In just a matter of a few weeks, Javanese runner Risqi Kurniawan has totally emerged from the shadows and has proven to be a serious force on the medium distance ATM circuit. In a very interesting direct race against ‘good old’ champion Arief Wismoyono, Kurniawan took his second ATM race win in a fortnight. Last Sunday, the youngster outpaced Wismoyono by a big 34 minutes on the 48km long Dieng Trail Run and cements his recently gained status as the Indonesian benchmark on the 50k. With his victories in Mantra 65 and Dieng 50, he now has 1000 points already, which could be sufficient to secure his spot in Team Indonesia for the ATM Finals. He is also scheduled to run Bali Ultra 50 next month. On our facebook page, you can watch a short interview with the new Indonesian trail star. Arief Wismoyono himself secured his wild card for the Final at Siksorogo Lawu Ultra as a former ATM Champion (2015). In his post-race interview, he showed his class by admitting Kurniawan is now too fast for him on 50k runable courses, and that he is looking forward to running with him in an attempt to win the ATM Championship for Indonesia.

The race started at midnight and was held at an altitude of 2000m and above, which felt very cold for many runners. Kurniawan and Wismoyono immediately set the pace, followed by Kasmana, another new name from Bandung. Kasmana is a protégé of Wismoyono and finished third, less than 10 minutes behind his mentor. Singapore’s Chris Timms was trying to keep up as he had podium ambitions, but went off course early on and that saw his chances evaporate. Timms settled into fourth together with Thimo Kilberth, who had his best ATM race in a while. Sumatra’s Andre Sinaga unfortunately twisted his ankle badly and retired from a race that could have brought him into a position to join Team Indonesia in December. Sinaga, second in Orang Utan Trail ahead of Timms and Kilberth, will need to try again in Bali Ultra next month.

The women’s competition in Dieng was won by La Sportiva’s highly experienced and popular runner Novita Wulandari. Her first ATM race victory. Indah Julita, a.k.a Meili, came second and Qheiza Wiranda Edelwise third. For Edelwise it’s her second points result of the season, which puts her now in second place behind Shindy Patricia in the women’s Indonesia ATM ranking. Bali Ultra on 19 August will be an important event to get into the top five as that will be the fourth and last Indonesian points race of the 2023 season before the big championship final event at Siksorogo Lawu Ultra in Central Java on 2/3 December.

Dieng - Risqi Kurniawan too fast for Wismoyono