Outgoing ATM Champions Jeff Campbell and Priya Rai looked awesome while fine-tuning their form for the upcoming title defence at the 9 Dragons in Hong Kong in three week’ time. Both runners won their 50km race in Kalaw with relative ease and made it clear that whoever wants to win the ATM Championship race will need to pass by them. As last year, the Kalaw Ultra Trail Run event in itself was again a great experience for the nearly 1200 participants spread out over four distance categories and further evidence that Myanmar is now truly on the trail running map in Southeast Asia.
Jeff Campbell led his 50k men’s race from almost start to finish. Local hero and last year’s winner Wunna Lim initially tried to put up a brave challenge, but it did not take long before Campbell took command. He then gradually built the gap. Wunna Lin resisted to the best of his ability, but paid the price in the final 20km. Campbell crossed the finish line in a superb 4h52! Russia’s Evgenii Makarov, based in Phuket, eventually was a great second in 5h37, immediately followed by female race winner Priya Rai. Makarov had taken a conservative start, but collected the fading Wunna Lin at the end. Luckily, the Myanmar runner still managed to hold onto third place on the podium with a finish in 5h59 - still faster than his winning effort a year ago. Very close behind him in the end was the amazing Thailander Santi Phongsraphang! The latter is an ATM Finalist who had just completed a 500 km race two weeks prior !
As fifth male, talented Myanmar youngster Myint Myat Maung left all his injury troubles from last year behind and ran a prudent, but solid race to get back on track. Antoine Valcke from Switzerland was the next arrival in sixth, ahead of Myanmar’s Nay Myo Thet and Zaw Myo Htet.
Priya Rai won the women’s race , finishing right behind Makarov in 5h38. Also Priya had to cope with some pressure from. last year’s local winner Myint Myint Aye. At km 28, the gap between them was still just about three minutes! However, as the sun rose Priya got really up to speed and - as Campbell ahead of her - began to extend her advantage. Priya looked solid and relaxed crossing the finish line: mission accomplished.
Myint Myint Aye finished second in 6h12 and sixth overall. Great performance by the local runner, who just like Wunna Lin at least gave it a shot. The last step on the podium went to popular Htwe Nyein Ngal.
Hanoi-based SIngaporean Trung Nguyen won the 100k in his ATM comeback race after nearly three years’ absence. Trung won in a great time of 12h38. It was his fourth ATM race victory in his running career, the first in four years. Trung took the lead firmly on the way to CP 9 and extended the gap to Roman Pankov, Oscar Thet Paing Oo and a fading Jack Speed progressively. He also scored his 10th ATM ultra finish, so he is now a Bronze Grandmaster .
Russia’s Roman Pankov grabbed second place about 20 minutes later in what was a very composed effort, too. Team Myanmar ATM Finalist Oscar Thet Paing Oo came in as third and completed the men’s podium in 13h25.. He was an early race leader, but could not respond when Trung Nguyen caught up. China’s Jiang Deyvan finishes fourth, just ahead of Belgium’s Antoine Deligne and Meng Kong Aik. Last year’s 80k winner and another early race leader Jack Speed slipped down the rankings towards the end and finished in seventh place, suffering from a chest infection it turned out later.
Altyn King won the women’s race in 16h28! The Myanmar based runner from Kazakhstan was already second last year and today used the experience to gain the upper hand on the other ladies in the race. Yi YI Win finished second and Hong Kong’s Silver Grandmaster Ellen Yin Kwan Cheng third.
The next Myanmar qualifier on our calendar is the Mount Popa Jungle Trail, organised by the same team at MUTRA. The event is scheduled for the last weekend of June.
