The latest UTMB World Series race, TransJeju, saw competitors summit the highest point in South Korea, Hallasan Mountain.
The Island of Jeju, South Korea, played host to the UTMB World Series event, which served as one of the biggest running festivals in Asia. The race took place in Hallasan National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its volcanic peaks.
Racing would take place over a period of two days and include three event categories: 100k, 50k, and 20k.
In the 100k event, runners were faced with over 4,000m of positive elevation. It would be an event dominated by Chinese runners in both the menโs and womenโs races.
In the menโs race, Tao Luo would be the first to cross the line of the 111km course with a time of 9:18:09. Guidu Qin would take second as he crossed the line four minutes behind his compatriot Luo. Ji Duo would be rounding out an all-Chinese podium, finishing 22 minutes behind Luo.
Luo came into the race with good form, as he had placed ninth the month prior at UTMB OCC.
In the womenโs 100k race, it was the Chinese runners who once again put on a display of dominance.
Wenrong Zheng would prevail after completing the rugged course in 12:22:46. It would be a Chinese 1-2 in the womenโs 100k race as Zhengโs compatriot, Lin Chen, would be edged out by only four seconds in a thrilling finish.
Kanako Edamoto of Japan would cross the line in third place and be the only non-Chinese on either the menโs or womenโs 100k podiums.
This would be Zhengโs second victory of the season after taking the win at the Adidas TERREX Chongli 168 Ultra Trail Race back in July.
It would once again be the Chinese runners showing dominance in the 50k race. The menโs race was won by Xingjing Li, who covered the 53km course in 4:27:07. Ryunosuke Omi of Japan came in 10 minutes behind Li, and Guangfu Meng rounded out the podium as he crossed the line 20 minutes back.
In the womenโs race, Fuzhao Xiang would claim victory after completing the course in 5:06:46. Her compatriot Anna Li would finish in second with a time of 5:33:25. Xin Wang would complete an all-Chinese podium crossing in third with a time of 6:06:46.
The next race on the UTMB World Series is Kodiak Ultra Marathons by UTMB, which comes this weekend, October 13-15, with an array of distance categories including 10k, 21k, 50k, 100k, and 100m.
