Few trail races begin with compulsory mountaineering helmets, but the unusual start of the Kailas FUGA Gongga 100 Extreme Glacier Challenge was different from most races. Starting in darkness at an altitude of 9,100 feet, 97 runners made their way across the ice and rocks of the Hailuogou Glacier in the remote Daxue Mountains of Western Sichuan Province, China. As daylight broke, the lead runners, including the eventual winner, Huang Wei, made it up and out of the glacier to checkpoint 2 before continuing up rocky trails to 14,680 feet, which provided stunning views of Mt. Gongga (elevation 24,790 feet). Mt. Gongga was first successfully ascended by two Americans in 1932, and there have since been less than 40 successful attempts to climb the mountain. In 2020, an earthquake hit the area and it was closed off to visitors. Sitting on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, around 300k from the provincial capital of Chengdu, this race takes place in one of the country’s most extreme and isolated locations.
It may have only taken Huang Wei just over an hour to reach this point, but it took Kailas FUGA and Letour Sports over seven years of careful planning and collaboration with the local government and community to gain a permit that would allow runners access to the usually closed area of Hailuogou Glacier. China’s trail race scene has been rapidly developing during the past decade, and this race signifies the start of a new phase of more ambitious races in China by offering access to some of the country’s most extreme terrain.
For this first edition, 1,050 runners participated in three separate courses: 100k, 55k and 30k. Huang Wei took just 13:57:22 to cross the 104k route. The winner of the women’s 100k was Zhao Fen, who took 20:33 and was 13th overall. Out of 97 starters, 69 runners completed the race, including five women. However, the difficulty of the course meant that it was adjusted from 104k to 94.6k so that more runners could safely finish. There were 24 people who finished the original course, and 45 who finished the adjusted course. Three women finished the 104k course and two finished the 94.6k route.
This first edition attracted runners from seven different countries, and with the success of this race, it means that China is well-positioned to become a major destination for international runners.