This Saturday we already have the second of five Filipino points races in the 2023 Asia Trail Master Championship and again we go to the vast mountain range of Rizal to the east of capital city Manila. This time we are heading to Rodriguez for the 75km long Sierra Madre Trail Ultra. The start list has a bunch of strong ultra trail runners but the spotlights will be mainly on home favourite Elmer Retolado - winner of Santa Ines Adenture early Febraury -, and Jeff Campbell - winner of Lantau 70 in Hong Kong six weeks ago.

The Maharlika Trail group organised this event as an ATM Candidate for the first time last year with a rather unique - but great- format: only 1 race category. It’s 75km or nothing. Certainly a big ask for a lot of people, but in this way the event does get a very respectable start list and an exciting competition to look forward to, which in turn stirs up interest in the event. Sierra Madre Trail Ultra is no walk in the park, with estimated elevation gain of 4200 hm and basically 12 hill peaks to overcome, the last one about 3 km before the finish line in Sitio Wawa.

Sitio Wawa and the Coco Mountain Resort function as the event venue with the race start scheduled for Saturday early morning at 2 am. That implies the first few hours will be run in darkness.

Elmer Retolado was second a year ago after a tight battle with Larry Apolinario. Other than being at home in the Rizal, he therefore also has actual course knowledge. Whether that will be enough to keep Jeff Campbell behind remains to be seen. Just six weeks ago Campbell proved that going flat out for 70km is no longer a mental barrier for him. What may be on the other hand is the hot and humid conditions that runners will be exposed to, and trail technicalities one hardly has to deal with in Hong Kong. It’s been a pretty wet ATM season so far, but the forecast for this Saturday shows only a little chance for a rainshower. What could also play in Retolado’s favour is the fact that Campbell will be going to the World Championships for his home country Canada in a month’s time. For Campbell being selected for his country is an achievement. Will he go ‘all in’ at Sierra Madre should the going get rough? There is a bonus attached to a potential victory, however. It would be Campbell’s 7th ATM race victory, and so he would once again share the male all-time victory record with Hisashi Kitamura.

On paper these two stand out as the op favourites, but there’s a lot more local and international trail talent on the start list to push Campbell and Retolado forward. Singapore’s Deric Lau, for example, has developed into an excellent podium contender in almost any ATM race. Also Maynard Encornal, third in Santa Ines, will be in the mix. John Zonio, Poy Brillantes, Sean Aying, Angelito Vertudazo, and Japan’s Taito Yasukochi are other runners who are likely to feature at the top of the leaderboard.

The women’s race seems to be all open without any clear favourite. ATM overall female ranking leader Irish Glorioso will start her third race of the season already, and might just grab her second win after V Trail in Laos in February. That would already put her in a strong position to again take one of five spots in Team Philippines for the ATM Championship Final on 2 December. Ann Jilian Pulanco, known from running mega ultras, was fourth a year ago and might have the speed and experience to challenge Glorioso. Japan’s Tamae Harada is certainly a podium contender as well, and Emily Raga. Or maybe it will someone completely different..

ATM will be broadcasting live from the start at 2 am local time, and keep you up-to-date with multimedia updates throughout the race on Saturday.