Chiu Wen-hsiao makes history in MSIG Taiwan Action Asia 50
Taiwanese trail runner is the first from his country to triumph in the history of the race that started at Shihmen Reservoir and finished at the reservoir’s car park
Taiwanese trail runner Chiu Wen-hsiao romped to a dominant victory at the MSIG Taiwan Action Asia 50 on Saturday morning.
Chiu won the 50-kilometre event, Taiwan’s most challenging trail race, in six hours, 24 minutes and 49 seconds – the first Taiwanese overall victory in the short, two-year history of the race.
Chiu finished nearly an hour ahead of his nearest rival and more than 90 minutes faster than his timing in last year’s race, where he was fourth. His winning time was also faster than Pierre-Andre Ferriere’s winning time of 2015 (6:51:38) on the course that starts at the picturesque tourist spot Shihmen Reservoir, winds through the forest of the Shihmen Mountain area before looping back to the finish at the reservoir car park.
Chiu, who has taken part in the race every year since it began in 2014, said he did not think too much when running and simply wanted is to improve his time and conquer himself.
Overall, he said he really enjoyed the race and the scenery. “I loved the ridgeline of Baishi Mountain, where I could see the full skyline of Taoyuan city. It was wonderful,” he said.
All top five men in the 50km race were from Taiwan. Yung Sheng-chen of the Hoka One One Taiwan team was second (7:18:35) and third was Tang Weifu (7:23:38), who was returning from injury.
another Taiwanese took top spot in the women’s 50km. Chang Keiko won in 8:22:18, a significant improvement from last year where she abandoned the race before checkpoint four.
“I didn’t expect this result. I just wanted to try my best to finish the race,” she said. “I think the most difficult part of the course is between checkpoints three and four, which rises in elevation quite quickly. The part I like most is from the start to checkpoint one, where I saw the sunrise and the full view of Shihmen Reservoir.”
Two other Taiwanese rounded off the women’s podium: Lin Yin-hsia was second (9:08:02) and Stella Chen third (10:22:22).
