330 Kilometres, 24,000 Metres of Climb: How Two Vietnamese Runners Finished Tor des Géants

At three in the morning, I was watching a green dot crawl across a laptop screen in Dhaka. In the Aosta Valley, the air was cold and the Tor des Géants course stretched for 330 kilometres. Two Vietnamese runners were still moving: Lưu Đức Toản and Lê Thị Hằng. The clock beside their names climbed: 130 hours, 135, 137. Toản stopped at 137 hours 50 minutes; Hằng at a little over 138 hours 40 minutes. The cutoff was 150 hours. Toản had 12 hours 10 minutes (8.1 per cent) of buffer; Hằng had 11 hours 20 minutes (7.6 per cent).

The first thing I did was count. The second was wonder why no one else had. Outside Vietnam's trail-running community, this result is a small item. The numbers tell a larger story. A 330-kilometre mountain course, 24,000 metres of climb and a 150-hour guillotine change the question from 'how fast?' to 'how much can you survive?'

The arithmetic of 330 kilometres

Tor des Géants has been held in Italy's Aosta Valley since 2026. A 330-kilometre course with 24,000 metres of climb averages about 73 metres of vertical gain per kilometre. The organisers compare it to climbing Everest three times. More than 20 passes sit above 2,000 metres; the days can be hot, the nights close to freezing. There are no fixed stages and no mandatory sleep. Seven large life bases, roughly every 50 kilometres, provide food, medical checks and rest. Between them, the athlete manages fuel, sleep, clothing and safety.

This edition's men's winner was China's Jia Ju Zhao in 65 hours 55 minutes 22 seconds. The women's winner was Germany's Katharina Hartmuth in 67 hours 10 minutes 09 seconds. The two Vietnamese finishers took roughly twice as long: Toản 2.09 times the winning men's time, Hằng 2.07 times the winning women's time. In pace terms, Toản averaged 25.1 minutes per kilometre and Hằng 25.2; the winners averaged about 12.0. The cutoff pace was 27.3 minutes per kilometre. They finished, but toward the slow end of the finishing envelope.

The finishing tier

One number needs stating plainly: Toản finished about 72 hours behind the winner, Hằng about 71.5 hours behind. In percentage terms, the gap is more than 100 per cent of the winning time. There is no reason to hide that gap; the gap itself tells us the correct frame is endurance and planning, not elite podium performance. As a competitive result, this sits far from the front. As a finish, it is a real achievement.

Tor des Géants typically sees about 60 per cent of starters finish. Vietnam had three starters and two finishers, a 67 per cent rate marginally above the field norm. The third Vietnamese entrant, based in France, did not finish; the report gives no reason. That single detail says Vietnam's participation still has more breadth than depth, but two finishers create a small, real foundation.

The paths of Hằng and Toản

Lê Thị Hằng comes from Vũng Tàu and is a known figure in Vietnam's trail community. Her portfolio includes the 250-kilometre Prenn Trail, the 100-kilometre Son La Ultra Trail and the 100-kilometre VMM. That list matters: she did not arrive at 330 kilometres by accident. Her experience above 100 kilometres is the most transferable asset for Tor des Géants, where pace matters less than night running, cold management, foot placement and disciplined fuelling.

Another number matters to me: Hằng finished only 50 minutes behind her male compatriot. Over 330 kilometres, 50 minutes is a narrow gap; in gender terms it is more significant still. A biography is not a scoreline; it is the weather around the player. Hằng's weather includes the growing but still small presence of Vietnamese women in trail running.

Lưu Đức Toản's portfolio is more international: a UTMB-family race, the 116-kilometre Mantra, the 100-kilometre ULJU, the 100-kilometre Mt Fuji. Those races gave him different geographies, different weather and long nights. He has said Tor des Géants is far harder than UTMB. The arithmetic supports him: the main UTMB race is about 171 kilometres with roughly 10,000 metres of climb; Tor des Géants is 330 kilometres with 24,000 metres. That is about double the distance and 2.4 times the vertical gain.

One caution is needed. The report describes Toản's UTMB entry as '100 kilometres'; the main UTMB race is 171 kilometres. It is more likely he ran CCC, the roughly 101-kilometre companion race, or a comparable event. That does not diminish his resume, but it should be verified before citation.

The shadow of safety

The most important competitive number at Tor des Géants is the 150-hour cutoff. The question is not 'how fast?' but 'how far inside?' Toản's 12 hours 10 minutes and Hằng's 11 hours 20 minutes of buffer show they had little room to absorb a major crisis in the final third. A navigational error, a stomach shutdown, a mountain storm or a sudden cold snap could have turned a finish into a DNF. Their success was as much planning as physiology.

The risk is not theoretical. Toản has described paths that run close to deep cliffs, with no safety ropes in places. In 2026, Chinese runner Yang Yuan died in this race. A DNF rate near 40 per cent is not just a statistic; it says failure is normal here. Two Vietnamese finishers came through without a reported major incident, which is good news, but over a 138-hour exposure window luck also plays a part.

The missing numbers

The report gives no checkpoint splits, no overall or age-group placing, no sleep strategy. We can say with confidence that they finished. We cannot say where they placed, where they lost time, or how often they slept. Sleep management is a decisive variable in ultra-trail; without it the analysis is incomplete. The press box taught me that absence can be louder than any chant. Here too, what is missing is the loudest question.

There is also a numerical inconsistency inside the report. The opening says both runners finished in excess of 138 hours; Toản's time is 137 hours 50 minutes, which is under 138. The individual times are the more reliable figures; the aggregate '138-plus' phrasing is rounded. In journalism, that small difference matters, because in ultra-trail a ten-minute swing can change a finisher's ranking.

Commercial value against athletic value

Tor des Géants sits outside the World Athletics competition pyramid. It offers no world ranking points and no Olympic or world championship qualification. Entry usually depends on a lottery, proof of qualifying races and medical certification; athletes must plan far ahead. The value of this finish lies in the economy of endurance sport, not in the World Athletics structure.

That economy runs on participation, not broadcast. Entry fees, trail shoes, poles, layered clothing, GPS trackers, lights and travel to Italy are carried by the runner or small sponsors. Vietnam's trail-running market is growing; this result is a signal for gear brands, race organisers and mountain tourism in the north. For World Athletics it is zero. For Vietnam's participation economy it is a small but real asset.

The most durable part of the story is the two names: Lê Thị Hằng and Lưu Đức Toản, the first Vietnamese finishers of Tor des Géants. 'First' does not fade; it becomes an address for the next generation. A finish does not create a pipeline, though. The questions are whether Vietnam will add domestic 100-kilometre races, archive checkpoint splits and placings, and tighten safety protocols, especially on night sections near cliffs.

The VnExpress report is restrained. It includes the winners' times, the cutoff, the finish rate and the 2026 death. That restraint is a strength. If domestic coverage starts calling this a world conquest or a near-podium result, it will again deny the gap between 137 hours and the winners' 65. This report avoids that trap.

Change has started, in a small frame. Two runners finished 330 kilometres of mountain under a 150-hour guillotine. Their result asks the next question: will Vietnam remain a country that can finish, or build a generation that can go under 100 hours? The answer is not here yet; the 137 hours 50 minutes is now in the record, and records create their own questions.