Lam Dong Trail: Nguyen Phuong Hieu too fast for Godwin Mirar!

Held in generally excellent conditions, this year’s Lam Dong Trail in Dalat, Vietnam, was a feast for lovers of more runable trail races through the area’s magnificent pine forests and coffee plantations. Local Vietnamese runner Nguyen Phuong Hieu grabbed the opportunity to shine with both hands and bolted away from everyone else in the men’s 85km race, a qualifier for the ATM Championship. Hieu was the winner of the 100k in Gombak, Malaysia, last year, but in TMBT 50k the same year he could only manage seventh - and quite far behind Godwin Mirar that day. In Lam Dong, it was the other way around, however, as the Filipino had no answer to the blistering pace set by Nguyen Phuong Hieu, who completed the course in 9h30. That was nearly 45 minutes faster than Mirar! France’s Corentin Vitre scored a solid third on the podium thirteen minutes later. The race’s fourth finisher, Tran Van Que, was exactly two hours later than the race winner. William Rickwood George took fifth ahead of established local competitor Le Tan Hi.

Also in the women’s 85km race one runner stood out from all the rest, competitively speaking. Luu Hong Van scored her first ever ATM race victory with a strong performance to finish ninth overall in 12h50. She was more than one-hour-and-a-half faster than Kon Tap Trang and Japan’s Tamae Harada in third place.

The next trail running event in Vietnam on the ATM calendar takes place in a different part of Dalat: Prenn Trail Summit in December. That event has several race categories with a Grandmaster Quest point on offer. The next Championship Qualifier in Vietnam is the traditional January event, Vietnam Trail Marathon in Moc Chau.