At 11:56 a.m. Beijing time on December 11, China's Zhao Jiaju successfully completed the 100-mile group of the 2021 Thailand UTMB, breaking the men's record of the track with a time of 21 hours, 56 minutes and 24 seconds, and won the championship. The track's previous 100-mile men's record was 26 hours, 40 minutes and 06 seconds.
At the moment of crossing the line, Zhao Jiaju wore a national flag and jumped across the finish line with great excitement.
At 4:01 p.m. Beijing time on December 11, Chinese athlete Xiang Fuzhao rushed to the line with a time of 26 hours 01 minutes and 23 seconds to win the 100-mile group women's championship! It is worth mentioning that this result also exceeds the previous record of 100 miles of men's on the track.
UTMB Thailand 2021 is the most heavyweight trail running event in Asia this year, bringing together thousands of masters from various asian countries. The track gradually climbs from 400 to 2100 meters above sea level, of which Zhao Jiaju and Xiang Fuzhao raced 100 miles, with a cumulative climb of more than 7450 meters.
The site of the track, Inthanon National Park, located in the north of Chiang Mai Province, is part of the Himalayas and one of Thailand's most prestigious national parks. Although the competition site is in Thailand, because the competition site is in a medium and high altitude area, it is winter, and the temperature will be relatively low after nightfall. For the players, it is a very serious challenge.
However, whether it was Zhao Jiaju or Xiang Fuzhao, both of them were in a very good state. From the beginning of the race, the two Chinese runners ran more than 3 points of pace and maintained the lead until the end. Especially Xiang Fuzhao, in the whole competition, counting the male athletes, Xiang Fuzhao's performance has always ranked in the top ten, and even once came to the fourth place, far ahead of the second place in the women's group.
Before the start of the race, Zhao Jiaju had set a goal of running for 20 hours, and Xiang Fuzhao hoped that he could break the men's record and run into 26 hours. Although there is a certain gap between the final results of the two and their pre-match expectations, they have won the championship with absolute strength and superiority, which is enough to make people proud.