Sierra Madre Trail Ultra proved itself once more as one of the Philippines’ marquee events for competitive runners. Kristian Joergensen dominated the men’s 75km race, while the women’s saw a great battle between five runners that remained exciting until the very end when the surprising Christine Muntoya opened up a decisive gap to Cecille Wael. The battle for ATM Championship points in order to qualify for Team Pilipinas in the ATM Final is still wide open!

Organised by the Maharlika Team led by Emman Manongsong, Sierra Madre is laying emphasis on a pure competition between top runners with great prizes as a reward. The 75km is the only distance category so runners cannot avoid each other. It was no surprise that Kristian Joergensen was far ahead in the men’s race, he stands his ground even in ‘global’ competitions and is the second runner-up in last year’s ATM Championship Final. But behind him, many Filipino runners were eyeing the remaining podium spots. Davao’s Jensen Pasaforte, Jomarc Ferrer and - initially - Henry Joe Cottilon were laying claims on that, with others like Bhert Orpiada and Florence Alave and youngster John Ivan Zonio, who finished 2nd in this race last year, not far back either. Sierra Madre is one of those races where you can blow up, even though moving the event from May to March was slightly better in terms of weather conditions. Cottilon in particular began to drop down the leaderboard, while Maynard Encormal suddenly moved up in rapid fashion. Encormal - winner of Bagtit Ultra 100 last month - came third last year, and clearly learnt from that experience. He needed a little bit of luck to take second, as Pasaforte went a wrong way for a while, but Encormal looked solid nonetheless - knowing in advance that Joergensen would be impossible to beat. Pasaforte held on to third place, which is a great result for him. Ferrer and Zonio came fourth and fifth. Jordan Bugnay was sixth not too much later.

Five women controlled proceedings in the women’s race. Last year’s race winner Ann Jilian Pulanco, Cecille Wael, Mary Joy Sumanda, Shally Yuson and Christine Muntoya. All of them very much in shape these months as their recent results have shown. Positions kept changing during the race and the gaps between them remained manageable. One imagined that the more experienced racers Wael and Pulanco were biding their time. Towards the end, Mary Joy Sumanda seemed to be going for her first ever ATM race win after several podium placings. But then Wael accelerated and so did Muntoya, the least expected among the front runners in this field. Kathleen Logan - winner in Danao City ahead of Wael last January - had already thrown in the towel by then. At the final checkpoint before the finish, Muntoya and Wael were leading. Sumanda was 12 minutes behind, herself just a few minutes ahead of Yuson and Pulanco. The last 8 km left no doubt about who the strongest of the day was: Muntoya ran away from Wael and put no fewer than 18 minutes between them at the finish! A fantastic maiden race win for her in ATM. Ces Wael was happy to settle for second, citing acid reflux in the final stint. Sumanda managed to hold on to third and another podium. She had to work for it because Pulanco came within three minutes. Yuson arrived in fifth place.

Muntoya surprise female winner as Joergensen dominates men's race