Malnad Ultra: Shashwat Rao takes maiden ATM race win

ATM Grandmaster Shashwat Rao scored an impressive maiden victory in Malnad Ultra 100 last weekend, the first points race in India that counts for the Asia Trail Master championship. Rao dug very deep to achieve this feat on a runable yet hilly course through a major coffee plantation area six hours south of Bangalore in Karnataka State. Malnad Ultra is the most popular trail running event in India, but changed location for this year’s 6th edition. The new venue and course was liked by the 1000 runners at the event, offering great vistas of the mountainous area and a great feeling of remoteness. The weather on race weekend also played ball and made for an exciting weekend of trail running for the many newbies on the 30km as well. No doubt about it: India’s trail running scene is blossoming. And not only in quantity of numbers, but also in the quality of its top runners. We have known the high level of Shashwat Rao since 2018, but consider the Malnad 50k race winner Sannat Sachdev. 50k trail with 1700m of elevation gain in 4 hours and 38 minutes! In a clear statement after the finish, Sachdev proclaimed he is ready to experience the Asia Trail Master Championship in 2023. We are looking forward, indeed! Sachdev was not alone, he was pushed forward for a long time by another Asian top class act Opendro Singh Thoudam. In third was Ganesh Kumar. The women’s race was won by Unived talent Lipi Kalita.

Shashwat and Ashis did the full 100k course in well under 13 hours. The podium was completed by Raman Kumar. The women’s 100k race was won by Anuradha Bhat in 17h52. Anita Shivanna and Talisangla Jamir joined her on the podium. Jamir actually led the race halfway, but dropped back in the second part. It was her first 100k.

Lipi Kalita (middle) won the women’s 50k race in 6h32