This year’s 08 Vasque Gore-Tex China Trail Tour (formerly known as the Hangzhou Mountain Running Race), will take place on the 25th of October 2008. The event is organised by the nice people at FX Outdoor.

The race is approximately 30k and run through the hills that border the city finishing with a run back across the Su causeway and over Baoshi hill. See route information here.

The race is a lot of fun taking in some of the best running trails that Hangzhou has to offer, it can be run as a 30k race or as a 2 person relay, other unofficial variations have also been tried.

If 30k is too daunting then we can recommend running the first 15k down to Nine Creeks as the most challenging part of the course and the best scenery, you’ll not record an official time with this option but it is still very much worth doing. Taxis and buses back to the city are easy from Nine Creeks.

Not sure of the details for this year but in previous years all participants got a very cool Vasque t-shirt and those who placed in events got prizes.

Full information is available on the FX Outdoor website here. Sign-up information (in Chinese) is here but  the language-challenged can simply mail fxoutdoor _at_ gmail.com.

Happy Running.

Hangzhou Midnight 10k 2008

Beat the heat, run at midnight! The first Hangzhou Midnight 10k event will be held this coming August 17th (late Saturday night / early Sunday morning) and will be raising money for The Library Project. The course is 10k in the environs of Hangzhou’s famous West Lake and will start and finish from the nearly as famous Maya Bar.

Due to generous corporate sponsorship we’re pleased to be able to say that all money raised from runner’s entry fees will go directly to the Library Project. All accounts in respect of the run will be published here afterwards. Our goals are absolute transparency and of course to raise as much money as possible for The Library Project.

The Library Project is a registered charity in the United Sates operating out of offices in Xi’an China. They donate libraries to under financed schools and orphanages in China and elsewhere in South East Asia. 100% of money donated to the Library Project will go directly towards library projects. For further details please see the library project website at http://www.library-project.org/.

To find out more or to sign up now click here.

Happy Running.

The 10th Hangzhou Marathon was announced a little while ago for 2008 and will be held on the 9th of November. If you’ve not run it before then Hangzhou is well worth doing just for the stunning views of Hangzhou’s West Lake and the mountains that border the city.

The route starts from the Yellow Dragon stadium in the centre of the city and makes it’s way down the eastern lakeshore on Hubin Road. From there the course follows the lake shore (or at least the nearest road to it) all the way down Nanshan Road. The 10k runners peal off at this point. The half and full marathon runners continue past Taizi Wan Park an down Hupao Road in between some of Hangzhou’s lush, green mountains all the way down to Six Harmonies Pagoda on the banks of the Qiantang River.

The half marathon runners turn at this point while the full marathon runners turn further along the river bank at Nine Creeks. Both groups the retrace their steps back up Hupao Road before turning onto the Yanggong Causeway which follows the western shore of the lake back up to the start / finish, passing the landscaped areas of New West Lake and the Flower Nursery.

The course is mostly flat, Hupao Road down to the river being the only incline which you down and then back up. The event is well organised with runners having at least a lane to themselves for most of the course, Nanshan Road being the only exception where runners only have the bike lane.

Hangzhou has 42k, 21k, 13.8k, 6.8k, 1.2k events, you can find out more and sign up online at http://www.hangzhou-marathon.com/.

Happy Running.

* Photo Courtesy of Yujanlee on Flickr

Hangzhou Hash House Harriers (HZH3) were created in Hangzhou back in the summer of ’07, following the model of Hash clubs around the world. The drinking club with a running problem. The drinking (in Hangzhou at least) happens afterwards. The Hangzhou hash runs mostly in the hills and promises trails that will tax the energetic without losing the strollers.

Two runners (the hares) will go out a couple of hours earlier and ‘lay the trail’ in flour or chalk. The rest of the runners (the hounds) then head off at the allotted time to attempt to follow the trail. The beauty of the hash model of loops, false trails, check-backs and re-groups is that the motivated run off ahead finding all the wrong trails while the slower runners and the walkers avoid this extra distance. It works surprisingly well and the runs are always a lot of fun as well as being a great way to see some of the best scenery that Hangzhou has to offer.

The hares final duty is to make sure that at the end of the run (they always loop back to the start, so you can leave bikes, bags, etc) there is always a crate of beer (and a crate of water) waiting for the runners. Following a bit of repartee and a couple of glasses of beer the group will adjourn to a nearby eatery for food. 10 RMB is charged for the run to cover the cost of beer and water, dinner is optional but usually runs to between 20 and 30 RMB.

The group are diverse bunch (lots of familiar faces from Even If It Rains) that manage to have a good time on the run and with the beer afterwards while avoiding some of the excesses for which some other hashes have become famous.

The Hash has a website that is updated every Thursday with details of the coming Sunday’s run, some more background information on how the hash works and ‘run reports’ for most of their previous runs. There is also a mailing list, email to be added to the list.

Happy Running.

Even If It Rains (EIIR) has been going for more than three years. Originally based out of the late, lamented, Paradise Bar they now run from Maya, Tuesday nights at 19:30. The group is very relaxed and informal, there is no charge for the runs and Maya are kind enough to provide free bottled water.

EIIR are basically just a group of like minded individuals who get together to go for runs. The abilities (and motivation levels) vary in the group so there’s little pressure if that’s not your cup of tea, 6k is a common distance. Equally though there are group of fairly competitive runners who pound round the 14k route at pace that will push you. 10k is the most popular distance.

Group composition varies (as they all do in such a transitory city) turnouts vary depending on the weather and time of year between 5 (depths of winter, height of summer) and 30 (spring fitness drive). The group has a range of ages, nationalities, shoe sizes, etc., it’s a good mix expats and locals.

Regulars from the group over the last couple of years have shown up at half / full marathon events in Shanghai, Dalian, Xiamen, Great Wall and of course Hangzhou. There is usually a small group travelling to any particular event.

The group are a social bunch and most people generally hang around for beer and burrito’s in Maya afterwards or wander round the corner for alfresco Sichuan food.

The Even If It Rains Google Group has links to satellite imagery of the routes as well as mailing list for the group.

Happy Running.

“Hangzhou is a runner’s paradise” a friend of mine said to me recently and while I’d never thought to articulate it quite like that, I have no problem agreeing with the sentiment. The lake area, while busy at times, is a great place to go for a run and many people do, the hills are accessible from the city centre and present some great trails for anyone wanting to get out of the city a bit. It’s no surprise that there are several running groups active in the city. Even If It Rains meets on Tuesdays, 19:30 at Maya for runs round the lake of 6 -14k. The local kennel of the Hash House Harriers meet in varying locations on Sundays at 17:00 and I’m sure there are others.

Even If It Rains’ activities are organised around a Google Group while the Hash House Harriers have their own website. Individual events will typically have their own website too. What this site aims to be is a central point, not tied to a particular group or event, to go to for information about running in Hangzhou.

If anyone has information about running in Hangzhou or other information that may be relevant to runners in Hangzhou then please feel free to drop me a mail at .

Happy Running.