Event Update: Korea 50k cancelled, UToP & UTCR are ON

International travel remains heavily restricted for the foreseeable future, but at least a few trail event organisers are determined to make it happen, albeit with domestic runners only. Nevertheless, not everyone is permitted to do so, as Jey Jang and the team of Korea 50k sadly found out in Seoul. After two previous postponements, Korea 50k is now officially cancelled for 2020.

Ultimate Trails of Penang is next on the 2020 ATM Calendar. The Malaysian event had already been postponed by two weeks, but the good news is that all looks set for a real event on 24 October! Regulations in Penang have forced race director Seow Kong Ng to make significant changes to the programme, though. Both the 100k and 60k cannot be run as all sports and social activities past midnight are banned at present. The longest race category of UToP will therefore be the 40 km. It has been decided that the 40 km is long and tough enough to credit it as a points race for the ATM Championship. Because make no mistake: UToP is a tough one! Elite runners in Malaysia can therefore score some points going into 2021, according to the amended regulations of the Championship announced last month.

Thai runners can do the same on that same weekend of 24-25 October, as event organising company Teelakow announced that UTCR in Chiang Rai will take place as scheduled. Several events have been taking place in Thailand already since a few weeks, but of course also limited to Thailand residents. Thai runners still have two possibilities to score ATM Championship points this strange year, as the Monkeys Trail on Koh Samui is still on schedule for mid-November. Remember that if runners do both UTCR and Monkeys, only their best points result will be carried over into 2021.

Runners on the Grandmaster Quest can collect a point at both events as usual, if they complete either the 230K or 125K in Chiang Rai, and the 100K on Koh Samui.

The last weekend of October also has the postponed Vietnam Jungle Marathon on the calendar. Today, the event in Po Luong is still active. Runners living in Vietnam will therefore retain two more chances for ATM Championship points and Grandmaster Quest points as well, given VMM is set for 21/22 November, too.

Trail running events in Hong Kong remain a difficult matter for the time being, but the Trail Hub Team of Lantau 70 have not thrown in the towel yet. LT 70 is on the programme for 31 October.

Vertical 2 Sky on the other hand is still upbeat about the chances of The Punisher taking place as planned on 28 November. Filipino runners may thus get an opportunity to collect some points going into next year, after all other events this year were cancelled.

Moving into December, there was good news from Japan last week as Tatsuo Chiba announced that Izu Trail Journey will be set up as scheduled on 13 December. The classic 72k race will only see Japanese runners, in line with the anti-covid measures adopted in other countries. Runners in Japan may have an earlier second option to score points, too. The situation around Hakuba Trails in October is a bit unclear at the moment, though.

The final event of 2020, Borneo TMBT Ultra in Sabah, Malaysia, continues to hang in the balance. Event Director Claus Pedersen is hopeful the event can take place on 19 December, but under which conditions is still a question mark.

2021 Event Situation

We are already in the middle of September and sadly few organisers can already confirm whether their events in early 2021 will take place or not. The covid 19 pandemic is unlikely to be resolved by the end of December, and most governments may keep the country borders firmly locked for non-essential travel. Our traditional season opener, Tahura Trail in Bandung, Indonesia, is currently not in a position to open registrations or determine how and if the popular event can take place on the third weekend of January. The most optimistic event organiser of the early season is Teelakow in Thailand, who already opened registration for the classic UTKC on Koh Chang island on 20/21 February 2021. Of course, nobody can rest assured people will be able to fly into Thailand by that time…