Antonina Iushina has prevented a full Chinese podium at the Hoka Chiang Mai hundred miler (8.980m+) in Thailand, that’s part of the UTMB World Series. Iushina, who made her debut on the 100 miles, beat Lin Chen and Anna Li (both China). The victory in the men’s race was for Canhua Luo, who was faster than Ji Duo and Jiaju Zhao (all China).
For Iushina it was the second big race within three weeks. On the 23th of November she finished second in the 100 kilometres (4.998m+) at the Ultra-trail Cape Town in South Africa. This time she got the gold, but she had to go deep for that, as she was up against Lin Chen. The Adidas Terrex athlete is in good shape this year, as she showed by winning the Malaysia Ultra Trail 100k (4.937m+), together with Hau Ha Thi, last month. Earlier this year she won Trans Jeju, also part of the UTMB World Series, and finished fourth at the UTMB.
RELATED: Lin Chen and Hau Ha Thi share victory Malaysia 100
A big hug
Yet, in Thailand Chen was no match for Iushina, who finished more than half an hour before Chen: 24:23:52 versus 24:55:13. Iushina: “I just want to hug everyone. All this support was so motivating. I guess now I have to start arranging a visa to run UTMB.”
Behind Chen, Anna Li crossed the line in third place in 26:04:04.
Canhua Luo surprises
The men’s race did have an all-Chinese podium, with Canhua Luo as, maybe, the surprising winner. Up front Ji Duo was the favorite to win. The Hoka runner showed his good form last month by winning the 100k (4.937m+) in Malaysia. Last year he showed he’s good on the Thai trails as well, by winning the Doi Inthanon 100 miler.
In Thailand Duo did take the lead, as expected, but just before Wat Luang Khun Win, 111 kilometres into the race and with almost six thousand metres of climbing done, Luo passed him. From there on, the Kailas Fuga runner slowly started to build on his lead. Luo crossed the finish line after 20 hours, 25 minutes and 33 seconds. Duo came in 21 minutes and 28 seconds later; 20:47:01.
The third place was for Jiaju Zhao. The Hoka ultra runner finished in 22:22:10. With her 24:23:52 Iushina finished 8th overall.
Elephant 100
The Elephant 100, 100 kilometres with 4.410m+, was won by Ekaterina Mityaeva, just like Iushina running under neutral flag. The Adidas Terrex athlete needed 11 hours, 30 minutes and 45 seconds.“I ran 100 miles at UTMB earlier this year, but 100k is definitely my distance and I am happy to win here. I live and train in high mountains and it helped me to be prepared even though it’s my first time running in Thailand. I really enjoyed this race and was really amazed by the views that Thailand has to offer.”
Careth Arnold (USA) came in second in 12:12:15. The third place was for the Italian Natalia Mastrota; 12:40:15.
Hui Bai won the men’s race for Mengkai Bate (bote China). Bai clocked 10:04:50, Bate 10:17:35. Luke Grenfell-Shaw, the winner of the Hoka Val d’Aran 100k in May earlier this year, finished third in 10:20:44, despite struggling with the heat and humidity.
RELATED: Luke Grenfell-Shaw wins Val d’Aran for his brother
Hau Ha Thi wins 10k
Hau Ha Thi (Vietnam) won the 50k (2.030m+). The Mude Sports Team athlete clocked 5:08:31.“I feel very happy. There have been many very strong athletes in my distance and I am extremely happy to be able to win. I love Thailand. It’s my third time participating in this event and every year I learn something new. It’s a great place to try my strength against the strongest runners in the world.”
Martyna Mlynarczyk (Poland) finished second in 5:12:50. Takako Takamura (Japan) came in third in 5:14:43. Rui Ueda (Japan) won the men’s race in 4:21:25. Guangfu Meng (China) finished second in 4:23:43. Banglin Fan grabbed third place in 4:25:47.
You’ll find all the results of Hoka Chiang Mai here.
