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)