First Chinese runner to win a UTMB race says he will break from trails until he is older, but prepares for Yading Skyrun
- Jia Erenjia will focus on marathon running as he is young and still fast, but he harbours hopes to win the UTMB after the age of 30
- He is as prepared as possible for the Yading Skyrun along with a host of elites
Jia Erenjia’s trail running career was just taking off as he burst onto the international scene winning the 56-kilometre OCC at the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) week in August. But it may be a while before we see him trail running again as he transitions to marathons. However, the 24-year-old still hopes to one day win the full 100 mile UTMB.
Jia wants to push his marathon time down to two hours and 13 minutes. He has an eye on a few marathons and shorter races in Europe.
“As a professional athlete, this is my career,” he said. “I’ve noticed the trend in China toward marathons, they are growing and becoming bigger.”
“All considerations taken into account, it is an opportunity for me to pursue marathons,” he said. “And short running distances will help when I do mountain runs.”
His OCC victory was history in the making, as he was the first Chinese runner to win any UTMB event. But the main 100 mile race is still a goal.