JD Ultra-Trail Great Wall by UTMB®
JD Ultra-Trail Great Wall by UTMB® – CGW70
Dajingmen
Race guide
Updated 19 July 2026
The JD Ultra-Trail Great Wall by UTMB – CGW70 is a 68 km mountain loop that starts and finishes at Dajingmen, climbing 2,247 m through the ridges and villages of the Great Wall country. With a high point of 1,271 m and a course that rarely settles into flat ground, it is a genuine mountain ultra — a relentless sequence of village-to-village climbs and descents rather than one big summit. Starting from Dajingmen at 810 m, the route immediately gains height into the hills and then spends the day linking a chain of settlements — Sicha, Huangtuyao, Laohuyuan, Tanyi Valley, Caishi, Tujingzi, Qinghe and Cuiping'An — before dropping back to the finish. The constant undulation between roughly 800 m and 1,180 m is what defines the CGW70: there is very little respite, and pacing the repeated climbs is the whole game. This guide breaks down the course, the decisive sections and how to run it against the cut-offs.
The Course & Terrain
The CGW70 is a loop from Dajingmen (810 m) back to Dajingmen (798 m), passing nine checkpoints along the way. The early running climbs from the start to Sicha Village at 990 m by 7.9 km, then rolls to Huangtuyao (952 m, 14.2 km) and up again to Laohuyuan at 1,108 m by 21.6 km — the course's steady march into higher ground. From there it undulates through Tanyi Valley (946 m), Caishi Village (995 m), up to Tujingzi Village at 1,179 m near the high point, then Qinghe (1,079 m) and Cuiping'An (971 m) before the descent home. This is mountain terrain in the truest sense: the profile never flattens for long, and every village checkpoint sits at a distinctly different altitude, meaning a climb or descent connects almost all of them. Underfoot, expect the rugged mountain paths and ridge tracks that characterise the Great Wall backcountry. The repeated 100–200 m rises and falls add up quickly to the 2,247 m of total climbing over a relatively short 68 km.
Where the Race Is Won or Lost
There is no single monster climb here — the CGW70 is won or lost through consistency across the whole chain of ascents. The first meaningful test is the sustained rise from the start through Sicha to Laohuyuan at 1,108 m by 21.6 km, gaining nearly 300 m of net height in the opening third. Getting up this without spiking the effort sets up the rest of the day. The most demanding block is the middle-to-late section: after the dip through Tanyi Valley (946 m) and Caishi (995 m), the course pulls up to its high ground at Tujingzi Village (1,179 m) by 42.1 km, then keeps working through Qinghe and Cuiping'An before the final descent to Dajingmen. Runners who have paced the earlier climbs sensibly can hold form through this stretch and use the closing descent from Cuiping'An (971 m) down to the 798 m finish to run home strong. Those who chased the early kilometres tend to unravel on the repeated climbs of the back half.
Pacing & Fuelling to the Cut-offs
The intermediate cut-offs are Huangtuyao at Sat 00:00, Caishi Village at Sat 05:30, Qinghe Village at Sat 09:00, Cuiping'An at Sat 11:45 and the Dajingmen finish at Sat 15:00. The Huangtuyao gate at 14.2 km comes early and near midnight, confirming this is a race with a significant overnight component — so a large share of the climbing will be tackled in the dark. Aid stations are spaced roughly 6–10 km apart across the loop, which is manageable, but the terrain between them is slow, so budget time by effort rather than distance. The stretch from Laohuyuan through Tanyi Valley to Caishi covers about 14 km of undulating ground before a cut-off, making it a natural place to keep fuelling steady and avoid falling behind. Carry enough calories and fluid to cover each climb-heavy segment, eat early and often before the night sets in, and treat the Caishi and Qinghe cut-offs as the checkpoints to protect a buffer against.
Conditions to Expect
With a midnight cut-off at Huangtuyao only 14 km in, the CGW70 runs deep into the night, so a reliable headtorch, backup light and warm layers for the ridges are essential. Temperatures in the Great Wall mountains can fall sharply after dark and at the higher checkpoints around 1,100–1,180 m, even when the daytime start is mild, so pack for a cold night on exposed ground. The terrain itself is the defining condition: rugged mountain trail with sustained climbs and technical descents linking the villages, where footing demands attention when tired and in the dark. Weather in these hills can shift, and wind on the higher ridges near Tujingzi and Laohuyuan will feel colder than the valleys. Prepare for a long, cold overnight effort on demanding ground, and respect the descents to Dajingmen as much as the climbs — the final drop from Cuiping'An is where fatigue and darkness combine most.
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Checkpoints & cut-offs
✓ Course data verified against the official source (2026-07-17) · official source
0 km · 810 m · —
7.9 km · 990 m · —
14.2 km · 952 m · Sat 00:00
21.6 km · 1108 m · —
28 km · 946 m · —
35.5 km · 995 m · Sat 05:30
42.1 km · 1179 m · —
49.4 km · 1079 m · Sat 09:00
58.8 km · 971 m · Sat 11:45
68 km · 798 m · Sat 15:00
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