Rush to the top

A marathoner treks along the mountain roads in Skyrun, a recent cross-country running event held in Yading, Daocheng county, Sichuan province. About 800 runners from 25 countries and regions participated in the race. [Photo by JORDI SARAGOSSA/provided to China Daily]

After passing houses made of rocks, competitors would come across a glacial lake at 4,800 meters. With only 200 meters left to climb, this is the hardest part, with steep gradients.

"It's all worthwhile when the competitors reach the finish (line)," he says.

Dorje, a runner from Yading, won the vertical climb at 1 hour, 1 minute and 48 seconds.

The 46-km event takes runners from the town of Shangri-La (2,900 meters) to a glacier-fed river flowing out of Yading, then to a traditional kora (pilgrimage) route around the sacred Chenresig holy peak to two mountain passes (nearly 4,700 meters each) before finishing near a temple at 3,992 meters.

"It's a true mountain adventure, only for the brave," Rodriguez says.

Qi Min from Zhejiang province's capital Hangzhou was a dark horse that came out on top in the longest race with 5 hours, 19 minutes and 28 seconds.

The Yading Skyrun is important not only because it's the first World Series Skyrunning event in China but also because it kicks off the "skyrunning" season, according to Rodriguez.

It is considered in a league of some of the world's best trail events, such as Transvulcania Ultramarathon (la Palma, Canary Islands), Ultraks Matterhorn (Switzerland) and Zegama (Spain).

For future participants, Rodriguez recommends that they arrive at Yading several weeks early to acclimatize themselves to the local setting.

"All of the courses offered require a fair amount of ascending, so it's advised that runners work on their uphill running."

Although Yun didn't win the event, partly because he didn't fully recover from the April contest and adapt well to the altitude, he says he would try again if time permits.

Contact the writer at yangfeiyue@chinadaily.com.cn