This weekend arguably the toughest mountain trail race of the Asia Trail Master Championship season takes place in East Java, Indonesia: it’s the 4th edition of Mantra Summits Challenge in Malang with start and finish at the Kaliandra Eco Resort. The two longest race distance categories, the 116k and 75k, are both points races with equal status for the ATM rankings, which naturally implies some of the top runners favour to start one or the other. As it happens, both retain a strong field of competitors - especially in the men’s races.

That is largely due to the important participation of six elite trail runners from Vietnam, indicating once again that the country is becoming a powerhouse on Asia’s trail scene. Leading the pack is Quang Tran, who has been the benchmark in Vietnam since the advent of competitive trail running over there. He is tackling the 116k and its gruelling 8500m of elevation gain. If you wonder just how tough and technical this 116k race is, just look at the finishing times of the 2019 edition - the last one before covid. Milton Amat won it by nearly four hours (!) over… Hisashi Kitamura in 23 hours and 23 minutes. It sounds like it is 200 km, but it is really “just” 116 kilometres.

Let’s hope for their sake that the Vietnamese runners, and the other internationals and Indonesians of course, know what awaits them. Perhaps the videos of previous race winners that we have been posting all week on our social media channels may give them some inspiration, or indeed, warning.

Former winner of the Vietnam Mountain Marathon in Sapa, Quang Tran will be flanked by his compatriots Dang Hieu Nguyen and his, perhaps, better-known brother Trung, Van Da Bui and Hieu Nguyen Si - this year already third in Dalat Ultra Trail. They will compete against some of the most reputed Indonesian trail runners such as 2019 winner on the 75K and 2018 winner on the 55k, Yusuf Aprian. His teammate at La Sportiva Indonesia, Rachmat Septiyanto finished just outside the podium three years ago and will be looking to make that up - also being more experienced running mountain ultras now. A dangerous veteran of Indonesian trails and former winner of Ijen Trail, Dzaki Wardana, proved he is in very good shape again just about three weeks ago by winning a 70k race against the likes of Thimo Kilberth and Fauzi Imdadur. The latter is also on the start list of the 116k and on this kind of highly technical entreprises for sure a podium candidate. Last but not least, what can Japanese runner Fuminori Kondo do at Mantra? Two Japanese women already won here, can Kondo be the first Japanese man to do so?

Asuka Nakajima won the women’s 116k race in 2019, the year she ended being third in the Asia Trail Master Championship. Nakajima will be succeeded by Shindy Patricia… if the local hero manages to finish, of course. Shindy is the only woman on the start list this year. Another sign of the trend that sees trail runners prefer shorter distances nowadays? In 2019 we still had Nakajima, Siokhar Lim and Surabaya’s Sri Wahyuni on a complete women’s podium. For the in-form Shindy Patricia, it is therefore just about finishing this weekend and collect not only the victory, but also the 500 ATM Championship points that will already bring her a good way forward towards being part of Team Indonesia in this year’s ATM Championship Final on 17 December.

Over to the 75k race, where we will find another Vietnamese top runner, Nhon Trong. Nhon Trong was second in Dalat Ultra Trail last March and has continued to be active since. A smart runner with regional trail experience, Nhon Trong could be the most dangerous favourite for the race victory given his fast running pace. He will be joined by his compatriot Duc Pham. They will be up against Singapore-based Spaniard Pablo Diago Gonzales, a regular at Mantra. On the podium twice but never as winner, and a DNF in 2019. Pablo Diago Gonzales plays down his chances, but he has seen the scenery of Mt Welirang and Arjuno already… It’s a brutal course, even the 75k, and when Pablo feels good they will need to pass him to win. There’s plenty of strong Indonesian runners as well. 2015 ATM Champion Arief Wismoyono is going well this season and long and high mountain climbs are his territory. Also from Bandung is Taofik Hidayat. Still relatively unknown outside Indonesia, but locally he has turned into a ‘one-to-beat’. Alan Maulana is a quick runner, always capable of a surprise. Thimo Kilberth, German but living in Bali for a long time already, has been prepping for this race and could be the dark horse. Kilberth is fast on the flat, but has improved a lot in the long mountains and … the 3000m altitude temperatures will probably please him more than most of the other podium candidates. Kilberth was third in Batur Trail Running Challenge in May already this Championship season.

Furtunately, there’s quite a few women on the start list of the 75k. There does not seem to be an outspoken favourite, but Novita Wulandari is a name of a very experienced trail runner always good for a podium. Singapore-based Malaysian Nicole Ng is another candidate. As always in trail running, maybe we will be surprised to see a new face emerging as well this weekend.

Asia Trail Master is in Malang and will be providing live race coverage as usual via our ATM social media pages on facebook and instagram in particular. The 116k race starts on Saturday morning at 5 am local time, the 75k runners are let go one hour afterwards.