Ritcey & Chapman win 100km grueling mountain marathon at Ford Vietnam Action Asia 3 Day Stage Marathon 2010
The Ford Vietnam AA 50k & 100k Ultra Marathon 2010 held July 1st to 3rd took place in the Mai Chau region covering some of the best areas the location had to offer.
Since 1998, Action Asia Events has previously been involved in organizing over 90 international events covering Thailand, Nepal, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Macau, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Forty men and women journeyed to the hot, humid Mai Chau Valley in Vietnam to participate in the grueling 50km and 100km mountain trail running events. Over three days, the competitors ran through ethnic hill tribal villages, mountain passes, single track jungle paths, steep mountain trails and local dirt roads covering 40 km on day 1, 48 km on day 2 and 12 km on day 3 for a total of 100km for the long category.
The course was plotted through a region that had tremendous terrain that had never seen an event like this before. “Generally the most beautiful run I’ve ever ran. Paddy fields, local people, kids waving at us every few meters”, exclaimed 2nd place overall in the women’s 100 km Nora Senn. “There were so many hills that I enjoyed running on. It was very hard, but satisfying” continued Senn.
Marathon runners had to rely on maps, painted arrows, directional signs and marking tape to prevent them from getting lost on some of the many uncharted, jungle trails of the region. Organizers had their hands full constantly having to double and triple check the course to make sure markings were in place as locals had not seen the course ribbon before with many children having fun taking them down for the fun of it.
Day one started in Na Suun village with the 100k runners starting a steep 4 km mountain climb reaching close to 800m in elevation before a steep descent back to Na Suun before running thru local villages alongside rice paddies to Ban Burac. The next 8km leg to Xom Cun was on a mountain dirt road with local villagers working on the sides getting the road ready for gravel and eventually cementing after years of being trapped in heavy mud after rainstorms. With the villagers in a good mood about their new road coming, many of the construction workers cheered the runners on who passed by. Participants crossed a suspension bridge and started a short steep climb for the next 1 km entering the Quyet Thang area where the next 5 km was rocky dirt roads linking the back villages to Noon San. With the hot sun out in full force and temperatures in the mid 30s, some of the best features still lay ahead in the Sam Khoe valley. Runners had to deal next with a 3 km single track valley run descending into Xom Pu, where the 50k runners had been hours before as the 50k runners had shortcut direct to Sam Khoe from the start. It was back into the jungle following single track up 400m+ elevation gain mountain with constant heads up and down looking for course markings going due south to a village on the other side of the mountain called Ban Kha the final water stop. For those that wanted something easier and were tired of the mountains, it was smooth sailing on flat terrain for the next 8 km thru single track trails hugging the rice paddies passing a brick factory heading to the finish at Ban Lac village for a tough and hot day one.
Day two brought about a daunting 969m mountain climb in the Cun Pheo valley starting a Co Chum with a stair climb up to Hung Kia valley for the 100km category. At the top after hitting a dirt road the elevation kept going higher over 1200m with the full force of the sun taking it’s toll on participants. Being in the middle of no where with stunning valley views and breathtaking scenery looking over the ethnic hilltribe region of Thung Man certainly relieved majority of any headaches and kept the body going. This was also the longest stage and the hottest day with the average temperature hovering around 36.
“It was hot. Really really hot. I collapsed after the first 25k”, said 2nd place overall in the Men’s 100k Team of Paris-Tag Heuer Eyewear sponsored Damien Levy. After the arduous climb, the 100k racers found themselves looking deep into the valley at breath taking scenery with single track trails going thru tall corn fields the H’mong villagers had only planted 6 weeks previous. “On Day 2, after going up the monster 1000m of climbing to see the valley, the view was remarkable. It definitely made me keep going”, said 3rd overall in the Men’s 100k Joel Labelle. After the descending the mountain, the runners found themselves back where they had started at Co Chum in the Cun Pheo valley. It was here 50km runners started and by-passed the first large 25km loop. Runners then ran down the local road a few kilometers to Quyet Thang and ran the 5km dirt road thru back villages to Noong San before another stunning valley trek over the Na Meo ridge.
Luckily there were some river crossings with one home made just for competitors where trees lay over the river just meters away with participants choosing to lay down in the water with cool mountain water coming down flushing their bodies for a brief check point before continuing to Na Meo village. A steep single track downhill coming out Pieng Phung with bananas, pineapple and water waiting for them before a final downhill 6 km to Ban Lac village to finish for day two total of just under 50 km.
With the first two tough days out of the way, day three had to be short with only 12km. “I’m still deciding on the best strategy for the last day” said race leader Salomon team runner Jeremy Ritcey deciding on a water bottle verses a hydration backpack system wanting to go fast and just finish the race.
All participants in both the 50k and 100k started with a 3.5 k run up a mountain dirt road littered with holes in the ground and a few village houses at the top near Suoi Lung, which was formally the old Son La highway many years ago before another fast cement highway was constructed in another location. Reaching Suio Lung turn around and water stop a few participants decided to enjoy the scenery and surroundings by jumping in the Hydro station lake for a well deserved water dunk before continuing down the 3.5k road to Phu San where they started for the next water cp. Nearly home the last and final leg of the marathon was a breathtaking 5.5 k single track trail hugging the lake passing numerous villages with curious children out in force wondering why a bunch of foreigners were running in such hot temperatures.
At the end a lake that tired runners happily jumped into the lake for a swim, got onto the Action Asia express boat and headed for the next 3 hours down river eating pineapple, bananas, bisquettes, re-hydrating on water with the Coors Light beer flowing in full force to celebrate the punishing 3-day ultra marathon coming to an end.
“I ran hard on day 1 and day 2 so I could save some time knowing I would be tired on day 3” said 3rd overall in the women’s 100k Virginia Brooks.
This was a race that saw tremendous athletes competing against each other and some unforgiving elements that mother nature threw at them.
“The girls were very strong. Nora just keeps going not affected by the distance who kept pushing and forcing me to work hard also on day 3” said 1st place overall in the women’s 100k 2XU Ambassador Claire Chapman.
“The competition was strong. I ran hard on day 3 even knowing that Damien had heat stroke on day 2” said 1st place overall in the men’s 100k Jeremy Ritcey.
“Oh fantastic. All my memories are coming back from Mai Chau as was here 8 yrs ago doing an Action Asia bike race” said 2nd overall Mens 50k runner Keith Russell.
"It was an awesome trip with some tough moments along the way. Fantastic bunch of people with everyone getting along. There was such a high level of camaraderie, which is always so nice to see", said Caroline Seabrook winner of the overall Womens 50km.
Race organizers have already addressed a water issue as they were giving out 1 litre to 1.5 litres at different check points and increased 4 checkpoints to 5 checkpoints with a distance of only 6 km between some of them on the tough 2nd day. Still with temperatures over 35 in the valley more was needed. Luckily there were rivers participants could jump in along the way. For the upcoming Laos event this has been addressed with a minimum 2.5 litres of water at each check point.
“You should come to Cambodia where I live and try to organize a race there” said Men’s 50k overall winner Dinus De Vries who trains in the unforgiving Cambodian heat all the time in the flat areas around Knom Phen which explained his blistering fast pace on all the flats. Mind you he did smoke up the mountains also in record time so we’d like to find out how he trained for those in Cambodia….
Overall Top 3 (100km) Race Results:
Men
1) Jeremy Ritcey – 12:07:13
2) Damien Levy – 13:42:54
3) Joel LaBelle – 15:21:44
Women
1) Claire Chapman – 13:27:39
2) Nora Senn – 13:34:08
3) Virginia Brooks – 17:00:23
Overall Top 3 (50k) Race Results:
Men
1. Dinus De Vries – 5:18:40
2. Keith Russell – 6:10:47
3. Pehsalen Naidoo – 8:01:33
Women
1. Caroline Seabrook – 7:37:01
2. Sara Jordan – 7:42:40
3. Clara Ng – 8:14:49
This event would not have happened without the great support of the following sponsors:
· Ford
· Vietnam Airlines
· Cosman Health Group
· Action Asia Foundation
Check under PHOTO and VIDEO for Vietnam after July 14. Full results go to Vietnam 2010 page under EVENTS and see pdf attachment at bottom.
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