In the early stages of the men’s race, the fight was on between a small group of elite runners including Longfei Yan, Min Qi, Canhua Luo and Peiquan You. But as the pack progressed along the course, it was the most experienced athlete Longfei who took the lead and consistently crossed through the check points in first place, finishing the race with an impressive record-breaking time of 10:05. This is the third year in a row that he has taken the win in the Ultra-Trail® Ninghai.

In second place was Guomin Deng, who took on a different and calmer approach in the race, hanging back during the first half and keeping the gap controlled, before picking up the pace in the second half whilst the others in the leading pack fell back. He managed to take second position with an equally impressive time of 10:16. It was a similar strategy followed by Jing Liang, who jumped to third position only in the last 30km. He finished with a time of 10:28, just several seconds ahead of his teammate Jiaju Zhao who finished in 10:29. 

Congratulations to these top 4 male athletes who all broke existing records for the course.

In the women’s competition, the defending champion Fuzhao Xiang ran a seamless race and was not challenged once by any fellow runners. Her record-breaking time of 12:32 saw her retain the top spot.

The second position taker Shangwei Qu was similarly un-challenged throughout the race, instead running amongst the male runners for the whole course and finishing with a time of 13:45.

It was Yang Feifei who completed the podium, finishing in 3rd place with a time of 14:14. Cairong Zhang and Yafang Shan finished in 5th place and 6th place.

Men’s podium

1. Longfei Yan - 10:05

2. Guomin Deng - 10:16

3. Jing Liang - 10:28

Women’s podium

1. Fuzhao Xiang - 12:32

2. Shangwei Qu - 13:45

3. Feifei Yang - 14:14

While it was a shame that the Ultra-Trail® Ninghai was not able to welcome international athletes this year, it was fantastic to see so many Chinese runners participate and witness such strong performances from the elite tier. 

Next race of the 2020 UTWT circuit: Javelina Jundred! 

This mythical race in the United States will take place during the weekend of Halloween! Of course the organizers are setting up a specific COVID protocol.

See you on October 29th for a terrifying race!