This weekend the 2026 Jiufeng Masters will fire the starting gun. As the second stop of the new season's Golden Trail League China series, it has attracted a host of elite athletes — a genuine gathering of stars and a clash of top talent. On the men's side there are five athletes with ITRA performance scores over 900. Four of them are the country's top four ITRA performers: defending champion Meng Guangfu; Fan Banglin, who finished the last Golden League season with the most overall points; this year's Hong Kong 100 (HK100) champion Qin Guidu; and Luo Tao, winner of the 42 km race at this year's Wenling Golden Coast Trail. Those four are clearly the top favorites — a collision of titans that should make the race very exciting. In addition, strong contenders such as Zhao Hu, He Fujun, Zhang Huohua, Bate Mengkai, and Zhao Kai are all capable of challenging for the podium. Road-to-trail and marathon specialists like Ati Nianzhe, Qi Liansheng, Yang Chunlong, and Jiaoba Cairang could also play spoiler roles and add more variables to the race. On the women's side, there are four athletes with ITRA scores above 750, led by Chi Lingjie. Zheng Wenrong, Zheng Bingling, Lei Yan, Xiong Binbin, Fan Kaili, Yang Yan, Tang Jingyan and others all have genuine chances, so predicting the winner is still very difficult. The Jiufeng Masters course is 29.3 km long with a total ascent of 2,079 m. Men's course record: 2:35:13. Women's course record: 3:03:38. Who has a shot at rewriting the course records? At the previous stop, Trail Donghai: Fan Banglin won the men's race, Guan Yousheng was second, Wang Ruqin third, Luo Tao fourth, Shi Yeyuedu fifth, Yu Xutao sixth, Wu Hao seventh, and Zhang Huohua eighth. Xiong Binbin took the women's title, Lei Yan was second, Yang Yan third, Chi Lingjie fourth, Zhang Ting fifth, Fan Kaili sixth, Li Chunxia seventh, and Zhang Xi eighth. So, how will the standings change at the second stop? #Jiufeng Masters #Golden Trail League China series #Meng Guangfu #Fan Banglin #Luo Tao #Zhang Huohua #Qin Guidu #trail running #RunYeah