The Taroko Gorge Marathon

It is 6:40 a.m., and the runners standing on the Jinwen Bridge, which spans the Liwu River at the entrance to the Taroko Gorge in Hualien County, are gazing at the Pacific Ocean in the distance and preparing for the start. Running into Taroko National Park, the route follows the world’s largest marble canyon, carved by the Liwu River through eons of time. The majestic setting surely makes this one the world’s most beautiful marathon courses.

The day of the LDC Hotels and Resorts Group Taroko Gorge Marathon (TGM) is the only day in the year when vehicles are excluded from Taroko National Park and you can run and wander through the gorge to your heart’s content.

Runners enjoy the cool shade of the tunnels in the Taroko Gorge.(courtesy of LDC Hotels and Resorts Group)

The canyon scenery along the route of the Taroko Gorge Marathon has earned it the moniker “the most beautiful race course.” (courtesy of LDC Hotels and Resorts Group)

Brave to participate, heroic to finish

The first TGM was held in 2000. Today it attracts about 40,000 registrants annually, of whom only 12,000 are selected to run by the race lottery, an acceptance rate of 30–40%. On average, each year some 800 runners from 40 foreign countries take part, showing how popular this event is.

The most memorable thing about the TGM is the beautiful scenery of the Taroko Gorge. Important check-in points along the route—such as the Chang­chun (Eternal Spring) Shrine, which looks like a scene from a traditional Chinese landscape painting, and the precipitous Yanzikou (Swallow Grotto), both of which are part of the full marathon course—cause runners to stop to check in and take photos. As they enjoy the sunshine and phyton­cides along the route, they also pass through cool, shady tunnels.

One can see Formosan blue magpies at the Chief Spa Hotel aid station.

The Wulu Gorge 100K Ultramarathon is accompanied by majestic canyon scenery.

A green marathon

On the road through Taroko National Park there are many warnings marked on the road surface urging road users to beware of falling rocks. Safety is the most pressing concern for the TGM organizers. Beside their best efforts to ensure the safety of the roughly 15,000 runners, officials, stewards and marshals, they also have to put their trust in the power of prayer, reveals TGM executive director Zhang Zhiqiang.

The TGM brings travelers to Hualien during the off season, and the race combined with related tourism generates at least NT$100–200 million per year in revenues for the region. Nine years ago the LDC Hotels and Resorts Group began sponsoring the race, and has moved step by step towards the goal of making it a “green marathon.”

LDC president Emile C.J. Sheng says that the reason they decided to sponsor the race was that the boss of their parent company hoped that the businesses under his corporate banner would not only turn a profit, but would also “do worthwhile things.” This, he believed, was the only way to become a company that is needed by society. Accordingly the LDC Group not only provides funding, but also participates in the visual design, marketing, and planning of the event. “Sustainability is a marathon” is a principle that has always informed LDC’s involvement in the TGM.

Sheng explains that in sponsoring the marathon, the LDC Group also practices the value of altruism. Meanwhile both the company and its employees get a tremendous sense of accomplishment in return.

Three years ago, the TGM stopped giving runners water in plastic bottles, and instead gave them environmentally friendly reusable cups. Although this increased the costs by NT$700,000, it made it possible to greatly reduce the amount of PET bottle trash. Next year they plan to begin conducting a carbon footprint inventory so that the TGM will truly become synonymous with a “green marathon.”

Rich Fu (left) and Honda Wu (right), the founders of the Wulu Gorge Ultramarathon, call each other “stepbrothers with no shared parents.”

The Wulu Gorge Ultramarathon

At 5 a.m. one Saturday in March each year, well before dawn, a starting gun sounds in front of the century-­old Tianhou Temple in Taitung County’s Guanshan Township to launch the Wulu Gorge 100K Ultramarathon (WGU). The course follows the Southern Cross-Island Highway through magnificent canyon scenery, making this a race that every runner should do at least once in their life.

The course starts off with the farmland scenery of the little town of Guanshan. In March the rice seedlings planted in spring are already a glossy green color, so that runners from Taipei often mistake them for Chinese chives. Next comes a gently rising slope, which serves as a good warm-up for the runners, while to left and right the mountains of the Central and Coastal ranges offer attractive scenery. Along the route runners experience changing weather conditions including high-mountain sunshine, low temperatures and light rain, while Formosan macaques sometimes hang around by the roadside. At the Chief Spa Hotel aid station, at the 50-kilometer mark, participants can try the braised pork over rice of the nearby Sichuan Restaurant, and as they eat they can admire the Formosan blue magpies perching in the trees.

The most challenging stretch of the course, which runners reach in the afternoon, is from Lidao to ­Mo­tian, with a steep climb and a series of hairpin bends. At this time runners may well find themselves confronted by a white wall of thick mist that makes it hard for them even to see their own outstretched hands. Fortunately, as they slow from a jog to a fast walk, they can enjoy the magical ambience of this foggy wonderland. When the race is over, each ­competitor receives a package of Guanshan rice donated by one of the race sponsors, the Zi Yuan Rice Husking Factory.

The Wulu Gorge Ultramarathon starts at 5 a.m., well before dawn. (courtesy of Rich Fu)

Memorable scenery at every turn

“In good weather, looking out from the WGU course, almost every mountain is one of Taiwan’s ‘100 Peaks.’ This is the ridgeline that links together Mt. Guan, Mt. Taguan, and Mt. Yingzaizui.” The WGU brands itself as offering “big mountains, big waters, and a welcome for big personalities,” which refers to the canyon topography sculpted by nature, the gurgling Xinwulu River, and the heroic marathoners who run the Southern Cross-Island Highway. The 13th WGU will be run in 2024. Rich Fu, one of the founders of the WGU and the first chairman of the Taitung Super Triathlon Association, looks out over the mountains and says: “When it’s been going for three to five years, it’s called an event. When it’s been going for 30 to 50 years, it’s called a festival. When it’s been going for 300 years, then it’s called culture.”

As to why he founded the WGU, Fu says: “In fact, its simply because I like to enjoy myself and I love running.”

Fu and cofounder Honda Wu both love running, and they started out by organizing a triathlon. They held the first WGU in 2011.

During the second year of the event, one of the runners, who worked at the county public works department, suggested that they change the date to March, when the weather is more stable. They could thereby avoid the greatest variable in the race: typhoons.

In 2021, for the tenth WGU, the number of registrants reached a record high of 3,000. Although the race had to be postponed for a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it included the most runners ever in the event.

Runners in the Wulu Gorge Ultramarathon can see a number of Taiwan’s famed “100 Peaks.” (courtesy of Rich Fu)

Where to find the best

Honda Wu, besides being a dentist in Guanshan, was the first person from Taiwan to complete the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc trail marathon, and he had a moment of glory when he crossed the finish line holding Taiwan’s national flag high in the air.

“In fact, I only started running marathons when I was 42,” he says, “but running is like a drug, and you get addicted.” He talks about how he took part in a 14-day, 1,100-kilometer run around the island of Taiwan in 2004, after which he took on the Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset event and then the world’s toughest race, the Tor des Géants, a 330-km endurance test with a 150-hour time limit, held in Italy.

After successfully running ultramarathons in various countries, Wu returned home to organize a local long-distance event. “Running in my own hometown, it’s small but beautiful and very heartwarming,” says Wu, adding: “No other country has so many mountains, and they are green all year round. Measuring the road with my own legs, I’m able to clearly see even the stones in the river valley, and when I make a turn there is entirely new scenery. When I come out of a tunnel and suddenly see the light I am moved, no matter how many times I have run this course.”

The Wulu Gorge Ultramarathon brands itself as offering “big mountains, big waters, and a welcome for big personalities.” (courtesy of Rich Fu)

Running marathons is a way to test one’s own perseverance and determination. (courtesy of Rich Fu)

Making international friends

Rich Fu emphasizes: “There are no miracles, only cumulative training.” For 100K races in particular there is no way you can fake it: You have to maintain a training level of at least 100 km per week. He offers the following pearls of wisdom about running: “When you feel good, everything is scenery, but when you feel bad, even the road itself doesn’t seem level.” “Giving up requires more wisdom than hanging in.” These remarks illustrate the importance of preparation and doing your homework before a race.

After the sixth WGU, there began to be a change in the winners. The reason was that the organizers had received an email inviting them to form an alliance with the Tango 100 km Ultramarathon in Japan. Rich Fu says that when skilled runners from Japan, which has a century of marathon history, began to come to the WGU they immediately took first place in both the men’s and women’s categories. Since then, runners from both sides have always taken part in each ­other’s events, showing how marathons can build inter­national friendship.

Fu hopes the WGU will not only enable his hometown to enjoy a festive day, but can also attract ultramarathon runners from around the world to come to the sports paradise that is Taitung.

And so we too say: “If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.” And when you run a canyon marathon, the scenery is memorable at every turn.

The Wulu Gorge Ultramarathon sets off amid the scenic farmland of GuanshanTownship.