A fantastic day out running around the hills at the start of the hickory picking season. Many thanks to Leigh and Peter for making this happen along with Terrex for the support and awards…
Many thanks to the participants and partners for the following photographs.
A weekend of runs! The main event starts at 8am on Saturday 3rd September 2022 at Wildhomestay in Anhui…
At this time in the year the locals venture up into the mountains to nock the nuts out of the hickory trees. The small nuts are highly prized all over China and are rich and sweet to taste. We follow their footsteps through some of the area’s best trails. The routes are designed to take in the mountain slopes lined with hickory trees and some of the amazing mixed surface paths. There is very little flat!!!
The bigger picking!
 | 32km option. Tough! |
 | 2000m of Elevation Gain |
 | 6 main climbs. |
 | 4 out of 5 in steepness scale. |
 | 4 out of 5 in toughness scale. |
 | 3 checkpoints. |
 | 3 drinkstops. |
The easier picking!
| | 18km. Still not easy. |
| | 1200m of Elevation Gain |
| | 2.5 main climbs. |
| | 3.5 out of 5 in steepness scale. |
| | 2 out of 5 in toughness scale. |
| | 2 checkpoints. |
| | 2 drinkstops. |
Various awards and prizes will be provided from our very kind partners. You will need to record your run on a GPS device or phone and upload it to Strava!
 | 1 Top Male & 1 Female |
 | 6 Segments |
 | 3 Masters |
| | 2 Run with Dog |
| | 4 Fun |
| | 2 Kids |
2nd Friday
Bus leaves Shanghai 18:00 sharp.
4-5h to get here by bus.
2h by train. Direct and non-direct train options and the station is 10 minutes from Wildhomestay.
3rd Saturday
6:00 am Registration, Gear Check and Breakfast
7:45 am Briefing
8:00 am Challenge Start
5:00 pm Challenge Ends
7:00 pm BBQ & Beers
8:00 pm Awards
4th Sunday
8am Breakfast
9am Morning activities, running and shoes testing on an offroad pump track, Adventure cycling on Specialized Diverge adventure bikes.
1230 Lunch
2pm Leave / bus departure.
Booking your entry and weekend for yourself or your group is easily done through this page. The entire weekend should come in under 1000 RMB pp. Confirmation will be emailed and please make sure you leave your wechat id when you checkout. We will add you to a wechat group and the final itinerary, GPX / waiver will be provided through that group and also in the briefing!
[yith_product_list name=”2022yp1-2″]
or book a standard room or house instead of the dorm 🙂
Pictures from previous Challenges 🙂
See Leigh’s weixin post. If you are new to the area also check the below recap of the last challenge for more photos of what the running area looks like.
[ess_grid alias=”running”][/ess_grid]
One of the big peaks / hills in the area. Some great views from the top! We have a few route options. You can drive, cycle or run to the base of the hill (20km from the homestay) and then walk around. Best to bring a picnic and enjoy the area.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/56018417
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/56004910
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/56004936
https://www.strava.com/routes/3509497539977372518
You could try the whole thing or you could try the route from the Homestay to Guchuanjian via the peak and we could pick you up around km25. Part concrete lanes and part off road, make sure you have a GPS device, hydration pack, light, raincoat and backup battery.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/56018568
Warnings
Please do not hike by yourself! Always hike in a group of three or more. If one person is injured, then another person can support that person, and another can seek help. Bring lots of drinking water. Always have a rain jacket and a light with you! Do not assume there is mobile coverage. Never go into a pool or river by yourself. Wet rocks are very very slippery. Do not enter the water if you cannot swim. Do not jump into pools as you have no idea how deep they are. Never leave someone unattended, even for a short period. Never drink alcohol while hiking or dipping!!! Follow the local government regulations. You hike and enter water at your own risk! Remove 100% of your waste and rubbish! Do not pee in the water. Be responsible & mindful!
See our listing of classic hikes in our area.
Extremely pleased this happened all considered and very lucky with the weather, air and everything else. Some serious climbs, some challenging downhills, too much food, not nearly enough photographs, and a great adventure through a well marked course in rural Anhui! Lessons learned, improvements to be made and looking forward to the 2022 Challenge Series. Details to be announced soon.
Very Well done to the challenge and award winners and many thanks to our partners for the great prizes.
Hoka provided some great shoes and Wildhomestay some free weekend & Tanqi cycling experiences.
Adidas provided some great trail running bags for segment prizes.
The Clinic provided some recovery treatments and sports tests.
Also thanks to Norbu Naturals for their wonderfully fresh jerky and Namedsport for their hydration mixes along with Therabody for their recovery aids.
A big shout out to Leigh for all the great organisation and a special thanks to Peter & Vincent.
A homemade video of the runs.
Some of the selected images.
