At last, we have arrived. The first trail race weekend of what currently promises to be an exciting new season of the Asia Trail Master Championship series - the first after 2019. UTKC, Ultra Trail Koh Chang, is the event and venue for the opener in Thailand tomorrow. An event with 100k and 70k race categories relevant for points, and one that brought us several fantastic runs in the past. While the big majority of participants will still be residents of Thailand, there are international athletes who have taken the step to travel and face the remaining covid-19 mitigation measures. It’s the start of a new season and one is quick - perhaps despite knowing better - to call it ‘post-pandemic’ , but unfortunately many people are still in no position to cross country borders or even take part in running events at all. Consider, for instance, Hong Kong, home city of our last two and actually still reigning ATM Champions John Ellis and Veronika Vadovicova. Nevertheless, UTKC inspires growing confidence that ‘real’ trail running events are on the return in Asia. In fact, there’s three more events on the calendar for the next two weekends, too. Borneo Ultra Trail Marathon in Malaysia, EcoTrail AlUla in Saudi Arabia and last but not least Dalat Ultra Trail in Vietnam. It may be later than usual, but safe to say that the 2022 ATM Championship is flagging off with a bang!

The road to the ATM Championship conclusion will see over 25 points races throughout the continent between now and 17 December, date of the final event at a location soon to be officially announced. In between, we will have several Candidate Races as well. New events that have applied for a spot on our championship calendar next year or after. It will certainly be busy and we are looking forward to loads of exciting stories, stellar achievements and the Big Reconnection!

This weekend’s men’s 100k at UTKC could see the second installment of a battle that took place in 2018. Local trail heroes Jay Jantaraboon and Sanya Khancai are both featuring as favourites on the start list. Four years ago, the slightly older Sanya pushed Jay forward nearly all the way without ever really relenting. Let’s see if the Thai veteran can repeat that level of performance again on a course that is less technical as back then. We know Jay has not spent his time lying on the sofa during the covid-19 crisis and by all means he is the man to beat. Outsiders and podium candidates could be Nikom Tongjai, Narin Kongsiri and probably several others. After over two years it would be logical to see the appearance of many new faces at the forefront of the competitions.

In the women’s 100km we will follow Kanlaya Thongfachailai carefully. She won the Ultimate 130 at UT Chiang Rai in 2020. And in the 70km race category, we will have Canadian Carrie Jane Stander, 9th in the 2019 ATM Championship series.

As a clear sign that things are also not yet so straightforward in Thailand, event organiser Nop Suksawat and his team have had to make amendments to the race courses up to the last couple of days. Koh Chang is a relatively small island with a small community and not everyone is already keen to see runners returning en masse for the event. A couple of reroutes is likely to reduce the total distance to some 95 km and bring the elevation gain closer to 3000 hm instead of the advertised 4300+ hm. These changes could affect the outcome of the races, as fast-paced runners will have the best chance ever for a great result at this event. The strongmen and strongwomen who prefer the more technical, dense and steeper hilly jungle trails , something UTKC is renowned for, will have fewer opportunities this year to leave a mark.

UTKC in Thailand opens Season VII