2009 was the inaugural year for the TDS category; at that time there were very few domestic 100 km races in China, and almost no Chinese runners had ventured into top international mountain ultrarunning events.

That very year,Chen Penbin traveled alone to Chamonix, France, becoming the first Chinese man to compete in and finish the TDS categoryand the first athlete from mainland China to end the absence of Chinese competitors at this prestigious event.

Facing his first international ultra-distance mountain race, Chen Penbin withstood the pressure,and finished in an excellent 17:22:40, taking 26th in the men's field and 27th overall.

In an era when Chinese trail running had not yet gone abroad, that result was not only a personal breakthrough but also the first mark of Chinese runners on the TDS stage.

From 2010 to 2017, those eight years marked a rapid growth period for Chinese trail running: domestic 100 km and 100-mile races gradually emerged, and a group of top runners began to specialize in long-distance endurance courses; however public attention largely focused on popular categories like UTMB and CCC, while TDS remained a relatively niche choice.

During this incubation period domestic elite runners continued to accumulate mountain trail experience, adapt to the pace and terrain of international races, and quietly hone their technique, endurance, and wilderness emergency skills.

Yang JiagenHe raced TDS in 2015 and 2016; in 2016 he finished in 18:02:46, 18th among men, making up for his DNF in 2015.

Pioneering domestic trail stars such as Yun Yanqiao and Xing Ruling also began campaigning in the UTMB series, repeatedly racing CCC and other categories to accumulate extensive experience on Alpine terrain—day-by-day gains that laid the groundwork for the collective breakout in 2018.

2018 was undeniably a milestone year in China’s TDS history: multiple Chinese elite runners converged on Chamonix and shone on the TDS course, completely reshaping the competitive landscape for Chinese athletes in that category.

A pre-race hiccup saw the organizers adjust the start time and route to cope with possible severe weather: the start was delayed by two hours and the toughest section (Passeur de Pralognan, 2,567 m) was removed. The revised course was about 123 km with roughly 7,000 m of total ascent.

On the men's elite side, Yun Yanqiao, Deng Guomin, Liang Jing and Wang Yang raced together.Ultimately,Yun Yanqiao recorded an outstanding time of 15:04:10tied with another competitor from Venezuela, Moises Jimenez,for 10th overall, marking at the time the highest-ever finish by a Chinese male in the TDS category.

Deng Guomin suffered leg cramps during the race but still finished in 19:06:26. Liang Jing, in her UTMB debut, drank too much cold water during the race which caused severe stomach pain; she nevertheless finished while injured. Wang Yang, unfortunately, did not finish due to injury.

Although the race was full of twists, the image of the four of them standing shoulder-to-shoulder at the start became an iconic snapshot of that generation of Chinese trail “legion” venturing to Europe.

On the women's side, “Xiao Ka”Ma Yanxingmade a simultaneous push: last year she placed 12th in the UTMB category. This year, aiming for the UTMB Grande Slam, she ran 19:24:12 and successfully cracked the TDS women's top ten (9th among women, 84th overall), becominga benchmark figure for Chinese female runners on the TDS stage.

One male and one female trail elite both broke into the global top ten, allowing the world for the first time to truly witness the strength of Chinese runners.

After 2019, the TDS course distance and elevation entered a phase of frequent iteration; the race's difficulty steadily increased, placing ever-more demanding requirements on athletes' all-around abilities.

运艳桥 competed at TDS for two consecutive years, and with a time of 18:52:24 spectacularly took 6th overall, breakingthe record he had previously heldfor the highest placing by a Chinese male in the TDS category, which was also the highest-ever placing by an Asian in that category.

Then, from 2020 to 2021, impacted by disruptions to global races, the UTMB series reduced event scale and tightened entry slots, preventing many Chinese runners from traveling to France; the TDS field temporarily saw no Chinese faces. Domestically, however, trail training and race preparation never stopped, and a new generation of athletes quietly matured, waiting for the opportunity to return to Mont Blanc.

In 2022,Xie Wenfei (Se Yu)made a decisive breakthrough, creating a new chapter in Chinese women's TDS history.

谢雯菲 produced steady output throughout, withstood the physical drain of long-distance trail running and the challenges of day-night temperature swings, and ultimately finished in an excellent 26:05:10, taking 7th in the women's field, 39th overall, and first in her age group.

This was the first time a Chinese female runnerbroke into the top ten on the iterated, higher-difficulty TDS course, substantially improving China's women's TDS finishing-time and ranking records.

That same year carried a tinge of regret: 祁敏 opened in fiery form, spent long periods in the lead group and topped multiple checkpoints, but at 99 km was forced to withdraw due to heat-related illness — departing in peak condition to the disappointment of many trail runners.

In 2023 newcomers began to emerge. Chinese female athleteShang Xue'ermade her TDS debut, endured multiple difficult sections, suffered a mid-race injury yet gritfully pressed on to finish in 29:28:48, placing 13th in the women's field and becoming that year's first Chinese mainland woman to complete the race.

At the same time, the legendary veteran邢如伶 once again raced the TDS, finishing steadily in 33:04:34, taking 26th in the women's field and first in her age group. Over fifty and still competing on the international top trail-racing stage, she embodied "trail running has no age limit" with passion and strength, becoming one of the most moving scenes of that year's race.

For 2024 the TDS course was slightly adjusted to 148 km with 9,306 m of cumulative ascent, and the difficulty remained extremely high.

Xie Wenfei once again set out to race, with mature race pacing and a solid preparation system, she successfully pushed her limits,finishing in 27 hours 35 minutes 30 seconds to claim fifth overall in the women's field, once again setting a new best-ever result for Chinese female athletes in the TDS category.

On the men's side,Li Zairanmaintained his own pace throughout, steadily closing in, and ultimately reached the finish in Chamonix in seventh place with a time of 21:13:57. This is the second-best result for a Chinese male athlete in the TDS category, behind Yun Yanqiao's sixth-place finish.

This year, Xie Wenfei, Chen Rongrong, and Wu Yongbo will compete together in the TDS — we look forward to their performances.