A wonderful view of Bach Ma Mountain

With a slope that even 100cc motorcycles would struggle to get to the top, it was impossible to capture an image of athletes speeding to the destination. On the contrary, there were images of pursed lips, of bodies leaning forward, and of eyes full of determination to conquer the cloud-covered mountain peak. 

About one-third of the way, interspersed with the quick breaths, the blushing faces and the sweat flowing like streams in the cool mountain air were the murmurs of admiration of the overwhelmingly majestic but mysterious nature.

In the next third of the way, a few athletes had to get off their bikes as the steep slope had no flat ground to gain momentum. So, getting on foot to walk and relax was understandable.

With athletes who can still hang on and struggle up the slope, there was also a sense of leisure – leisure to take a breath in the cool air, to see the drifting clouds, and to admire hundreds of species of plants and trees changing their autumn leaves. Perhaps many athletes also waited for a stroke of luck to see a black-crested pheasant, a white-crested pheasant or a crested argus... fluttering in front of them.

At the end of the challenging journey, in the sound of the boar, the mist suddenly rushed down and lingered. And in the foggy air, there were silhouettes of athletes continuing to charge forward to the destination at the top of Bach Ma Mountain.

At the finish line, when the first athlete appeared, the cheers seemed to burst out, and it kept spreading all over the Bach Ma mountain forest until the last athlete appeared.

Some pictures of the conquest of Bach Ma peak on September 21:

The fog created a mysterious Bach Ma scenery

Although the road to the destination was still far away, for some athletes, conquering half of the journey had already been a great accomplishment

The volunteers went down near the road to both encourage and warn the athletes in the foggy slopes

Looking down from above, we could see the second group speeding up to catch up

A rest point was set up in the middle of the pass

A racer of Huong Thuy Town had to stop at the rest point to receive care from the volunteers

This female athlete was still energetic and smiled very brightly

Unavoidable situation

At the age of 69, this athlete from Danang was the oldest competitor

Accept walking to the destination which was not far away

Rushing forward

The winner

Story and photos: Vo Nhan – Tran Thien