Chiang Dao 160 - Course Data, Elevation and Cutoffs
Chiang Dao 160 is the 173 km flagship of Chiang Mai Thailand by UTMB, with around 9,800 m of elevation gain from Wat Tham Chiang Dao south to Chiang Mai PAO Park. The overall cutoff is 48 hours, and the race is the UTMB World Series Asia-Pacific Major, which doubles the Running Stones on offer.
Course profile
- Next edition
- Fri 4 Dec 2026 · 10:00
- Distance
- 173 km
- Elevation gain
- 9,800 m
- Elevation loss
- 9,920 m
- Cutoff
- 48h
- Typical winning time
- ~21h15
The vertical density is close to UTMB Mont-Blanc - about 57 m of climbing per kilometre - but it arrives in a dozen mid-sized climbs rather than a handful of alpine passes, and the course tops out near 1,700 m, so altitude is not a factor. Heat and humidity are. The race runs in the northern Thai dry season: roughly 15 to 27 degrees by day at valley level with humidity around 60 to 75 per cent, then genuinely cold nights on the high ground above Chiang Mai. Most runners over-pack for the heat and under-pack for the second night. The route passes through Hmong villages, Doi Mon Ngo and the Mae Taeng valley before climbing into Doi Suthep-Pui National Park for the run-in past Montha Than Waterfall. The checkpoint table below lists the fifteen aid stations 2025 and 2026 have in common, at the organiser's own 2025 distances; the course then changes after A15 Wat Doi Pui (148.6 km), finishing via Montha Than Waterfall rather than Khun Chang Khian, which is where the extra five kilometres sit. The organiser has not published 2026 time barriers yet.
Data is approximate and courses change between editions - always verify against the official race guide.
Course math
Three numbers worked out from this course's distance, elevation and checkpoints.
UTMB Index category
100M
271 km-effort (distance + gain ÷ 100). Calculated from the course figures, not an official classification.
Estimate your UTMB Index →Biggest climb section
+1,279 m
A5 Suanta Sobkai Homestay → A6 Doi Mon Ngo · km 51.7–65.2
The largest gain between two checkpoints, not one continuous climb.
Biggest descent section
−1,535 m
A15 Wat Doi Pui → Chiang Mai PAO Park (Finish) · km 148.6–173
The largest loss between two checkpoints. ITRA's km-effort ignores descent; TrailMath counts it: 337 km-effort.
Open in GPX Explorer →Chiang Mai Thailand by UTMB - Chiang Dao 160 · 2025
Finish times, 2025 edition
486 runners started. 367 came back. Half of them took longer than 41:58:14. That left the median finisher 6:01:46 inside the 48h cutoff.
Median finish
41:58:14
Half of the 367 finishers were still out there at this point.
6:01:46 in hand before the 48h cutoff
Average 39:54:17, 2:03:57 quicker than the median: a fast front pulls it down.
The start line
75.5%
367 of 486 starters made it; 119 did not.
still moving when a cutoff closed
stopped by choice or by the medics
Men and women
Two medians on the same scale. The bars run from the start to the cutoff, so the gap between them is the gap in time.
Men
41:42:14
median finish; average 39:54:37
314 finishers, 86% of the field
Women
42:01:31
median finish; average 39:52:16
53 finishers, 14% of the field
0:19:17 separates the two medians, across 314 men and 53 women.
Finish time by age group
Every track runs from the start to the 48h cutoff, so the empty part of a bar is the time that group's median finisher still had. Men and women are drawn on the same scale.
| Age | Median finish | Median against the cutoff | Finishers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20-34 | 38:57:15 | 52 | |
| 35-39 | 41:29:07 | 50 | |
| 40-44 | 38:04:59 | 66 | |
| 45-49 | 43:55:27 | 74 | |
| 50-54 | 41:42:14 | 47 | |
| 55-59 | 44:34:38 | 16 - small sample, read with care | |
| 60-64 | 47:15:38 | 5 - small sample, read with care | |
| 65-69 | 42:50:37 | 3 - small sample, read with care | |
| 70-74 | - | 1 - too few finishers to publish a time |
| Age | Median finish | Median against the cutoff | Finishers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20-34 | 39:31:20 | 8 - small sample, read with care | |
| 35-39 | 35:15:54 | 11 - small sample, read with care | |
| 40-44 | 39:35:03 | 10 - small sample, read with care | |
| 45-49 | 46:39:19 | 6 - small sample, read with care | |
| 50-54 | 43:36:13 | 10 - small sample, read with care | |
| 55-59 | 37:35:18 | 4 - small sample, read with care | |
| 60-64 | 45:51:35 | 3 - small sample, read with care | |
| 65-69 | - | 1 - too few finishers to publish a time |
Full bar: 20 finishers or more. Tick alone: fewer than 20, too few for a median to say much. The shaded row is the biggest group.
Where the finishers came from
24% of the finishers came from Thailand alone.
| Nation | Finishers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Thailand TH | 89 24.3% | |
| Japan JP | 61 16.6% | |
| China CN | 55 15.0% | |
| South Korea KR | 23 6.3% | |
| Vietnam VN | 23 6.3% | |
| Malaysia MY | 15 4.1% | |
| Hong Kong SAR China HK | 13 3.5% | |
| France FR | 10 2.7% | |
| Philippines PH | 10 2.7% | |
| Canada CA | 9 2.5% | |
| Curaçao AN | 6 1.6% | |
| Germany DE | 5 1.4% | |
| India IN | 5 1.4% | |
| United States US | 5 1.4% | |
| United Kingdom GB | 4 1.1% | |
| Australia AU | 3 0.8% | |
| Indonesia ID | 3 0.8% | |
| Netherlands NL | 3 0.8% | |
| Taiwan TW | 3 0.8% | |
| Austria AT | 2 0.5% | |
| Czechia CZ | 2 0.5% | |
| New Zealand NZ | 2 0.5% | |
| Bangladesh BD | 1 0.3% | |
| Belgium BE | 1 0.3% | |
| Bulgaria BG | 1 0.3% | |
| Bahrain BH | 1 0.3% | |
| Denmark DK | 1 0.3% | |
| Spain ES | 1 0.3% | |
| Gabon GA | 1 0.3% | |
| Greece GR | 1 0.3% | |
| Kazakhstan KZ | 1 0.3% | |
| Lithuania LT | 1 0.3% | |
| Mongolia MN | 1 0.3% | |
| Macao SAR China MO | 1 0.3% | |
| Mexico MX | 1 0.3% | |
| Nepal NP | 1 0.3% | |
| Singapore SG | 1 0.3% | |
| Ukraine UA | 1 0.3% | |
| 28 other nations 18 other nations 8 other nations | 59 16.1% 20 5.4% 8 2.2% |
Showing 20 of 38 nations. Showing 30 of 38 nations. Showing 38 of 38 nations.
Bar length is against the largest nation. The smallest counts are drawn at a minimum visible width, so their bars are not to scale.
Share these numbers
A card with the 2025 finisher statistics, sized for Instagram and Strava.
How these numbers were computed
These are times for runners who finished. They exclude everyone who started and did not, so they describe how long finishing took, not how long the race takes. Bands with only a handful of finishers move a lot from one edition to the next.
We plot the median, not the average. A handful of very quick runners drags the average well below the time half the field actually beat, so the median is the honest number to plan against.
Nationality here shows who travels to this race, not who runs it best. That alone is why a host nation tops almost every list.
Computed from the full official results, verified September 13, 2026 - Official results
Talk to your race
Ask Chiang Dao 160 anything about climbs, pacing, crew or cutoffs.
Which climb should I respect most?
A5 Suanta Sobkai Homestay to A6 Doi Mon Ngo: +1,279 m over 13.5 km, from km 51.7. Hike the steep sections at an effort you could hold for hours - the race is decided after this climb, not on it.
Is 41h a realistic finish for me?
41h would put you in the faster half of 2025 finishers - the median was 41:58:14. It means holding 14:13/km overall.
Your long runs peak at 30 km, so the plan builds to 4-hour long runs, two of them at night.
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~11 weeks · peak ~8 h/week · 5 run + 2 strength days
For a 173 km race, aim for about 12 h/week at peak. Set your availability to 14 h/week in the app for the headroom to build there gradually.
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Aid stations and checkpoints
| Checkpoint | Km | Cumulative gain (m) | Cumulative loss (m) | Crew | Drop bag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start - Wat Tham Chiang Dao | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
| A1 Khiri Kiang Dao Garden Home | 9.4 | 220 | 207 | - | - |
| A2 Ban Mae Mae School | 23 | 1,373 | 1,060 | - | - |
| A3 Pagia Highland Research Station | 32.9 | 2,436 | 1,314 | - | - |
| A4 Meena Homestay Huay Kub Kab | 42.6 | 2,859 | 2,167 | - | - |
| A5 Suanta Sobkai Homestay | 51.7 | 3,166 | 3,078 | - | - |
| A6 Doi Mon Ngo | 65.2 | 4,445 | 3,636 | - | - |
| A7 Mae Taeng Watershed Research Station | 72.1 | 4,588 | 4,318 | - | - |
| A8 Pha Taek Village | 82.9 | 5,103 | 4,880 | - | - |
| A9 Wat Phraphutthabat Si Roi | 92.6 | 5,818 | 5,198 | - | - |
| A10 Mae Ka Piang Village | 100.5 | 6,226 | 5,940 | - | - |
| A11 Ban Pang hai School | 110 | 6,821 | 6,421 | - | - |
| A12 Chao Mae Luang Upatham 2 School | 115.8 | 7,360 | 6,560 | - | - |
| A13 Maesa Elephant Camp | 129.6 | 7,864 | 7,778 | - | - |
| A14 Chao Pho Luang Upatham 7 School | 138.9 | 8,584 | 8,012 | - | - |
| A15 Wat Doi Pui | 148.6 | 9,318 | 8,385 | - | - |
| Chiang Mai PAO Park (Finish) | 173 | 9,800 | 9,920 | - | - |
Data is approximate and courses change between editions - always verify against the official race guide. Source: official race guide, verified September 13, 2026 - Official race website
FAQ
How long is Chiang Dao 160?
Chiang Dao 160 covers approximately 173 km (about 107 miles) point to point, from Wat Tham Chiang Dao to Chiang Mai PAO Park in northern Thailand.
How much elevation gain does Chiang Dao 160 have?
The 2026 course carries around 9,800 m of cumulative elevation gain and about 9,920 m of loss, because it finishes roughly 120 m lower than it starts. No single climb exceeds about 1,300 m; the total is built from a long series of mid-sized ascents.
What is the cutoff time for Chiang Dao 160?
The overall cutoff is 48 hours from the 10:00 start on Friday 4 December 2026. Intermediate barriers apply at the major aid stations, and the winning time in 2025 was 21:14:01.
How hot is Chiang Dao 160?
The race runs in early December, the driest and coolest part of the northern Thai year. Expect roughly 15 to 27 degrees Celsius by day in the valleys with humidity around 60 to 75 per cent, and single-figure temperatures overnight on the ridges above Chiang Mai. Heat management matters far more here than altitude, which never exceeds about 1,700 m.
How do you qualify for Chiang Dao 160?
Entry requires 8 Running Stones. Chiang Mai Thailand by UTMB is the UTMB World Series Asia-Pacific Major, so it awards double Running Stones and ten-deep automatic entry to the UTMB World Series Finals.
What is the average Chiang Dao 160 finish time?
Across the 367 finishers of the 2025 edition the median finish time was 41:58:14 - half the field took longer than that - while the average was 39:54:17. The median is the figure to plan against: a fast front drags the average two hours below the time half the field actually beat. Men finished in a median 41:42:14 and women 42:01:31, and the median finisher crossed the line 6:01:46 inside the 48-hour cutoff. Note that the 2025 edition ran 168 km against the 173 km of the 2026 course.
How many people finish Chiang Dao 160?
367 of the 486 starters finished the 2025 edition, a finish rate of 75.5 per cent. The organiser recorded all 119 non-finishers as withdrawals and none as timed out at a barrier, so on this course the clock stopped nobody - every runner who did not finish stopped themselves.
Training for this race?
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