On November 1, 2025, the 2025 Around Siguniang Mountain Ultra Trail entered its second day of competition. Besides yesterday's completed ZYZH Soul of Freedom 45 km category, the podium battles for the remaining four categories — KLNZ Happy Cowboy 35 km, NHPL Hello Pretty 50 km, MHZL Dreamy Road 75 km and MXDB East Wall of Dreams 100 km — also concluded.
This article is a race report bulletin for the two long-distance categories: MHZL Dreamy Road 75 km and MXDB East Wall of Dreams 100 km.
UTMS's five main categories are all named after classic climbing routes in the history of Yaomei Peak ascents. The 75 km category was named Dreamy Road; the race route is based on the April 2002 alpine-style ascent by Britons Mick and Paul Ramsden, who climbed from Yaomei's north face to the northwest ridge to reach the summit, and were awarded the 2002 Golden Ice Axe.
The course measured 71.3 km with 3,618 m of elevation gain, and the start gun went off at 23:00 on October 31. Runners would engage in a silent dialogue with Mount Siguniang through the night, and of course had to contend with low temperatures and rain and snow.
The women's title was claimed by Duan Simei in 12:13:50, with Tu Ke (13:45:15) and Gu Haiyan (14:44:25) finishing second and third. The women's top three were all Chinese athletes.
In the men's race, the Republic of Tatarstan Navil Shaimukhametov took the victory in 9:36:39. Korean runner Gu gyojeong (10:45:21) and Chinese runner芶超 (10:48:20) finished second and third respectively — the battle for the men's runner-up and third place was quite intense.
The highlight of this event, the 100 km category, was named "Dream East Face." The name reflects a hope: the east face of Yaomei Peak is the least accessible and has never been summited — when people in Chengdu look at Yaomei Peak, they see its east face. The organizers named the race MXDB100 to carry on the climbing story of Siguniang Mountain with the "Dream East Face" concept.
The 100-kilometer category started at the Sequoia Forest. The course measured 97.8 km with 4,446 m of ascent, and the race began at 9:00 AM on October 31. Even the fastest runners would be running into night and cold after a full day, with ice and snow possible on the course at any time; the major climbs and steep descents challenged every runner’s outdoor and trail running skills. Of course, the magnificent scenery of Mount Siguniang was the best reward for everyone.
In the women's race, the title was claimed by Zhang Weiping (Xiao Naoxin) in 18:11:39 — she crossed the line in the thick of a snowy night, a salute to all the warriors of the mountains.
French runner PARFAIT Mélinda (20:47:46) took second, and third went to Tibetan runner Renqin Yuzhen (21:41:36). All three are Kailas-sponsored athletes.
In the men's race, Lin Xiao, who had been out of competition for some time, announced his return with a successful title defense, battling almost the entire way with Italian star and four-time Giants' Journey champion Franco Colle, Lin Xiao ultimately prevailed, clocking 13:48:10 to win the 2025 Ring Siguniang Mountain Ultra 100 km title. The Italian finished in 13:55:51 for second, and third place went to German athlete Daniel Keppler (14:28:29).
When Lin Xiao reached the finish line, runners in the 75 km category were still gathering; surrounded by the crowd he secured a back-to-back win in the Ring Siguniang 100 km category. Facing so many strong competitors and fierce contention, it was a truly hard-earned title.
At the time of writing, many competitors are still out on the course, including up-and-coming trail runner Xiang Xing from the RUNYEAH office. High altitude combined with continued snowfall added significant difficulty to finishing — we wish all athletes well and a safe completion.
