 10h14. The ATM Champion did not push too hard in her first ultra of the new season, and considered it an excellent training for her personal goals later this season, in which she hopes to make a mark on the global stage after her successful regional campaign last year. Kathryn Cush and Luong Thi Loi completed the women's podium. Cush actually ran a superb race herself, coming in the finish together with Tien Vo and Deric Lau inside the overall Top 10.

The next Vietnamese points races in the 2023 Asia Trail Master Championship series are the 100km and 42 km categories of Cuc Phuong Jungle Paths near Ninh Binh on 1/2 April.

Alessandro Sherpa enjoyed the race a lot, and had its proceedings pretty much under control

Nguyen Si Hieu and Le Tan Hi completed the podium