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The second race at the Asia Pacific Trail Running Championships is the U23 event for athletes aged 23 and under. Featuring 15.9km of rugged terrain and 1,182m of elevation gain and loss, it’s a stern test of young international athletes.
The race started with a downhill sprint from the Yeongnam Alps Welcome Center before the runners took on a gruelling climb over Ganweolsan Mountain, where the reward was a beautiful panoramic view of Busan and beyond. There follows a quad-busting descent through Ganwoljae to a warm welcome at the finish line.
In the women’s race Zoe Manning of Australia won gold by a relatively comfortable 20 minutes. The margin between silver medallist from Japan, Kasuga Watabe, and bronze medallist, Hong Kong’s Tin Ching Lam, was a wafer-thin 14 seconds. Hong Kong claimed positions 4 and 5 as well, with Wing Man finishing in 2 hours 17 and Phoebe Woo On Kei in 2 hours 51 minutes.
Manning was delighted to win, saying: “The course was really fun, and it was amazing to be out there. The views were absolutely stunning, and it was just incredible to be up that high”.
In the men’s field Rex Lo Lok Yin from Hong Kong, China, won the gold medal in a blistering 1 hour and 32 minutes. Australian speedsters Ethan Penck and Toby Lang took silver and bronze in 1 hour 35 and 1 hour 36, respectively. Local hero, Jinmyeong Kim, took 4th place in 1 hour 40, and Malaysia’s Daaraneswarararan Sim fifth in 1 hour 42.
Lo said: “I am very happy. In the first part of the race, I was in 2nd or 3rd place, but I managed to overtake at about 8 or 9km and sped downhill to the finish. The course is quite difficult, but I love this race!”.
ITRA President, Janet Ng, enthused: “Huge congratulations to our Under 23 athletes at this first-ever championship race. Your talent and passion promise an unstoppable future for trail running in Asia. What a beginning—keep blazing the trail!”.
Still to come: the Long Trail Race (74km, 4,787m elevation gain) starting at 5.30am (Korea time) on Saturday 26 October.
APTRC Race Distances
The APTRC features races over 3 distances. These are the U23 (15.9km, 1,182m elevation gain, 4.5 hours maximum) for athletes who are aged 23 or younger, the Short Trail Race (41km, 2,783m elevation gain, 10 hours maximum) and the Long Trail Race (74km, 4,787m elevation gain, 18.5 hours maximum). Each race has men’s, women’s, individual and team categories and there is also a team ranking overall.
APTRC Runners
200 athletes from 19 countries / regions are competing. Here is the start-list.
APTRC Schedule
The main events take place at the following times.
The full APTRC 2024 timetable is here.
Following the APTRC
The Short Trail Race and Long Trail Race will be live-streamed. The details of the live stream, along with the GPS tracker, are on the APTRC website.
All the action will be on the APTRC’s Instagram and Facebook accounts throughout the event week and beyond. Also, check out ITRA’s Instagram accounts so that you don’t miss a thing as trail running history is made!
The APTRC features races over 3 distances. These are the U23 (15.9km, 1,182m elevation gain, 4.5 hours maximum) for athletes who are aged 23 or younger, the Short Trail Race (41km, 2,783m elevation gain, 10 hours maximum) and the Long Trail Race (74km, 4,787m elevation gain, 18.5 hours maximum).
Each race has men’s, women’s, individual and team categories and there is also a team ranking overall.
Download the U23 Race finisher photos here.
Download the Short Trail Race finisher photos here.
Download the Opening Ceremony images here.
Download images of the favourites here.
Download images of the previous race edition here.
Download elevation and race maps here.
All photo rights are to the Asia Pacific Trail Running Championships.
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