John Ellis was crowned the male 2019 Asia Trail Master champion in Thailand last weekend, but the women’s title is yet to be decided this Saturday at the ATM Final in Malaysia, the TNF Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping in the State of Perak, not too far from Penang. The ATM Final brings together most of the Championship top ten, Grandmasters and other protagonists for the final race weekend of what has again been an incredible season of Asian trail running. The 84km race around Taiping is a technical and tough one with elevation gain of over 5200 hm and always a chance of a heavy rainshower.

A year ago the event nearly drowned under the heavy downpours that lasted most of the day and night. Event organiser and Taiping native Ewegene Tan assured everyone that the weather was extraordinary even for his city’s wet standards. He has been proven right because this week we have seen blue sky and sunshine almost. every day. In any case, runners have not been deterred neither, which is testimony to the great event management skills of the team, as no fewer than 2100 will toe the starting line this weekend, with nearly a thousand on the two long race categories of 84km and 55km. For a clear understanding, only the 84km matters for the ATM Championship conclusion.

Rain or no rain, TNF MMTF is a rainforest trail with two major ascents AND descents in it. This appeals to many, less to others with fewer technical skills. John Ellis, to name one, found it much too risky to hing his championship ambitions on this final race of the season and decided to try his luck in The Punisher and Ultra Trail Panoramic. The Australian Hong Konger is a tactical mastermind and he argued that Milton Amat could be hard for him to beat in Taiping. As we all know, his strategy worked out very well. He took the title, yet will run MMTF nevertheless - big kuddos to him. The men’s race will therefore be a race for a prestigious race victory and for the runner-up positions in the ATM Championship ranking. The start list is outright impressive for an Asian race and is a dream for people who enjoy placing a bet. Asia Trail Master would also like to thank all the participants for turning up in droves for this final appointment of the 2019 calendar! Saturday’s race is going to be a big show and we can follow the action live as all leading contenders will carry a GPS device. Follow them here via the Dot Track Asia platform.

When scrutinising that men’s start list, we realise that it might actually be a tough ask for all three leading Championship rivals - Ellis, Hisashi Kitamura and Milton Amat - to expect a podium finish on Saturday. For Ellis and Kitamura it is the third ultra weekend in a row, and Amat also ran his 100 miles last week. Logically speaking, MMTF for them will not only be a physical task, but also a mental one. We have top runners entering the race fresh as a daisy such as Daved Simpat - the winner last year -, Kristian Joergensen - in the shape of his life - and Alessandro Sherpa - the 2018 ATM Champion who has skipped competition recently to focus on training and who knows this course already. Put others in the mix such as Koi Grey, Mohamed Affindi, Pablo Diago Gonzales, Sukrit Kaewyoun, Tomohiro Mizukoshi and last but not least Hung Hai and Quang Duc Nguyen. Koi Grey and Sukrit Kaewyoun are battling for a top five ranking in the ATM Championship. Koi was fourth in his comeback to trail running in this race precisely. Sukrit ran “only” the 50km of Panoramic to save energy for Saturday. Tomohiro is again fully fit, as he proved in Izu Trail Journey last week. Affindi wants to finish the season like he started: as a race winner. Especially after a prolonged break due to military duties. Pablo Diago Gonzales was one of the very last sign-ups, saying “I don’t want to miss this party”. Note: Pablo Diago excels on tough technical terrain. Hung Hai is the double winner of Vietnam Mountain Marathon of the past two years and running abroad for the first time. Quang Duc Nguyen is a more established Vietnamese trail runner who actually kept Hung Hai in check this year at the Vietnam Jungle Marathon in May.

One top runner in our ATM series has had to pull out of MMTF with a nasty parasite infection, unfortunately: Ander Iza Rekakoetxea is receiving special treatment in his native Spain and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Christine Loh in pole position, but Veronika Vadovicova still the title favourite

By winning three races in a row in Thailand, Malaysia’s “pocket rocket” Christine Loh has propelled herself into the ATM Championship points lead before MMTF and is therefore in pole position to become the new champion this weekend. She will battle against Asuka Nakajima and Veronika Vadovicova for the title in Taiping. Christine is a good runner who is, however, not the biggest fan of the most technical jungle trails. Famously in June, she quit halfway through Moon 100 in Thailand saying she is not a bushwhacker. For Christine on Saturday, she may very well be counting on the fact that to finish first you first need to finish. The fact that she is in the points lead puts the pressure on her two rivals, as it remains to be seen how much is left in her own tank after the 100 miles of UT Panoramic last weekend.

Green-eyed and not shy of wide smile, Veronika Vadovicova has captured the attention of the whole Asian trail community this season. While still based in Shanghai in the first semester of 2019, the former triathlete from Slovakia in Eastern Europe dominated every race she started in a style that raised plenty of eyebrows. Standing out was her 4th place overall in Sungai Menyala, three minutes behind John Ellis and three minutes ahead of Mohamed Affindi. One month later, she was running alongside Hisashi Kitamura in Vietnam Jungle Marathon, pushing the Japanese to an effort-induced collapse at the finish line. Vadovicova disappeared from the scene in summer as she moved back home, but last week she re-emerged to become the first foreigner to win the Japanese classic Izu Trail Journey. Vadovicova looks world class and on paper few would bet against her at MMTF. A top 3 placing in Saturday’s race is enough for her to beat Christine Loh’s 2600-point-benchmark. Yet, Veronika has knee worries and the technical course around Taiping could become a painful affair.

So tight is the female ATM Championship competition this season that Asuka Nakajima tumbled from first to fourth place in the ranking just a week ago! The good news for the Japanese road runner turned trail runner is that mathematically she can still reach Christine Loh’ mark of 2600 points by winning MMTF. Obviously, that doesn’t leave her any room for manoevre or tactical play, yet it may also be liberating as winning the race is all she has to think of. And then hope Loh and Vadovicova fail to score any points. Nakajima is known as a roadie, but actually she has already earned her spurs on the trail a while ago. Let’s not forget she was dominant in Mantra Summits Challenge - one of the toughest events on the ATM calendar. This indicates she may also be at ease in Taiping. Contrary to the other two title contenders, Nakajima took a break from the circuit since Borneo TMBT Ultra 100 and may arrive fresh and fully fit.

For Fredelyn Alberto, the ATM title dream ended in Thailand last week when Christine Loh had the upper hand. Alberto, a role model in Hong Kong, is another athlete who won a lot of hearts in the course of this ATM season. The Filipino domestic worker had some outstanding races, mostly on technical terrain such as this weekend in Taiping. If the legs still allow, Alberto will be aiming for a second ATM race win after Moon 100 - and a top three ranking in the Championship.

Other women to look out for as podium contenders or more are last year’s winner Izzah Hazirah, in-form Jcy Ho, Adelinah Lintanga - second last year in this race, the ever-improving Ces Wael and last-but-not-least Kapheer Xie Wenfei from Guangzhou, the incredible winner of Ultimate 230 in Chiang Rai two months ago. The Chinese runner actually can be a spoiler for the title contenders because she has bagged two ATM results this season, the other being 3rd place in Ultimate Tsaigu 110K. Regulations say that anyone with minimum two results is eligible to score more points at MMTF. Kapheer is therefore the women’s dark horse for Saturday!

Media: Race protagonist brief