Media release: 2020 ATM Championship merges with 2021 Championship series
MEDIA RELEASE / 12 August 2020 - After days of critical reflection and discussions with stakeholders, it has been formally decided that the 2020 Asia Trail Master Championship will be merged with next year’s 2021 Championship series. As country border closures and general travel restrictions are expected to be retained by most Asian governments in the foreseeable future, it has become virtually impossible to have a meaningful international running competition still this year. However, by merging and not cancelling, all runners who already scored ATM Championship and Grandmaster Quest points in the early months of 2020 will keep those points going into 2021. In addition, runners will score points as usual in the races that take place in the months yet to come - beginning with Vietnam Mountain Marathon and Korea 50K at the end of September. Important note: given all remaining races on the 2020 ATM calendar are expected to be limited to domestic or even just local residents, runners in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and potentially Japan, who can all still join more than one race, will only carry their best result over to 2021.
“By merging 2020 with 2021 we especially wanted to show respect for the runners who made significant efforts to travel to the early season races: Tahura Trail in Indonesia, EcoTrail Al Ula in Saudi Arabia and UT Koh Chang in Thailand,” says ATM founder and general manager Kris Van de Velde. “Going to UTKC in mid-February, for example, was already quite complicated as covid 19 had begun to spread around the region. At the same time, we feel we do not hamper the integrity of next year’s ATM Championship by allowing runners to carry over one or maybe two points results obtained this year. After all, elites need to deliver no fewer than five strong results if they want a realistic shot at the 2021 championship title. The current sole points leader in the 2020 men’s category, Hisashi Kitamura, was consulted and gave the idea the thumbs up. We are grateful for his sportsmanship.”
As nobody will be crowned at the end of 2020, John Ellis and Veronika Vadovicova will logically remain the reigning ATM Champions for another year.
For Grandmaster aspirants, the Grandmaster Quest’s 2-year-time requirement has been ‘frozen’ since March and will remain frozen until at least the end of 2020 and possibly until 1 March 2021. The latter, obviously, depends on the development of the covid 19 crisis. As for the elites, all runners on the GM Quest will not lose any obtained points as long as the clock is not ticking.
The ATM Final, Borneo TMBT Ultra in Sabah, East Malaysia, is still on schedule for the weekend of 19/20 December. No Championship-decider anymore, but a new coveted prize will be introduced. More on this coming soon, as everyone in Malaysia is currently awaiting formal decisions by the government on event-related matters. In total, 12 events are still regarded as ‘active’ for 2020, although it is highly uncertain all 12 will effectively take place.
Appendix:
2020 Race Results carried over to 2021:
Tahura Trail (INA)
EcoTrail Al Ula (KSA)
UT Koh Chang (THA)
Dalat Ultra Trail (VIE)
Note: all runners who scored championship points in the abovementioned races keep all these points for the 2021 season
Upcoming 2020 ATM Championship events (status 11 August)
Vietnam Mountain Marathon (VIE)
Korea 50K (KOR)
Ultimate Trails of Penang (MAS)
Hakuba Trails (JPN) - unconfirmed
Ultra Trail Chiang Rai (THA)
Vietnam Jungle Marathon (VIE)
Ultimate Tsaigu (CHN)
Lantau 70 (HKG)
Monkeys Trail (THA)
The Punisher (PHI)
Izu Trail Journey (JPN)
Borneo TMBT Ultra (MAS)
Note: runners can score ATM Championship points in each, but only one result - the best - will be carried over to 2021. Check the event’s details on our site to find out which race distance matters for the ATM Championship (i.e. it is not necessarily the longest race distance category)
John Ellis remains the reigning men’s ATM Champion a while longer
Veronika Vadovicova: reigning women’s ATM champion till at least end of 2021