Vietnamese runner wins one of world's toughest 100 km trail marathons

Updated: 16:17, 19/05/2025

Vietnam's Luong Thi Loi claimed a stunning victory in the women's 100 km category of the Rinjani 100 ultramarathon on Indonesia's Lombok Island, one of the world's most challenging races.

Loi completed the grueling course in 31 hours, 26 minutes and 12 seconds on Sunday.

Only 16 athletes competed in the women's 100 km race, which started at midnight on Saturday. As of 10 a.m. the next day, only five had finished, one was still on the course and 10 did not finish (DNF).

Luong Thi Loi was named the winner of the 100 km race at the Rinjani 100 on May 18, 2025.

Loi secured first place, while American runner Alison Gauthier took second with a time of 31 hours and 59 minutes, over half an hour behind Loi. Japan's Ayako Yuasa finished third at 33 hours and 44 minutes.

Loi started in third place at the first aid station, briefly moved up to second, then dropped back to third at the next two stations. She maintained that position through the fourth and fifth checkpoints before taking the lead at the sixth station and holding it to the finish.

The Rinjani 100's route has a 36-hour cutoff time. Participants must climb 9,660 m and descend 9,100 m.

Loi only began trail running in 2021 as a way to relieve stress from her job. Born in rural Ninh Hoa District in Khanh Hoa Province, she found peace and passion in the natural terrain of trail races, preferring it over the bustling urban roads.

After traveling over 40 km from a factory in Dong Nai to her place in Ho Chi Minh City each night, she would put on her training shoes, running routes across bridges like Thu Thiem and Ba Son to prepare for mountain trails. Some nights she ran 5–10 km, other nights 21 km, using running as a way to reset physically and mentally.

In March 2022, she took a chance and entered her first race, the 45 km Dalat Ultra Trail. With minimal experience and advice on running shoes from a fellow runner, Loi still managed a third-place finish.

That success gave her confidence to take on increasingly difficult events, including the VMM 70 km rub, the Lam Dong Trail 70 km and the La An Ultra Trail 75 km.

Her breakthrough year came in 2023 when she placed third overall in the 100 km VMM and followed it up with a fourth-place finish at the 2024 Asia Trail Master in Malaysia.

In the men’s 100 km event at Rinjani 100 this year, Vietnamese runner Nguyen Thang earned second place with a time of 28 hours, 38 minutes and 43 seconds, three hours behind Indonesia's Muhammad Ma'mun Kharir. Another Indonesian runner, Irifki Irifki completed in third place with a time of 29 hours and 47 minutes.

Another strong Vietnamese performance came from Nguyen Si Hieu, who placed third in the men's 162 km race with a time of 43 hours, 11 minutes and 23 seconds.

Hieu remained in the top three throughout the race, finishing behind Nepal's Sange Sherpa 41 hours and 16 minutes and Japan's Teruki Tanikawa 44 hours and 44 minutes.

The 2025 Rinjani 100, held from May 16-18, marks the 13th edition of the event. With distances ranging from 27 km to 162 km, runners have to conquer the highest peaks of Lombok, culminating at Mount Rinjani, Indonesia's second-highest volcano at around 3,700 m.

The 162 km route includes a brutal 12,300 m of cumulative elevation gain and a cutoff time of 55 hours, making it one of the most difficult trail races in the world, according to F-One Sport.

Rinjani 100 is renowned not just for its difficulty but also for its breathtaking and dangerous terrain. Runners navigate dense forests, steep ascents, rocky cliffs and volcanic ash.

The course's DNF rate is notoriously high. In 2016, only one runner, Jan Nilsen, finished the 100 km run. In 2023, just five athletes completed the 162 km distance.

This year, Vietnam sent 41 athletes to compete across multiple distances. Among them, Nguyen Si Hieu and Le Hang completed in the 162 km run. The race began at 7 a.m. on May 16 (Hanoi time), with 30 athletes entering the longest distance.

In 2024, Vietnamese athlete Lanh Le finished in the top three in the 162 km event with a time of 51 hours and 57 minutes. Alongside Nguyen Tien Hung, who placed sixth with 54 hours and 23 minutes, they were two of six finishers that year. The race’s extreme elevation gain, 15,064 m over 162 km, means athletes must climb an average of 93 m per km.