Following the 1st Asia-Pacific Trail Running Championships (APTRC) in Ulju, Ulsan, South Korea in 2024, the 2nd Asia-Pacific Trail Running Championships will be held from November 24 to 28, 2026 in Wuyishan City, Fujian Province, China.
At the previous edition, Qi Min and Xiang Fuzhao took the men's and women's long-distance titles, respectively. What lineup will Team China send this year?
The 2026 APTRC will include:
Long Distance (80 km), Short Distance (40 km), and U23 Youth (15 km).
(The U23 category requires athletes to be 23 years old or younger on December 31, 2026; athletes under 18 must provide a letter of consent from a guardian signed for the local organizing committee.)
Qualification will be based on each nation/region's ITRA (International Trail Running Association) performance index.
Specifically:
Long Distance 80 km: male or female athletes ranked in the top 30 of the ITRA performance index;
Short Distance 40 km: male or female athletes ranked in the top 30 of the ITRA performance index;
U23 15 km: male or female athletes ranked in the top 20 of the performance index within the U23, U20, or U18 categories.
The above athletes may apply to participate in this Asia-Pacific Trail Running Championships.
There are two types of entry:
1. Team entry submitted through a recognized federation. Each country/region may submit only one team entry.
Recognized federations may nominate up to the following per country/region, per gender: Long Distance: 8 athletes; Short Distance: 8 athletes; U23: 4 athletes.
2. Individual entry. The number of individual slots will be determined by ITRA and the local organizing committee based on performance index and event capacity.
If a country's team quota for a given gender is filled, individual entries for that gender will no longer be accepted. When individual applications exceed available slots, a waiting list will be created for each country/region/gender/APTRC event and ranked from highest to lowest according to the ITRA performance index.
Important date milestones:
May 31, 2026 — Ranking reference date
June 1–August 15, 2026 — Team registration
August 16–August 31, 2026 — Individual registration
On or before September 15, 2026 — Confirmation of acceptance issued
For qualification exemptions (wildcards), athletes must have achieved, within the past 18 months, a top-3 finish at a recognized national/international championship or an equivalent result at an event of appropriate distance and competitive level.
A written application may then be submitted through the recognized federation; decisions will be made jointly by ITRA and the local organizing committee.
Unless otherwise approved by ITRA, each country/region/gender may have at most one wildcard athlete
(Wildcard applications follow the same team registration period above: June 1–August 15, 2026).
Anti-doping rules for this event also apply.
Athlete substitution requests (including for injury) may be submitted up to 48 hours before the race start; approved substitutions will incur a USD 100 (or equivalent local currency) administrative fee.
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