Mysterious Akha Trail along the border with Myanmar

A new mountain trail in Thailand this weekend by the established event organiser teelakow along the border with Myanmar. There’s quite a bit of mystery hanging over the race courses, but one thing seems certain: it will be tough. The 80km is the category that matters for ATM Championship and Grandmaster points, and on the start list we find none other than John Ray Onifa, just two weeks after his splendid victory in MUSPO 100.

Akha Trail stems from the people inhabiting the mountain region, an ethnic group spread out over mountain areas in Thailand, Myanmar, Yunnan (China) and Laos. The Akha people are quite well-known on the tourist trail for their colourful and distinctive traditional customes. Their home terrain here in Thailand , where the event takes place, is spectactular mountainous jungle with a number of caves in the mix as well. Runners will face a challenge, especially on the long distance of 80km with over 5500 hm. The course goes up and down, although there’s one long uphill climb, too, that follows a long descent to the second checkpoint at km 14. The last 20 km will be a test of strength, for sure.

John Ray Onifa, Filipino but highly familiar with the Thai trails, will logically be the one to beat. Despite only a fortnight since MUSPO, he says he also feels good as he didn’t go full throttle in Bukidnon. Potential challengers are podium contenders Miklos Viczena, in-form Narin Kongsiri and Thosaeng Kunno, the surprising young winner of Trail of Man in Chiang Mai six weeks ago. For Kunno this race will be a step into the unknown - his first long distance trail,and a technical one. The Chiang Mai resident is keen to learn fast, though, as he enjoys competing against the best. The Thai trail community vibe also suggests there’s quite a lot of as yet unknown talent on the start list.

In the women’s race, Thailand’s Issaree Kengnok will be trying to score her 3rd ATM race victory and her first since 2017. Her last ATM performance was 2nd in UTCR 125km in 2020. 

We will be reporting live from the start at 14:00 local time on Saturday on our usual channels (ATM Facebook, YouTube, Twitter) with further multimedia updates also on ATM Instagram.