This weekend, the 2026 ANTA Championship Tengchong Gaoligong Super Trail Race kicked off. This year's event featured MGU 100-mile category, RCE 120-km category, THT 55-km category, TCZ 35-km category, GEP 15-km category, FTR 5-km category, six categories in total, with the first four already completed.
In the end, the athletes delivered an outstanding performance.
In the 100-mile category Zhang Weiqiang became a double champion, Chi Lingjie broke the course record to take the win；
120 km categoryZheng Wenrong also shattered the course record and successfully defended his title, Gu Rongchao led from start to finish to claim a commanding victory;
55 km categoryYang Chunlong fought through illness to claim his first trail running crown, Zhang Ting took the women's title;
35 km categoryZhang Kaili took gold, Qi Chaohai completed a 'three-peat'.
Among the six categories, MGU 100-mile category (total distance 167.9 km, cumulative ascent 8536 m) was the first to start at 8 PM last night.
2024 Gaoligong 100-mile champion Zhang Weiqiang returns; his rivals include last year's and the year before's runners-up Li Song and Bai Xingzhi, as well as Lin Xiao, who has multiple wins in the Siguniang Mountain 100km. On the women's side, defending champion Deng Ronghua is back, but she said before the race that she had been affected by injury, so the focus has shifted to the showdown between last year's runner-up Zhao Fufen and the "Big Demon King" Chi Lingjie.
After the start, the competition among the men and women unfolded in two different patterns. In the men's race a dark horse broke away: Cui Yue reached CP1 at 9.4 km in 57 minutes 20 seconds, more than four minutes clear of the second-place runner. Two athletes with bib numbers over 100, Wu Honglong and Lu Weiwei, were third and fourth. Zhang Weiqiang was sixth in 1 hour 2 minutes 59 seconds.
Among the women, Zhao Fufen, Chi Lingjie and Zhu Zengli passed CP1 in that order. Zhao Fufen's time was 1 hour 6 minutes 33 seconds, giving her a lead of nearly five minutes. Defending champion Deng Ronghua was fifth in 1 hour 12 minutes 25 seconds.
However, in the long night of fierce fighting, the veteran's experience played a major role, and at the halfway point of the race, Zhang Weiqiang reached second place at CP9 (79.8 km), with a time of 10 hours 6 minutes 11 seconds. Ahead of him was Cai Fazheng, who had moved into the lead at CP5, and the gap between them was 14 minutes.
On the women's side at this point, Chi Lingjie had overtaken Zhao Fufen to take first place, with a CP9 time of 10 hours 59 minutes 55 seconds. Zhao Fufen sat second, 2 minutes 15 seconds behind, and Qin Meiqing was third.
The race developments that followed once again highlighted different dynamics between the men's and women's races,After Zhang Weiqiang closed strongly on Cai Fazheng, the two ran side by side for nearly 20 kilometers, butCai Fazheng withdrew at checkpoint 116, whichput Zhang Weiqiang into solo mode. Meanwhile,Chi Lingjie continued to extend his advantage over Zhao Fufen.
In the end, Zhang Weiqiang, as expected,claimedthe MGU 100-mile title, finishing in 21:48:08 — significantly bettering his time from his 2024 victory. Liu Peng and Li Song finished second and third, respectively.
The "Demon King" Chi Lingjie improved the course record by more than two hours, finishing in 24 hours 40 minutes 24 seconds to take the victory, making up for the disappointment of failing to reach the podium last year.
RCE 120 km category, total distance 121.6 km, cumulative ascent 5,942 m.
This year's storyline centers on Wu Yongbo and Zheng Wenrong both aiming to defend their titles. The former's opponents include Xiong Zhengqiang, who came from behind to win the HK100 Grand Slam this year, and domestic short-distance standout Zhang Sheng; the latter will face challenges from all-rounder Li Anna, as well as Li Ying and Fu Huarong.
After the start, Gu Rongchao took an early lead, checking in at CP1 in 53:46, more than four minutes ahead of second-place Huang Wei. Wu Yongbo was third in 58:53, with Xiong Zhengqiang just 15 seconds back. Zhou Liting was the first woman to check in at CP1, 1:46 ahead of Zheng Wenrong; Wu Yalan followed Zheng Wenrong in third.
After that, Gu Rongchao maintained his lead, while the second spot among the men was briefly held by Xiong Zhengqiang and Tibetan runner Luobu, but in 40 km the fight for second returned to Wu Yongbo and Huang Wei.
Among the women, the race gradually became a speed duel between Zheng Wenrong and Wu Yalan, and at the halfway point Zheng Wenrong had built a four-minute lead. Li Anna moved up to third.
Gu Rongchao, who led the race from start to finish, ultimately claimed a dominant victory in 12 hours 20 minutes and 28 seconds. Huang Wei and Wu Yongbo took second and third place, respectively.
Zheng Wenrong settled into a steady rhythm as the race progressed, successfully defending his title — crossing the line in 15:08:13 to win again and substantially lower the course record.
THT 55 km category (total distance 53.6 km, cumulative ascent 2126 m),He Fujun aims to defend his title successfully, and high-altitude trail running rising star Qilin Zhishi and Shi Yeyuedu will both challenge him. Among the women, last year's runner-up and marathoner Dou Faxian continues to take part in this year's competition; her opponents include Zhang Ting and Zheng Bingling. Notably, Yang Chunlong, who recently retired from the state sports system, chose this category as his first-ever trail race, and his performance is also worth watching.
Sure enough, Yang Chunlong, making his trail debut, delivered a surprise: two hours into the race he moved up to first, showing impressive trail-running ability beyond his road racing. He Fujun, Shi Yeyuedu and Qi Lin Zhishi formed a chasing pack, closely trailing Yang Chunlong.
Yang Chunlong, who suffered a 39°C fever before the race, held up under the pressure and ultimately won in 4:20:42 in his first-ever post-retirement trail race. He Fujun finished second, one minute behind,Shi Yeyuedu was third in 4:24:59.
The competition among the women became Zhang Ting's stage. She opened the first leg with a lead of just over two minutes on Veronika at the first checkpoint, and Dou Faxian then moved up to second to chase her. But Zhang Ting gave her rivals no chance, steadily extending her advantage and taking the crown in 5:09:58. Dou Faxian and Wang Baodi finished second and third.
TCZ 35-km category (total distance 34.9 km, cumulative ascent 1,421 m), the race's focus was on the title defenses of short-distance king Qi Zhaohai and marathon star Yang Dinghong's sister Yang Dingrong, both last year's champions.
Over the past two yearsQi Zhaohai had already claimed two straight titles in this category. Before the race he set himself the goal of a "three-peat" and prepared thoroughly for two months. In the first 20 km he faced a strong surge from Wu Rui, but he held firm, exploited his climbing advantage, and crossed the line first in 2:45:04 to complete the "three-peat". Wu Rui and Zhang Juemin finished second and third.
Zhang Kaili took the initiative from the start, leading all the way to the finish and claiming victory in 3 hours 19 minutes 51 seconds. Defending champion Yang Dingrong finished second, one minute behind. Luo Ping took third.
As of press time, many athletes are still running on the course, and quite a few runners will have to endure another night of trekking. We wish all participants a safe return to the finish.
Will you join next year's Gaoligong Super Trail Race?
