Tommy Chen, Taiwan's elite ultramarathon runner, has completed his 412-kilometer training route along with supporters. He's preparing for a race, known as the coldest, toughest and windiest long-distance race in the world: the Arctic Ultra.
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00:00Pushing himself to the limit, making sure he can run for hundreds of kilometers.
00:05This is 38-year-old Tommy Chen, Taiwan's elite ultramarathon runner, who has claimed the
00:11top spot in several international ultramarathons over the years.
00:15And now he's gearing up for his next race.
00:18The 2025 6633 Arctic Ultra is 612 kilometers long and is set to take place on February
00:2527th.
00:27The race is known as the toughest, coldest, and windiest competition, with temperatures
00:32that can drop to negative 50 degrees Celsius.
00:35The risk is very high.
00:37There is a 30% chance of a landslide, and no Asian athlete has ever had a landslide.
00:40So my goal is to have a landslide.
00:44To get in peak shape for the Arctic Ultra, he did not train alone.
00:48Starting from January 1st, Chen ran from Taipei in the north of Taiwan down to the southern
00:53port city of Kaohsiung, traversing over 412 kilometers in eight days.
01:00As Chen made his way down south from the capital, dozens of runners and bikers joined him each
01:04day.
01:05They were running with him to show their support, even if they didn't go the whole way.
01:10I think it's very interesting, and it's a kind of warm feeling, and I only sleep four
01:18hours a day.
01:19Some say they learned a valuable lesson running with Chen.
01:37During the eight days, those who could not join Chen supported him via messages and tracked
01:41his location.
01:43Some supporters and friends even showed up at his final stop.
02:03This is the second time for Chen to train along with other runners.
02:06He did the same in 2023.
02:09However this year, he says it felt different.
02:35Throughout the over 400 kilometer route, Chen often felt the urge to give up.
02:40However, those feelings gradually faded away.
03:02Chen now has less than two months to go until his ultramarathon in the Arctic Circle.
03:07He will next train in the mountains of Taiwan to adapt to the cold and frost he will face
03:11during the race.
03:13He hopes to leave his mark on history, to be the very first person from Asia to complete
03:17the Arctic Ultra.
03:22Yisun Chen and Sunny Chi for Taiwan Plus.