The cool highlands of central Vietnam are blanketed by pine forests. Long renowned as a vacation destination, the city of Dalat now boasts one of the biggest trail races in Vietnam. Not just the biggest, but perhaps the best: this is Dalat Ultra Trail!
Before the race
Race day began early. Really early: we set multiple alarms for 1:30 am; planning to be out the door by 2 o’clock! We’d prepared all of our gear for the Dalat Ultra Trail the night before, so it was a simple matter of getting up and getting out the door.
And getting a taxi. Turns out, that’s not an easy thing to do in Dalat at 2 am! We were lucky, because the owner of our guesthouse went far out of his way to wake up with us and call us a car.
Too early by almost an hour, we were among first racers to arrive at the meeting point in Lam Vien Square. The central highlands of Vietnam can be surprisingly cool at night, so we zipped on our jackets and put up our hoods. In an early morning haze, I almost handed in our breakfast bars along with our drop bags! We waited in the darkened square, snacking and meeting some of the other runners.
Just before 3 o’clock, we hopped on a shuttle bus to Love Valley, a short drive away. There we had still more chilly waiting to do before Dalat Ultra Trail! I enjoyed six minutes of bliss in a massage chair, and then we wandered around to chat with friends old and new.
One of the people we met was my running hero! Kim Matthews was the Asia Trail Master champion two years ago, and is a fellow blogger and vegan. She’s also super fast! I really admire her, and it was cool to meet her in person. Kent and I made a game of spotting other elites, many of whom we were too shy to approach!
The 2019 Dalat Ultra Trail
After signing in – literally, with a pen and paper – we assembled at the starting line. I was sleepy and struggling to hear the announcements, so I thought we were counting down just to turn our headlamps on. So I was very surprised when the countdown turned out to be for the race start!
Maybe it’s better that way: I didn’t even have time to be nervous! Laughing, Kent and I set off in the middle of the pack.
A little bit of pavement passed quickly, and then we were on the rolling dirt roads that comprise the majority of the Dalat Ultra Trail course. The pack spread out pretty quickly as everyone settled into their different race paces.
We found ourselves running with the same group of people, occasionally swapping positions. It was too dark to recognize anyone by their faces, so instead I remembered details about their gear. ‘There goes red shoes again,’ I’d think, watching a guy in crimson Solomons blaze by me after a bathroom break.
At one point, we saw our friend Sungsik and cheered him on as he sped away into the darkness. But mostly what we saw of the other runners were their bobbing headlamps, lighting the route ahead.
Although we couldn’t see much of the surroundings, we still had a sense of them. The wind rustled the high branches of the towering trees. I sniffed the sweet scent of pine in every breath, for almost the entire run! The road underfoot was dry and gravelly, making for familiar and easy running conditions.
We popped out of the forest onto a tarred road just before the first checkpoint. We went straight for the bananas – delightfully marketed at this race as ‘fresh energy bars’! One in each hand, we ran on quickly, back into the forest.
Later, as the forest to our right thinned, the sky to the east began to brighten. I kept my headlamp on to watch my footing, but I kept stealing glances at the approaching dawn!
We ran downhill into a farm-filled valley. Bright enough now to see in color, Kent remarked that it was surprisingly similar to Korea. The long greenhouses and bright green rice fields were just like some of our rural Korean runs!
We started to climb again, just as clouds were lifting from nearby mountain tops and the sun was painting the forest in gold. It was a very picturesque morning!
I felt like we were starting our run all over again, so dramatic was the change brought by daylight! Now we could look all around and really take in the forest that we’d come here to see!
At the second aid station, we grabbed more yummy bananas. I didn’t know this then, but we’d sped through the first 18k in just under 2 hours – a very quick clip for us!
I think it was shortly after this checkpoint that we did our first river crossing! After determining that there was no way to avoid it, we simply plunged right in! The cold water went up over my ankles. Running with wet feet in a race was a first for me, but actually, I kinda liked the cool sensation that lingered long after we were back on solid ground!
At night, our trail had been lit by blinking LEDs every few hundred meters. In the day, the race course was equally simple to follow. There were huge red arrows everywhere, and the route rarely strayed from the wide dirt track. I’d loaded the GPX file onto my watch, but never so much as glanced at it!
Up, and down again – and through some really lovely meadows where we were joined by herds of buffalo! This was some of my favorite running of the day: it was sunny, it was beautiful, and we were making great time zipping along through the grass!
On the climb up to the pass at CP4, we made friends with a few other racers. All men – we only saw one woman the whole race, near the beginning! But our new male friends were all from different places. We had a lot of fun chatting about the running scene in Vietnam and learning about the differences between this year’s Dalat Ultra Trail and last year’s. There were also some beautiful flowers to admire!
We emerged onto tarred road again at CP4 at around 10:30 am. We’d definitely slowed down, but then again, we’d just completed two of the bigger climbs! I felt slightly fatigued, but experience is teaching me that this is normal!
After some confusion about exactly where and when we could receive our drop bags, we plopped down in the shade at the side of the road for a quick slathering of sunscreen and to swap out our headlamps for caps! We also grabbed replacement food and fluids, and then hit the road again. But not before cheering on the bicycle racers as they whizzed past!
The next section was all downhill, and the little rest had done me a world of good. I had the zoomies and was ready to tear it up! From on out, I guess we were really dialed in to running, because we completely stopped taking photos for about five hours! Luckily, there were some photographers out on the course to help us out with that.
At the fifth aid station, we encountered 42k runners coming from the opposite direction. From this point on, our paths would converge. We would all turn right and keep heading down. One friendly blonde runner joined us for a while, and the three of us sped down the easy downhill.
At the bottom of the hill was a flat road through a scenic valley. It should have been a dream, but unfortunately, this was where my body rebelled. For some reason, I felt both nauseous and starving. Chewing anything twisted my stomach into knots, so I really had to force each bite down. There were a few times when I wasn’t sure if anything was going to stay down!
Relief soon appeared in the form of a surprise aid station. A huge banner welcomed Dalat Ultra Trail runners to a resort, and shortly beyond that, there was a shady little table and jugs of iced water! My body seemed to love this, so I gulped it down.
It was the perfect place for some extra water, because we were about to start one of the steepest uphills of the day. Here we encountered the 21k racers for the first time. Some were huffing and puffing up the hill. Others were panting in the shade. Kent and I had worried about the trails being crowded – and they were – but it was also inspiring!
The shorter distances seemed to have a mix of runners and those taking a more casual approach. Some seemed to be simply enjoying the scenery on a mass participation hike. There were people young and old; locals and people from around the world, all just enjoying the forest together!
Checkpoint six was craziness: by far the biggest checkpoint I’ve experienced at any trail race! It was a sprawling complex of tents and tables in the forest, with hundreds of people sitting in the grass or attacking the buffet of snacks.
Luckily, it was not craziness for us. Dalat Ultra Trail was impeccably organized. As we were approaching, we heard a volunteer announce us as 70k runners. Another volunteer in a yellow shirt materialized and led us to our sign-in sheet. Then he helped us refill our bottles and even fetched us a couple of bananas!
Unfortunately, I couldn’t eat mine. As we left this stop, my stomach was still sick. But we were heading into another long downhill – down to the lowest point of the course, in fact – so I knew this was a great chance to pick up the pace a few notches!
Cool water and some downhill flying helped. Probably forcing myself to eat ginger jellies and sip my orange electrolyte drink helped even more. At CP7, one of the race volunteers dumped a bucket of water on me, soaking me to the skin and instantly refreshing my body and mind.
There was not far left to go, but we needed to go up! It was nothing crazy: just a simple uphill on a paved road. We tried to maintain a strong and steady pace. As we ran into the last aid station on the side of the lake, I was feeling fine – and excited to see the finish line!
We hurried down the road, the lake on our left. There were so many runners and hikers now, from all of the race distances! Dalat Ultra Trail had a friendly atmosphere of everybody cheering for everyone else. Some people offered extra enthusiastic cheers when they saw our yellow 70k bibs! Others would strike up a run and join in at our pace for a little while.
Signs counted down the distance to the finish line: 5 kilometers to go, then 4, then 3. We could hear music, and felt its energy!
The last kilometer was the most crowded, thanks to some interesting obstacles! There was a steep and slippery rock, then a narrow bridge over a dam, and then one final uphill sprint the last few meters across the finish line. As we always do, Kent and I joined hands and went for it!
It took a little while for our accomplishment to sink in, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of such a big finish line. Our friend Sungsik – who finished in 12th place! – was there to greet us. We had medals draped around our necks and our photos taken by an army of photographers.
At some point I remembered to stop the watch. I also realized that I was starving! Kent set off to fetch us baguettes (what a treat!). Alone for the first time, I glanced down at my watch. First I saw our pace, then our total time. My eyes filled with happy tears. I’d tried my best, and I felt really happy with what my best was at the Dalat Ultra Trail.
Kent came back, and we inhaled our baguettes. After regaining strength, we walked around to congratulate friends and other finishers! We watched the three speedy top men take their awards, followed by three amazing women. My hero Kim took first! Two amazing Malaysian runners claimed second and third place – and all three were in the top 15!
A few hugs and handshakes later, Kent and I wandered off deeper into the forest alone: to stretch and absorb the experience.
Lessons Learned
The Dalat Ultra Trail 70k race was everything I wanted. It was an experience and a challenge – and a delight.
I’d been really looking forward to running a 70k again! I find that I really like the medium distance runs- they feel kind of perfect for me right now. More kilometers of fun than a 50k – but not so very long or tough that I can’t push myself up against my limits in terms of speed and performance!
We wanted to come to Dalat Ultra Trail because of it’s lovely location. We’d never been to the central highlands of Vietnam, and I was incredibly excited to visit! I could only imagine what a pine forest in Vietnam might look like, and this pretty place really exceeded my expectations! I could not get over the continuous forest, cool temperatures and pine-scented breeze! Running here was truly a joy.
But every run has it’s challenges. Mine this time was nausea. A bit of a sleep debt leading up to the race probably exacerbated the effects of heat, resulting in an upset stomach. There were a few sections in the latter part of the race where I walked off my stomachahe when I could have run.
Running more in the late stages of the race could have probably shaved off a few minutes from my finish time. But getting over my nausea was a real win for me! I was calm and never panicked about it. No little voices declared it a catastrophe, so I just kept going: eating and running as best as I could. And this was a result we could be proud of, regardless!
I really feel like Kent and I put in our best efforts and this resulted in a great performance! I’m so happy with what we did and how we did it. Dalat Ultra Trail was our second fastest 70k – our fastest ever was at Tengri in 2018 – but actually our best performance ever! This is especially true considering that this race had double the elevation gain of Tengri!
This was also among our most competitive results. I was delighted to finish fourth in the competitive women’s race! As number 34 and 35, we felt like we’d done really well overall, too. Kent’s 31st place among the men was top-notch!
But most importantly, we had fun at Dalat Ultra Trail. The scenery was wonderful and we finished happy and strong. This is a highly recommendable race and one that I’d love to have the chance to run again!
Want to experience the delightful Dalat Ultra Trail yourself? Check out this website for updates on next year’s edition!