MMTF in Taiping is on this weekend and the event has already confirmed its recently achieved status as the biggest Malaysian trail running event alongside Borneo TMBT Ultra. Close to 3000 runners will be taking part across the various race categories, of which the 100km and 50km require our utmost attention. A wealth of Asian trail talent on the start lists, in particular of the 50km with an expected clash between John Ray Onifa - unbeaten in five ATM races this season -, Kristian Joergensen - unbeaten at MMTF -, and Milton Amat - Malaysia’s current most competitive runner and vice-ATM champion 2022.

And if those three top stars somehow suffer a bad day, there’s a long list of others who will very quickly pick up the spoils: Amir Zaki, Wilsen Singgin, Chris Timms, Sapirin and Safrey Sumping, Yakov Kozlov, Jeffery Budin and so on! This is undoubtedly the most competitive 50k of the current ATM season and just one month before the ATM Championship conclusion in Indonesia. Whoever wins will get a major mental boost. Onifa and Joergensen actually just went head-to-head at VMM 50k in September. The Philippines-based Dane attacked halfway through the race, but Onifa managed to come back and win by just a couple of minutes. Last year in Taiping, Onifa ran a superb 50k race, but so did Joergensen twice already in 2019 and 2022 on the 100k. This is the dual at MMTF that betting companies can make money of. And Milton Amat, who has had a more quiet Asian season this year, might just as well profit from the other two’s healthy rivalry. Ever since the end of covid, Amat has proven several times that his pure running pace has increased significantly compared to 2018-2019. All three are also not afraid of heavy rain with its mud thumping and trail surfing. Rain and MMTF, remember, go hand-in-hand.

Taiping is the wettest city in Malaysia and this was underlined again in the build-up towards this weekend’s event. Runners should expect rain, but an extreme situation like last year whereby the 100k had to be stopped seems unlikely.

That 100k will also be very exciting, featuring the rematch between this year’s TMBT winner Daved Simpat and Hisashi Kitamura. Simpat surprised many by easily outrunning the now Tokyo-based Karate Kit last September. The Sabahan is also a former winner of MMTF, in 2018 - the first edition. An uphill task for Kitamura, for whom a wet race is normally not to his advantage either. His biggest season’s goal comes next month at the ATM Final , so in any case we should see a glimpse of the dominant Kitamura from early to mid last year. As on the 50km, there’s plenty of other men with podium ambitions, or more. Another Japanese UGLOW runner, Yuta Matsuyama is a double race winner of Ultra Trail Chiang Mai 100. That race’s nickname is “kiss the rain” , so Matsuyama for sure won’t be intimidated by the excepted trail conditions at MMTF. Nobuhito Kobu, Jin Heng Oh, Amierul Amin are other names to watch out for, and who knows the Chinese trio from Team Zenone Poles in Hangzhou causes an upset.

In the women’s 100km we can look forward to a first real meeting between new Sabah star Rejlen James, winner of the Borneo Ultra Triple (BUTM 100, Borneo Miler, TMBT 100) this season, and Siokhar Lim - widely considered the benchmark in Malaysia for the long and tough trails. James will be among the top favourites next month for the women’s ATM Championship title, based on her performances this season. A win over Siokhar Lim at MMTF would only emphasise that further. Kanna Suzuki from Japan and Fu Huarong may get involved in the race for victory, too. Other podium contenders are Celeste Teo - the only Malaysian woman already guaranteed of a spot on her country’s team for the ATM Final - Norlela Ismail, Halimatun Sa’adiah, Law Guan Shin and Qheiza Wiranda Edelwise. For the Malaysians like Ismail and Sa’adiah it will be important to finish as close to the podium as possible in order to have a chance for ATM Final qualification.

The same applies for Jess Lintanga, who threw herself back in the mix during the summer with two solid results, and in particular third place at TMBT 50. If the The Team Kolumpa ace can repeat that level of performance at MMTF 50, she could still leapfrog others and jump into the top 5 of the ATM ranking. There is some serious competition, however. The Nepalese duo of Rashila Tamang and Chhiok Sherpa are back in Malaysia after their great results in Koboi Malaya Classic back in May. That was a flat race, this one should suit the mountain girls even more. Izzah Hazirah, Chong Mei Tze and Siao Ai Lim may also have a few words to speak in the battle for podium, and so does Korea’s Boyoung Jan - who features on the start list despite having just scored third place in Ulju 5 Peaks last week.

A lot to look forward and we will be keeping you up-to-date on our usual ATM channels as Mark and Richard are in Taiping.

MMTF with stellar cast!