How to Follow the Asia Pacific Trail Running Championships

The inaugural Asia Pacific Trail Running Championships will take place in Ulju, South
Korea from October 23 to 26, 2024. With less than a week to go until the Opening
Ceremony, here is a timetable and introduction to the events and a guide on how best to follow all the action.

1. What? The first-ever Asia-Pacific Trail Running Championships look set to be the most competitive trail races in Asia-Pacific history.

The races are the U23 (15.9km, 1,182m elevation gain, 4.5 hours maximum) for athletes who are aged 23 or younger, the Short Trail Race (41km, 2,783m elevation gain, 10 hours maximum) and the Long Trail Race (74km, 4,787m elevation gain, 18.5 hours maximum).  Each race has men’s, women’s, individual and team categories and there is also a team ranking overall.

2. Who? Around 200 of the best athletes from 20 countries/regions in Asia-Pacific.
Here is the long-awaited, star-studded start-list: https://aptrc2024.com/ListofAthletes
You can also find here a brief introduction to some of the highest-ranked athletes.

3. When?
• The Opening Celebration and Ceremony (including the Parade of Nations) will be held on Thursday, 24 October, from 5 to 7 p.m.
• The Short Trail Race starts on Friday, 25 October, at 7 am.
• The U23 race starts on Friday, 25 October, at 1 pm.
• The Long Trail Race starts on Saturday 26 October at 5.30 am.
• The Closing Ceremony is on Saturday 26 October at 7 pm.

Here is the full APTRC 2024 timetable: https://aptrc2024.com/aptrc_races

4. Where?  The Yeongnam Alps in Ulju, South Korea – the venue for the famous Ulju Trail Nine Peaks
races.

5. Why?  Because they’re there. And they’re beautiful. And a competition to showcase the trail running talent in Asia-Pacific is overdue. Or, in the words of Australian athlete, Kellie Angel, who is running the Long Trail on Saturday and is already in Korea enjoying some acclimatisation:

“I am really honoured and excited to represent Australia in the inaugural Asia Pacific Trail Champs. I’d never been to Korea, but I love racing in Asia, which has its unique landscapes, climate, beautiful people, and great food. I’m always in awe of the effort made to build stairs that reach into the sky, and I’m particularly looking forward to rice balls at the aid stations. I’m keen to see what I can achieve…, nearly 10 years after first wearing the green and gold, and look forward to the adventure with my team.”
We wish every athlete and every team a beautiful adventure.

6. How (to Follow)?
The Short Trail Race and Long Trail Race will be live-streamed. You can watch the live-
stream on YouTube here.

All the action will be on the APTRC’s Instagram and Facebook accounts throughout the
event week and beyond. Also, check out ITRA’s Instagram accounts so that you don’t
miss a thing as trail running history is made!

About APTRC – The Asia Pacific Trail Running Championships
The inaugural edition of the Asia Pacific Trail Running Championship (APTRC) will be held
in the breathtaking landscapes of Ulju-gun, Ulsan City, South Korea, from 23-26 October,
2024. The APTRC will showcase APAC’s top trail runners competing in individual and
country/region categories covering distances of 40 km and 80 km. There will also be a U23
category with a distance of 15 km.

About ITRA – the International Trail Running Association
Founded in 2013, ITRA (the International Trail Running Association) represents around
300,000 athletes and 6,000 event organizer members in over 160 countries. ITRA is the
leading reference organization for trail running globally, providing services to individual trail
runners and trail running organizations, as well as international leadership for the sport.
For more information about ITRA please visit our website www.itra.run.