V Trail in Laos: more runable and race day Sunday!

Over the years V Trail has built up a reputation of being one of the - if not THE - most brutal trail running events in Southeast Asia. But now in 2026 things promise to be quite different! The event in Vang Vieng, organised by Green Step, has undergone a true face lift in order to make the races more digestible and fun, in line with modern trends in trail running. All races will take place on Sunday, 15 March with the flagship race the 50km starting at 5 am, i.e. more or less at sunrise. That’s correct: no more 85km jungle torture. At least not in 2026.

The 50km is an Asia Trail Master Championship qualifier and is also redesigned compared to last year’s course, won by Jeff Campbell (male) and Anna Turrini (female). Whereas in 2025 our reigning champion Campbell still required almost 8 hours and 40 minutes, expectation is that the new layout is much faster and runable. Still, Vang Vieng remains surrounded by hilly rainforest and nearly 1900 metres of elevation gain needs to be conquered. The start and finish is at the Vang Vieng lower secondary school, very close to the river that flows through the town. The cut-off time has been set at 12 hours, i.e. 5 pm at the finish back at the school.

Less ambitious runners can also opt for a 30km, 18km and 10km. Vang Vieng is a popular travel destination in Laos and connected on the high speed railway network between country capital Vientiane and China’s Kunming in Yunnan. From Vientiane airport, it takes a good hour to reach Vang Vieng by highway. Busses are available. Stay tuned for latest updates on the events’s facebook page.

International runners can get registration and accommodation information via whatsapp number +856 20 9221 1556 . You can also send an email to info@asiatrailmaster.com , our team can redirect to the event organising team in Laos.