This weekend’s doubleheader on our ATM Championship calendar begins very early already at noon on Friday with the start of the 100 Miles race at Ultimate Trails of Penang, better known as UTOP, in Malaysia. It is the first Malaysian points race event for Season 10’s Championship ranking, and also an anniversary edition. UTOP is celebrating its fifth edition.

This event has been alternating with Penang Eco on our calendar, as both are organised by Endurance Nature, led by ultra running legend Seow Kong Ng and Allan Lee. People who have run both long ultras argue that UTOP is the toughest one. Taking place on Penang island itself - contrary to Penang Eco - the 171km longest category has a whopping 9910 metres of elevation gain. This is a serious challenge when you also add the heat and humidity into the mix. Nevertheless, about six dozen of trail runners will be attempting to complete this beast on the weekend. The 100 Miles is also one of the two distance categories that matter for ATM Championship points, the other one logically being the 60km medium distance. Runners only keen on scoring a Grandmaster point always need to focus on 70+ km races, which in the case of UTOP means the aforementioned 100 Miles, but it can also be the 100km that is on the programme.

When we take a look at the start list of the 100Miles, two names perhaps stand out: Aqmal Adzmi and Andrew Farmers, both ultra long distance enthousiasts. Adzmi has taken a break from ATM since Season 8 and could be making a return in style. His best competitive performance so far was 3rd place at MMTF 90km in 2022. Let’s see how he fares against Andrew Farmers, the Australian who lives in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. Farmers was the joint winner with Amir Zaki of The Borneo Miler in 2023. Definitely not interested in 50k races, Farmers knows very well what he is getting into at UTOP and with the experience he has accumulated in ultra long races throughout the world, he may be the man-to-beat for Aqmal Adzmi and other contenders. Amongst those are e.g. Tuan Hafandi and Chong Teck Shuin.

Five women will be attempting the 100 Miles, including Sarawak’s Celeste Teo and Philippines’ Irish Glorioso. Both well-experienced in long ultras, they could both score their first ever ATM race victory this weekend, after so many podium placings already. Chong Yien Chin, Wong Siow Yen and Xu Liangdi may try to prevent that.

On the 60km most eyes will focus on the competitive performance of Alex Tilley. Residing in Penang, the British runner returns to the scene this weekend and is the winner of last year’s 100km of Penang Eco. Tilley was also tenth in the ATM Championship Final a year ago in Indonesia. Since then, he has become a father and UTOP is his first race back. Besides Tilley, the start list reveals many new names - both in the male and female category. We are looking forward therefore to getting to know some new trail talents.

UTOP with 100 Miles and 60km points races for the Championship ranking