The 4th edition of Sierra Madre Trail Ultra is up next in the Asia Trail Master Championship series this weekend. It is the second Filipino points race of Season 10, and it’s one of the most honest and simple races on the calendar: 75km, take it or leave it. Since its conception by the Maharlika organisational team, the event in the Rizal mountains east of Manila has been widely applauded as a highlight for trail runners in Luzon and the whole country, and it has seen some of Asia’s top performers taking part. The 2025 edition has a few modifications, from a midnight start to some significant course changes. Sierra Madre Trail Ultra also celebrates the 154th anniversary of the host town Rodriguez.

The new route consists of both technical and wide trails, river crossings and bouldering with minimal road sections. It’s trail running pur sang and the daytime heat needs to be factored in as well. Total elevation gain is estimated at a bulky 4200 hm. Sierra Madre is a race that takes mandatory gear seriously, so runners need to make sure they carry all that is deemed necessary.

Two years ago it was current ATM Champion Jeff Campbell who set the trails on fire, last year it was Kristian Joergensen. The latter, of course a resident in the Philippines, will return this Saturday, despite having run Lantau 70 in Hong Kong last weekend. Joergensen came sixth, after finishing fifth in Vietnam Ultra Marathon just a month ago as well. A third solid result would probably put him already in the safety zone for Team Asia Expat in this year’s ATM Championship Final at Mu Cang Chai Ultra Trail in Vietnam in October. Given his heavy race load over the past month, a new victory in Sierra Madre may not come as easy, however. A group of young, talented Filipinos may be smelling blood. Joergensen has been a benchmark in the Philippines for years, so most certainly the likes of Kik Suello, Roberto Cain III, Jomarc Ferrer, John Ivan Zonio, Randolf Gonzales and Maynard Encormal will be dreaming of more than a podium this weekend. It will make for some interesting racing, also tactically. For the Filipino contenders, any ATM points race is important, given a lot of them want to be in Team Pilipinas at the ATM Final later in the year. Godwin Mirar and Kik Suello are currently 1-2 in the ranking, followed by Gonzales. Former ATM Champions Onifa and Macaneras have already secured their wild card for the Final, so the question is which five other guys will join them in the team.

75 kilometers is of course also a Grandmaster distance, and it’s great to see quite a lot of Grandmasters on the start list on their journey towards the next level and star. Runners such as 3-stars Dward Fuentes and Sean Aying, Ben Chiok, Munintaran Sundram, Mario Yap and Bhert Orpiada.

Traditionally, the women’s race at Sierra Madre has always been very exciting to follow as well with rather surprising race winners even. Ann Jilian Pulanco took her maiden ATM race victory here two years ago, and last year Cristine Montuya surprised everyone with her strong finish to take her first ever ATM race win. Both Pulanco and Montuya are absent this time, but the start list still shows several competitors who can dream of success. The two runners with most wins and podiums on their records are Malaysia’s Rejlen James and Manila-resident Cecille Wael. As outstanding Borneo star Rejlen James has been on home soil, things have never really worked out for her so far when abroad. Can she turn that corner this weekend? Cecille Wael knows the trails by heart and came second behind Montuya last year. Recently, Wael’s been suffering from inconsistent training opportunities and nutritional problems while racing. Last month she ran the 9 Dragons 50/50 basically on just water. Her road running times this year have been solid, though, and she has the potential to give James a run for her money. Julieann Morales and Julie Mae Marquez are two other contenders, but both just returned from Lantau 70 in Hong Kong. Marquez in particular has had a particulary busy few months - also reaching Grandmaster status. Morales, already a Grandmaster and a three-time race winner in Season 9, cannot be underestimated, however, as one has the feeling she has not been emptying her tank over the past couple of races. The dark horse of the women’s race may very well be Shekinah Velasquez. Given Sierra Madre has a history of surprise female winners, this may very well just become her breakthough-weekend. Let’s also not discount the chances of Ellen Cheng from Hong Kong. A bit underwhelming perhaps at Lantau 70 last week, but she did win the V Trail 85km in Laos on a very technical course just a month ago.

You can follow the Sierra Madre Trail Ultra live on our ATM Facebook, YouTube and Instagram channels all day on Saturday.

Running back in time

Sabah’s Rejlen James : already a winner again this season on home soil at BUTM 100

3-star Grandmaster Cecille Wael: 2nd last year. Last month, she finished 9 Dragons 50/50 on water only

Last year’s winner Kristian Joergensen is going for the double at Sierra Madre

Roberto Cain III: one of Joergensen’s top challengers this saturday

Borneo TMBT Ultra, host of the fantastic Asia Trail Master Championship Final last season, has been scheduled for the last weekend of August this year. The premier event in Sabah, Malaysia, will again feature the classic races of 100km and 50km that both offer points for the Championship ranking, and also for the Grandmaster Quest in the case of the 100km. It will be the penultimate chance for runners to score points this season, if they wish to qualify for Season 10’s Final in Vietnam on 4 October.

TMBT is not only a classic trail challenge for runners of all levels, it’s also been a major battleground for competitive athletes over the years resulting in some of the most memorable races in ATM history. Not just last year’s exciting Championship conclusion with Jeff Campbell narrowly staying ahead of Hisashi Kitamura and Arnie Macaneras. Local heroes Milton Amat and Daved Simpat have left their marks at TMBT, particularly when competing against the same Japanese runner Hisashi Kitamura, who has finished second on no fewer than four occasions now, but never won. Will 2025 be the year he finally nails it? Kitamura, based in Tokyo, in any case has TMBT on his race calendar again.

The 50km has its own characteristics, culminating in a steep uphill finish. ATM stars such as John Ray Onifa and Vanja Cnops have put their names on the list of winners of that 50km already.

The event takes place five weeks before the ATM Championship Final at Mu Cang Chai Ultra Trail in Vietnam. Preceeded by The Punisher 80km in Philippines and followed by Ijen Mountain Marathon 50km in Indonesia, TMBT is the last points race event in Malaysia this season.

Access to the event is typically via Kota Kinabalu, where the airport is. Most runners stay in the city and take the official nighttime shuttle bus three hours before the start of the races.

Registration is open for Borneo TMBT Ultra, which you can do via the button below.

A typical view with hanging bridge during Borneo TMBT Ultra

Last year’s Team Pilipinas at the ATM Championship Final, hosted by Borneo TMBT Ultra

Hisashi Kitamura and Milton Amat have fought numerous battles at TMBT over the past years. Local hero Milton has always had the better of the Japanese ‘Karate Kit’, except last year… but then there was Jeff Campbell.

Omnipresent in our Asia Trail Master Championship series for many years, Tomohiro Mizukoshi has completed level 4 of the Grandmaster Quest at Lantau 70 in Hong Kong last Saturday. The 50-year-old runner from Tokyo finished his 20th ATM Ultra and is now a 4-Star ‘Golden’ Grandmaster!

Tomohiro Mizukoshi has been one of the most popular and recognisable trail runners in ATM since he first appeared in 2017. Traditionally wearing a pretty wide headband, he has also been one of the most successful competitive athletes in our series. In 2018 he finished third in our Championship, behind Alessandro Sherpa and Salva Rambla. He scored one race victory, an impressive one, in Plataran X Trail Bali in the same year. In total, Tomohiro scored nine Top 3 podiums during his ATM journey, the latest one just a year ago at Cuc Phuong in Vietnam. He has been part of Team Japan in the ATM Championship Final every season and things are also looking good for him in 2025. Having reached age 50, Tomohiro arguably needs to find the perfect trail course and form-of-the-day to eye a podium result, but when he does he still uses the opportunity. Last December he came 4th in Prenn Trail Summit in Dalat, for example.

While originally focused on medium distance trail races, Tomohiro Mizukoshi gradually began to challenge himself on longer ultras, too. Even in hot and humid climates such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Always flying in from Tokyo, mind you. A true ambassador for the sport and for adventurous spirit, unafraid to leave his comfort zone, Tomohiro is a great new Golden Grandmaster. For the record, he collected his last five GM points to reach gold status at Lantau 70 (Hong Kong), Borneo TMBT Ultra (Malaysia), Vietnam Trail Marathon, Siksorogo Lawu Ultra (Indonesia) and Deep Japan Ultra.

Tomohiro Mizukoshi is only the fourth trail runner to complete the four levels of the Grandmaster Quest, after his compatriots Hisashi Kitamura and Masafumi Yamamoto and Filipino Rhea Batac, the only woman to accomplish this feat.

Tomohiro has also been an ATM Championship Finalist for Team Japan in the past three years

The 11th edition of Lantau 70 in Hong Kong goes into the history books as one of the most competitive and certainly the fastest edition ever. Although a lot can be said as to why one should not compare times in trail running from one year to the next, when five runners beat the course record time of John Ray Onifa set last year, and the female winner also took a few minutes off Aurore Dacier’s record time - something took place! Moreover, reigning ATM Champion Jeff Campbell took a rare defeat on home soil and not just by one but by two other local athletes: Alex Neyrinck confirmed his 2nd place in VUM three weeks ago was no coincidence and won Lantau 70 by just three minutes over another season revelation Wai Hei Ng - the recent winner of the 9 Dragons 50km! Neyrinck finished the course in a blistering time of 6h35, 18 minutes quicker than Onifa a year ago! Thanks to a superb final section, Campbell managed to still overtake Chun Kit Tsang and Jason Chan for a top three spot in 6h43 (note that Campbell won the race - on a slightly longer course in 2023 in 7h34..). In the women’s race, local Lantau hero Katrina Hamlin was unchallenged to take her second win in three years in 8h07 (versus 8h38 as 3rd last year). The cool and often even chilly temperatures on race day certainly played a role in the faster times, but the competitors were also just really switched on!

Alex Neyrinck, British but residing in Hong Kong and part of the T8 squad, put the pressure on at CP 3 when he caught and overtook early leader Jason Chan, who had taken the bull by the horns in the first and tough hilly sections. Wai Hei Ng always remained close to the lead and sometimes even appeared to have the highest running pace, but arguably spent too much time at checkpoints to bridge that final gap. Probably due to inexperience racing at this high level. ATM Champion Jeff Campbell took a conservative approach early on, and by halfway somewhat looked resigned as far down as fifth place. But he obviously had kept something in the tank for ‘money time’ and ran the fastest split in the last 10km to grab third place and actually only 7 minutes behind the winner. Campbell expressed satisfaction with his own performance and took off his virtual hat in admiration for Alex Neyrinck and Wai Hei Ng, which says a lot. Just 4’30” after Campbell we had the finish of Chun Kit Tsang, also known locally as Ying Ying. Few people had expected him to stay so close with the top three beforehand. This ATM season, Chun Kit Tsang was also third in The 9 Dragons 50/50, so the highly experienced Hong Konger already has a foot into the team for the Championship Final in Vietnam on. October. Next was Jason Chan, also a Hong Kong regular. His quick start was ambitious, but he nevertheless hung on very well and with a finish time of 6h52, he too stayed under Onifa’s time of last year! Number six was Kristian Joergensen, for whom colder conditions are not ideal for him despite being of Danish nationality. Joergensen was in the mix for the podium until the final 20km. Still, again, 7h08 in Lantau 70 is an achievement. That also goes for trail newbie from the Philippines, Randolf Gonzales, who scored seventh place in 7h15. Gonzales had learnt from his 9 Dragons experience, where he blew himself up in the beginning to finish outside the top ten. France’s Jeremy Pelletant was 8th another nine minutes later.

The women’s race had a clear favourite from the get-go, and that was local resident Katrina Hamlin, already race winner in 2023. Already at the first checkpoint at km 13, she had taken control of affairs albeit by just a few minutes over several other women, including Filipino Angelie Cabalo, Zhu Xiaoqian, Kimmy Leung, Chin Nam Ng, Dilu Limbu and Boney Tsz Kwan Lee. As expected, Cabalo got a bit stuck in a lower gear following her 80km race the previous weekend. Zhu Xiaoqian dropped down the leaderboard as the race progressed, and Naomi Fung - winner of last year’s 9 Dragons 50km - was unable to make a big move forward. Fung would finish sixth in the end. While Hamlin ran comfortably to victory in record time, Tsz Kwan Lee turned out to be best-of-the-rest, but later was penalised for a mandatory gear infringement. She dropped from second to seventh in the race result as a consequence of her 1 hour time penalty. As such, Susuki Ng claimed second place ahead of Kimmy Leung and Angelie Cabalo after a nice battle between the three. Nepal’s Dilu Limbu grabbed fifth and important ATM points. Qualifiying for the women’s team in Nepal is not easy, indeed.

The men’s top five with Alex Neyrinck in the middle

After winning the 9 Dragons 50km last month, Wai Hei Ng impressed once more with 2nd in Lantau

Chun Kit Tsang, aka Ying Ying, ran a second strong ATM race this season, finishing 4th just behind Campbell

ATM Champion Jeff Campbell was satisfied with third place

Saturday’s 11th edition of Lantau 70 has attracted one of the highest participation numbers of the trail season in Hong Kong, including many competitive athletes aiming for a top race result and the accompanying points for the ATM Championship ranking. After the 9 Dragons in February, this is the second and final Hong Kong points race on our ATM calendar, so almost a must-run for anyone keen to qualify for the Championship Final in Vietnam on 4 October. Lantau 70 is one of the ‘old classics’ in the territory and it’s great to see runners remain enthusiastic for it!

On paper, Lantau 70 is not the toughest race but the past two years the high humidity levels surprised many participants. Top Asian competitors such as Rashila Tamang and Alessandro Sherpa all suffered their way to the finish in Mui Wo. Saturday, however, the forecast says cooler than usual temperatures with a high of just 16 degrees. Trails may be more slippery, though, given rain is forecast for Friday.

2023 race winner and now reigning ATM Champion Jeff Campbell is on the start list and therefore the logical race favourite. Coming off two impressive victories on our circuit this season in Vietnam and Laos, Campbell has proven to again be in great shape. There’s challengers for him, though. Alex Neyrinck was an amazing second behind Onifa at VUM three weeks ago. Neyrinck pushed the Filipino all the way to the finish line in his ATM debut. The British runner is also part of the T8 Team and may develop further into one of this season’s championship protagonists. The same applies to another T8 runner in Hong Kong, Wai Hei Ng. Impressive winner of the 50km race at the 9 Dragons six weeks ago. Kristian Joergensen is another one and perhaps one of those who would like to prove himself this weekend. Joergensen has been solid over the past months, but seems to be missing that spark that gave him his amazing victory at the 9 Dragons 50/50 last year. For all three, Lantau 70 will in any case be an important race to finish with a view to qualification for the ATM Final on 4 October. Other podium contenders this weekend are expected to be Japan’s Masashi Shirotake, Philippines’ Randolf Gonzales - another one who will be keen to show himself after fading badly in the 9 Dragons 50km -, 2019 ATM Champion John Ellis - who can collect his wild card for this season’s Final if he finishes -, Chun Kit Tsang - third in 9 Dragons 50/50 -, and maybe even Clement Dumont.

In the women’s race we have former winner Katrina Hamlin, Lantau resident and part of T8’s Hong Kong squad. She is arguably the woman-to-beat with also her teammates Tsz Kwan Lee and Chin Nam Ng in the mix. Still, one Filipino ace may give Hamlin a run for her money this weekend: Angelie Cabalo. In great form the past year, also on runable courses, and no stranger to Hong Kong. She finished second in last year’s 9 Dragons 50km. Cabalo did race last weekend in her home country as well, so it remains to be see how fresh she will be. Filipino runners are known to be able to absorb a lot of race mileage, though. Two more Filipino runners who have been performing well in our ATM series are Julieann Morales and Julie Mae Marquez. Morales was tenth in the ATM Championship Final last season, with three race wins during 2024 to boot. Marquez was a surprising second at Mount Kalatungan Ultra just a month ago. Hong Kong’s Naomi Fung and Kimmy Leung, France’s Helene Boursier (ATM Finalist in 2024) and Nepal’s Dilu Limbu are others to watch out for in the top placings of the leaderboard.

ATM will be broadcasting live from Lantau 70 on our usual channels, with consistent updates primarily on ATM Facebook. The race starts at 8:30 am local time.

Angelie Cabalo: can she beat local star Katrina Hamlin ?

Knocking on the big door: Wai Hei Ng, winner of 9 Dragons 50km

Alex Neyrinck: made John Ray Onifa nervous three weeks ago, can he also unsettle Jeff Campbell?

It’s been 3 seasons since John Ellis was in an ATM Final, but this weekend he can collect his 2025 wild card

At Lantau 70 last year, female winner Aurore Dacier confirmed her rising status as a competitive trail runner

Mui Wo

For the fourth year in succession, MUSPO is one of the ATM points race events in Philippines. The event is scheduled for the weekend of 19/20 July and from an ATM point of view, contrary to last year, will focus on the 100km distance category exclusively. Organised by Try Mountains, the host of MUSPO is the town of Valencia in Bukidnon, a northern province in Mindanao.

MUSPO highlights the popularity of trail running in this province since a few years. Runners such as Yoyong Sacayle, Mary Joy Sumanda, Shally Yuson and also Godwin Mirar have become genuine protagonists and regular podium placers in ATM points races since the end of the covid crisis. No wonder that we also have a number of Bukidnon races in our Championship this season.

MUSPO attracts the country’s finest trail runners as we can tell from its list of winners. 2022 ATM Champion Arnie Macaneras and Shally Yuson took the honours last year, and two years ago it was 2023 ATM Champion John Ray Onifa and Julieann Morales, for example.

Runable at best, mudcrawling at worst. The weather does have quite an impact on the MUSPO trails. Therefore, one can never be certain what one goes in for. However, the atmosphere in Valencia has always been great - even when rain comes down torrentially. Race Director Philip Anthony spares no efforts to ensure every participant has a great weekend experience. Musuan Peak and Lake Apo are two of the scenic highlights runners will come across during the race.

Registration is open and all specific details can be checked via the event’s facebook page linked below. Make sure you also check the mandatory gear list. To get to Valencia, there are basically two options: take a flight to Cagayan de Oro or to Davao. The former choice requires a shorter bus/car drive than the latter. The drive to Valencia is actually very scenic in parts, for those who have never been in the area before.

The 2024 route of MUSPO 100. This year’s route will be confirmed soon.

Last year, 2022 ATM Champion Arnie Macaneras was the winner of MUSPO 100

Running back in time

We are happy to announce that Harkor Ultra Trail Balakayo Mountain in General Santos in the south of Mindanao in the Philippines has obtained the ATM Candidate Race label. The event features a 75km main race distance with over 4000 metres of elevation gain, but is known to be quite runable. The event is organised by the Drunken Runners Team and Team Akbri and scheduled for 31 May/1 June.

Registration for the event is already open and can be accessed via the button below. There is a quota on the participation numbers, so if you are keen - better be quick.

The 75km has a cut-off time at the finish of 25 hours. Less ambitious runners can also opt for shorter distances, such as the 42km, 25km and 12km. 2023 ATM Champion John Ray Onifa tested the trails of Harkor and gave a thumbs up, saying the trails reminded him of those in France.

General Santos has an international airport, but Davao is another bet - if you don’t mind some bus travel from there.

The 5th edition of the Manjushree Trail Race along the Kathmandu Valley Rim saw the same race winners as last year in the main distance categories, each essentially conforming their status among the elite crop of trail runners in Nepal. Reigning female ATM Champion Priya Rai ran her first race since winning the ATM title in September last year and once more showed her ever growing competitive form by going more than half an hour faster compared to herself a year ago on the 50km. Arjun Rai Kulung and Nirmala Rai both took second consecutive wins on the longest ultra, the 100 Miles, and Man Kumar confirmed his potential as a 2025 ATM title contender by taking the men’s 50km victory. 2023 female ATM Champion Rashila Tamang also showed good firm in winning the 100km as her first of two mandatory steps towards a wild card for this year’s ATM Championship Final in Vietnam in October. The men’s 100km, a distance that only provided a Grandmaster point to finishers and no championship points, saw Bishal Rai finishing first.

The Manjushree Trail Race 2025 enjoyed a much higher international participation rate than ever and established itself further as the leading trail event in the Himalayan country. The relatively easy event access of course helps with that, and the technical organisation, support and enthusiasm of the Nepalese trail communities - including those from Jumla in the far west of Nepal provides the extra boost that makes many runners want to return every year. MTR is far from an easy race, however. Elevation gain and technicality is serious, even for the 50km - as Priya Rai herself confirmed : “MTR for me is harder than the even higher altitude run at Jumla Rara Ultra”- (the second ATM points race event in Nepal this coming 10/11 May). Despite that, the DNF rate of the 100 Miles this year remained well below 50% , showing that runners have become aware and are better prepared than in previous years. The 100 Miles is a test of physical and mental strength and endurance, coping with significant temperature swings to boot. On the other hand, there is the exciting 50km that often leaves on-lookers speechless when witnessing the incredible speed at which the top runners negotiate the challenging single trails.

Arjun Rai Kulung won the 100 Miles for the second consecutive year, and did it 23 minutes faster! 525 ATM Championship points in the pocket for the Nepali long ultra star, who was 10th in last season’s ATM Championship Final at Borneo TMBT. Arjun should be able to do better this season. After a short nap at night, following which Ramesh Limbu came back to him, Arjun simply had too much pace for Limbu and the others. He finished in 26h29. Milan Kulun Rai was second in 28h15. Also Milan was an ATM Finalist last season. Third on the podium is Sher Tahur. A new name and one who ran a cleverly paced race. In fourth was Bijay Rana Magar, followed by Pritam Rai. India’s Shashwat Rao came sixth , Homraj Tamang seventh and early race leader Ramesh Limbu eventually finished in eight place.

In the women’s 100 miles, Nirmala Rai took control from the very beginning. Whereas a year ago, she ran together most of the day with Anita Rai, the latter this time was unable to match the pace of Nirmala. The winner’s finishing time was 33h29’50”, one-and-a-half hour quicker than in 2024! Incidentally, Nirmala Rai is the elder sister of Priya Rai. Kathmandu-based American Zoe Skoric claimed second place and Anita Rai settled for third place on the podium. For a long time, Ang Furba Sherpa looked like she was going to finish first runner-up to Nirmala, but she DNFd close to the end with what appeared like a knee injury. Fourth place went to Denmark's Stine Heiselberg, who has done. the MTR race since the first edition.

In the women’s 50km, it was victory time for Asia Trail Master champion Priya Rai. Despite her fever and flu earlier in the week, a still coughing Priya took the bull by the horns from the start and kept a small gap over 17-year-old Kalpana Budha from Jumla. Budha lost ground towards the end but still ran an astonishing race given her age, and held onto second place 30 minutes behind Priya. Raja Laxmi Rawal, winner of Malnad Ultra 50 in India, could never threaten for victory , reportedly suffering from a knee issue. Still, she gets another good 425 points haul with third place today and looks already set for a place in Team Nepal at this season’s Final in Vietnam. In fourth place there was another strong runner from Jumla, Sandipa Budha.

In the men’s 50km , Man Kumar took an impressive victory in approx 6h25! After a group of nine runners glued together for the first 10-15km, Kumar took the lead by himself just before half way the race. Afterwards , it turned out he had dropped some mandatory gear at the last water station 5km before the finish. The RD gave him 15 minutes time penalty, but that still was enough to keep victory over Lokendra Rai, ATM Finalist last year, finished 19 minutes behind Man Kumar and ran a great final 10km . Third on the podium was Jumla’s Dhir Badur Buddha, followed by Sher Bahaddur Buddha. Prabin Tamling was actually second across the line, but got penalised for lack of mandatory gear and dropped down to fifth place in the race result.

The next Nepalese event with points for the ATM Championship ranking on offer is Jumla Rara Ultra 50km on 10/11 May.

Arjun Rai Kulung took his second win in the 100 Miles category at MTR

Also for Nirmala Rai it was the second win in a row at MTR 100 Miles

ATM Champion Priya Rai took control of the women’s 50km race early on despite illness early in the week

Up-and-coming talent Man Kumar scored an impressive win in the men’s 50km

2023 ATM Champion Rashila Tamang looked at ease in winning the 100km of her own event

17-year-old Kalpana Buddha stunned everyone by finishing a wonderful second in the women’s 50km

Malnad Ultra 50 race winner Raja Laxmi Rawal, with knee issues, grabbed 3rd: her ATM Final ticket beckons

The fifth edition of the Manjushree Trail Race in Kathmandu, Nepal, shows an extensive and highly international start list for the various distance categories this coming weekend. It is the second year the event is part of the Asia Trail Master Championship and Grandmaster Quest calendar and following last year’s great runners’ feedback, ‘MTR’ is now a proper highlight of the Nepalese trail scene. Runners will hit the Kathmandu Valley Rim for a challenging race at altitude and with considerable elevation gain. Nearly all Nepalese trail stars will take part in either the 100 miles, 100km or 50km, of which the 100 Miles and the 50km are the two distances that offer points for the ATM Championship Ranking, which determines the qualifiers for the ATM Championship Final in Vietnam on 4 October. Given it’s still not so straightfoward for Nepalese runners to travel abroad, MTR and Jumla Rara Ultra in May are their two great opportunities to score as many points as possible.

While the 100 Milers already start their competition on Friday, a lot of attention will go to Saturday’s 50km race featuring reigning ATM women’s champion Priya Rai. After winning the title in impressive style at Borneo TMBT Ultra in September, it will be her first appearance on the ATM circuit since. Priya won the MTR 50 last year already, ahead of then-champion Rashila Tamang and Chhoki Sherpa, in what was - with hindsight - a first milestone in her development as a competitive trail runner in Asia and future ATM Champion. Now part of the T8 Team, Priya aims to qualify again for the Championship and defend her title in October. For this, she only needs to finish two ATM races this season, just like Rashila Tamang. Contrary to last year, there won’t be a dual between the two on Saturday, as Rashila has opted to run the 100km race. Nevertheless, several Nepalese and other runners will be trying to make a statement. Jumla’s Rajya Laxmi Rawal, for example. At 20 Rajya is even younger than Priya, and one of the next upcoming talents. In her home race Jumla Rara last year, she raised eyebrows by forcing Priya to dig very deep and scoring a superb second place in her debut. This season, Rajya has already scored her first ATM victory and she even did it abroad: she won the Malnad Ultra in Karnatika, India, last November - finishing third overall and proving she is not only skilled on mountain trails, but also fast on runable trails. Chhoki Sherpa is also in the 50k once again, and so is another very young talent, Mimu Budha.

The men’s 50km has Man Kumar on the start list. This exciting hopeful won the 100k last year, and is also working on his development as a competitive international runner. Very keen to get into Team Nepal at the ATM Championship Final, Man Kumar is likely the man to beat on Saturday. However, there’s also Lokendra Rai, who showed great speed at Borneo TMBT last September, before fading in the last 30km towards the finish. 50k could be more his thing , also he is still very young for a trail runner. Observers are also curious for the performance of Philippines’ John Mahinay in his ATM points race debut. Mahinay, from Davao, eyes the podium on Saturday and hopes for a breakthrough-performance on foreign soil.

The 100 Miles starts on Friday morning already and of course does the entire Valley Rim. Last year’s winners are back in action: Arjun Rai Kulung in the men’s and Nirmala Rai in the womens’s. They are the race favourites once again, but victory is anything but a done deal. Shashwat Rao leads an interesting contingent from India, and from Japan we have the experienced Yuta Matsuyama, a triple race winner in ATM and double ATM Finalist for Team Japan over the past few years. Nirmala Rai will probably meet up with Anita Rai again, like last year. A lot can happen in a 100 Miles race in the high mountains, and so the many ATM Grandmasters from Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Philippines on the start list may also have a chance for a podium spot.

ATM will be reporting live from Kathmandu as of Thursday, with pre-race photography by Adventure III, and video from the start and the races as of Friday morning local time.

Anita and Nirmala Rai will again face off on the 100 Miles this weekend

Arjun Rai Kulung will be aiming to score another win at MTR this weekend

India’s only ATM Grandmaster so far: Shashwat Rao

Priya Rai won the 50k last year ahead of Rashila Tamang and Chhoki Sherpa

Lovers of the high mountains and technical trails every year look forward to early July, because that’s when Mantra 116 is on. The Indonesian event in Malang, East Java, remains for many the toughest challenge in the Asia Trail Master series, at least if you are going for the ‘signature race’, the 116km. 7400 metres of elevation gain is not the most, but those metres are hard to conquer at Mantra, and even the long descents do not provide a lot of relaxation. Still, the 116 route has been made a bit more palatable compared to the first years with the removal of the out-and-back section on Mahapena after the two main peaks Welirang and Arjuno. Runners have 33 hours of time to complete the course.

As always, runners score ATM Championship points and Grandmaster Quest points on two distance categories at Mantra: 116km and 68km.

The 116 journey starts and finishes at the event centre at Kaliandra Eco Resort (770 above sea level). Immediately after the start, runners climb to the peak of Mt. Welirang (3156 mdpl), then descend to Cangar (1600 mdpl) to climb back up again towards the peak of Mt. Arjuno (3339 mdpl). For safety reasons, the runners should reach the peak of Mt. Arjuno before 15.00 o’clock, to ensure the downhill from Mt. Arjuno is not done in the dark. For those who didn’t manage to reach the peak before 15:00, they will go down with the sweeper team towards the evacuation point. The race, however, will enter a long downhill to Bukit Kuneer at 55km point, the location of the first dropbag point. The trail continues passing Budug Asu towards UB Forest, until arriving at Wonosari at 88km point, the location of the second dropbag point. The sting is in the tail at Mantra 116, the route to Sepilar Temple features a technical and tough climb followed by a steep downhill. Afterwards, the finish line beckons.

The 70km course, named “The Double Summits” and technically measured at 68km, begins with hiking to the summit of Mt. Welirang and then onto the summit of Mt. Arjuno. After that, this route takes you down towards Mahapena, passing the beautiful Lincing savannah before continuing to Budug Asu and Wonosari Tea Estate. Finally, it’s Sepilar Temple in the last climb segment before the finish. While just under 70km, this race course has 5000m of elevation gain, which means all finishers can score a Grandmaster point as well. The cutoff time at the finish back at Kaliandra Eco Resort is set at 22 hours. The last couple of years, this race has been the playground of Indonesia’s Risqi Kurniawan - winning in 2023 and 2024.

Registration for Mantra 116 is open and can be done via the official website, linked below. Needless to say this is an event to prepare well for.

Gateway to Mantra 116 is Surabaya, unless you can fly domestic to Malang directly. From Surabaya, it’s a two hour drive to the Kaliandra Eco Resort. Information on logistics is also available on the website.

The 2nd edition of Vietnam Ultra Marathon in Mai Chau lived up to its hype as the men’s and women’s 75km were exiting races to follow from start to end. Both John Ray Onifa and Hau Ha had to work for their new triumph, making it all the more sweet, of course. The Filipino 2023 ATM Champion had to fend off a late attack by the surprising Alex Neyrinck, while the fast-starting Vietnamese 2022 ATM Champion was forced to defend a mere five minute gap against Veronika Leng the entire race. To note was also the superb third place on the podium of Nguyen Si Hieu, who ran the best race of his life to finish ahead of Lodewijk Vriens, Kristian Joergensen and others.

His 15th ATM race win also earns John Ray Onifa his wild card for this year’s ATM Championship Final at Mu Cang Chai Ultra Trail, also in Vietnam on 4 October. Hong Kong-based Briton. Alex Neyrinck, part of the T8 Team, gave Onifa a hard time in the second half of the race as he returned to the front after the long descent. Ultimately, Onifa still had a little extra in the tank for the last hill with under 10k to go to keep the advantage. He crossed the line in 7h15 , three minutes ahead of Neyrinck. Important for the rest of the season, he will run Lantau 70 in three weeks next, which may put Neyrinck in a strong position to get qualified for the Championship Final in October.

Nguyen Si Hieu, winner of VTM 70 two months ago and 6th place at the ATM Final in 2024, outgunned another Hong Konger, Lodewijk Vriens, in the final kilometres to get the podium. Amazingly, this happened just nine minutes behind Onifa. Kristian Joergensen settled for fifth place. He was always there until, a little surprisingly, he wasn’t anymore. He would finish just behind the first female, Hau Ha. Nguyen TienVo was the second Vietnamese runner in the finish, in sixth place. Also for him that was a fine result and an improvement compared to VTM in January. In 7th place, we have fast-starting Le Tan Hi. The Vietnamese runner dropped down the leaderboard after bravely trying to follow John Ray Onifa early on, but managed to catch his breath again and passed Singapore-based American Humberto Baeza, winner of Lam Dong Trail in Dalat last November, in the last section. Britain's Kristian Morgan takes 9th place, and Vietnam's Tu Do (Nguyen Duc Tuan Anh) completed the men's top 10.

In the women’s race, Hau Ha - in her new team colours - opened a small gap early on in the race and then managed to defend those four-five minutes throughout the entire 75km race. Eventually, Veronika Leng, the 2019 ATM Champion, understood the Vietnamese superstar was not going to slow down and crossed the finish line nine minutes behind her. The two global trail stars were split up in the result by Kristian Joergensen, proving what a high level they were performing at. Hau Ha was visibly delighted with her victory after a few weeks of change and turmoil, including a race defeat against the same Veronika Leng back in January. The latter nevertheless confirmed that 2025 is her definite return to the high-performance trail scene.

Third place on the podium went to China’s Wu Yuanyuan, who was basically running on an island - nobody immediately ahead of her, nobody behind her. In fourth and fifth came Tran Thu Trang and Christine Mitchell.

After Lam Dong Trail, Prenn Trail Summit, Vietnam Trail Marathon and Vietnam Ultra Marathon, all four Vietnamese points races of Season 10 have been wrapped up. The next Vietnamese event is the conclusion of our season: the ATM Championship Final at Mu Cang Chai Ultra Trail on 4 October. Runners can of course continue to score ATM points in order to qualify for that Final in all the remaining races on our calendar .

It is a trail blockbuster weekend in Vietnam with the Vietnam Ultra Marathon points race event in Mai Chau in the north, and Brah Yang Trail Summit near Dalat in the south as an ATM Candidate. Organised by the URS Team that brings you Prenn Trail Summit towards the end of each year, Brah Yang has attracted quite some Vietnamese trail stars including Loi Luong and Nghia Tran. The 60km main race stars at 9 pm on Saturday evening, meaning it is mainly a nighttime race.

As it is an ATM Candidate Race, there are of course no points to be scored. Loi Luong can afford to side-step away from VUM as she already has two big results in the pocket this season and is the top ranked Vietnamese female in our current Championship ranking. For Nghia Tran it is a bigger gamble. He scored a great second place in Lam Dong Trail last November, but certainly requires at least one more good result to finish the season in the top five of the men’s ranking and receive the invitation to join his country team in the ATM Finals at Mu Cang Chai Ultra Trail on 4 October. The same applies for Nguyen Van Chung, second in Prenn Trail Summit last December, and also choosing Brah Yang over VUM this weekend. And so are a few others solid local runners. Plenty of ATM points races still to go this season, however, and the attendance of many competitive runners certainly makes a great case for the new event, Brah Yang Trail Summit.

A few other expected contenders for the podium are To Tan Tai, Dau Tuan Kiet and Nguyen Dang Quang (4th in Lam Dong Trail). In the women’s 60km race, there is also Nguyen Thi Nguyet (2nd place in VTM), Truong Vo Bich Phuong and perhaps the young Kon Tap Trang.

Loi Luong choosing this weekend’s ATM Candidate over VUM

Nghia Tran

One of the female podium contenders: Truong Vo Bich Phuong