It was almost a repeat of the 2019 men’s race at The Punisher on Babak Samal island, just off the coast of Davao City. Hisashi Kitamura and Arnie Macaneras finished one and two again last weekend, and Godwin Mirar was third, whereas three years ago he was fourth. While that may sound a tat bit boring, the race certainly was not. Local hero and man-with-a-mission, Arnie Macaneras pushed Kitamura a lot in the nighttime hours after the start at midnight. However, as in Cameron Ultra a month ago, Kitamura is not only running with his legs this year, but also with a truckload of racing experience and a very healthy mindset. At around halfway the 80k race, the Japanese UGLOW runner shifted to a higher gear and managed to open up a gap. At the finish, his race time was just 3 minutes slower than in 2019, even though Kitamura said he felt a bit tired and struggled with some pain in his knee and foot. Nevertheless, it’s victory number 3 this ATM season and Hisashi Kitamura is assured of a spot in Team Japan for the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship Final on Mount Apo in Philippines on 17 December. Macaneras opened his ATM account this season with a second place, after DNFing at MUSPO three weeks ago. Same for Godwin Mirar, still only 22, in his first ATM race this season. Yojo Sacayle took fourth and Sean Aying fifth. Former winner of the Punisher Rexell Aguirre claimed sixth place.

In the women’s race we saw the first ever victory of Julie Ann Morales. The 30-year-old from Tagum took her first ATM podium at MUSPO three weeks ago, finishing a few minutes behind Ces Wael in her first 100km race. Last weekend, she finished 26 minutes ahead of the same Ces Wael! Both of them and Emily Raga battled for victory throughout the race, but Morales again seemed to have most juice left at the end. If she keeps improving at this rate, could Morales be the dark horse in December’s ATM Final?

Julie Ann Morales scored her first ever ATM race win after a 3rd place at MUSPO three weeks ago

Another second place for Ces Wael

Godwin MIrar, still very young, completed the men’s podium

Three weeks after MUSPO Ultra, we are back in the Philippines, and even back in Mindanao, for the next ATM Championship points race of Season VII. The Punisher on Babak Samal Island, just off the coast from Davao City, has become a bit of a classic entry on our calendar, and one which especially attracts people with a good running pace in their legs. Despite what the event name might suggest, The Punisher is arguably not the toughest race, especially when it’s dry weather. This makes it appealing for some to give an ultra distance of 50 miles or 80km a go for the first time. Also, The Punisher is incredibly varied in terms of running terrain, between sandy beaches, grassy fields, hills with superb vistas and some tough single jungle trails to spice things up a notch. Back in 2019, the last time the event was held before the covid crisis, it turned out to be the perfect race course for Hisashi Kitamura, who kept his ATM Championship bid alive by beating John Ellis and the surprising local newcomer Arnie Macaneras in very convincing style. No wonder Kitamura returns this year to The Punisher, and this time to basically secure his spot on Team Japan for the ATM Championship on 17 December - the Mount Apo Sky Race. For the Karate Kit, this weekend will already be his fourth ATM race of the season (2 wins, 1x 3rd place) so on this year’s ‘best-four-count’ system it’s unlikely any other Japanese runner will bump him off the team.

Can Kitamura win The Punisher for the second time, too? It is certainly possible, and his main rival is likely again to be Arnie Macaneras. The Davao running star had an unfortunate DNF at MUSPO after co-leading the race for a long time. Macaneras ATM counter therefore still reads 0 points, and with many Filipinos eager to get qualified for their national team in December, he needs to collect big this weekend to avoid unnecessary stress in the coming months. Another top runner from the Mindanao area, Godwin Mirar, also needs to open his 2022 account still. Mirar was a shocking 4th in this race in 2019 - aged only 19. Now he has more racing experience and maturity, could he be capable of an upset on Saturday?

More podium candidates on paper are Sean Aying, lest we forget 2nd at MUSPO 100, Ronie Torlao and former winner Rexell Aguirre. And why not our LBRY Sports & ATM reporter Richard Akol? Always fast on runable terrain.

On the women’s side, eyes will again be fixated on Cecile Wael as the woman-to-beat for the race victory. Aggy Sabanal had the better of her three weeks ago, but at present she does not feature on the start list. Julie Ann Morales, however, does. She was 3rd in her first 100k at MUSPO, and only a few minutes behind Wael. Another victory candidate is Emily Raga, Filipino but based in Singapore. Raga scored 8th at Cameron Ultra but did a very long road ultra afterwards, too. Has she recovered enough to compete with Wael and Morales?

Stay tuned for updates from Babak Samal Island starting on Friday. The race flag off is at midnight.

The race winners in 2019: Jcy Ho (Hong Kong) and Hisashi Kitamura (Japan)

The event is not always as ‘punishing’ as its name might suggest

Hisashi Kitamura has won the race he had to win to retain his chances to become Asia Trail Master champion and prevent John Ellis from becoming it last weekend at The Punisher on Babak Samal Island in Davao, Mindanao, Philippines. A hot Uglow runner led practically the whole race and finished in a blistering time of 8:49.21. It is Kitamura's third ATM race victory of the season after Vietnam Jungle Marathon 70 and Magnificent Merapoh Trail in Malaysia 100. Local favourite Arnie Macaneras was strong as expected and stayed with him for about 20km on a dry and runable course. Macaneras claimed second place at the finish in 9:35 (quite a big gap!). Hong Kong's ATM Championship leader John Ellis, who was trying to clinch the title in this race but had to win to do so, had to settle for third place in 10:35. That's a huge margin to Kitamura. In the post-race interview (see the video on our facebook wall), Ellis confirms his Japanese rival was just too fast and at the end he preserved energy for the next two final races to come. Third place means no extra championship points for Ellis, which means it ain’t over yet! He stays on 2650. KItamura anyhow could not improve his total tally in this race and stays on 2575. 

Sabah’s Milton Amat will draw a lot of courage from this going into his own crucial race next week in Thailand: Ultra Trail Panoramic. In it, he might meet Ellis while Kitamura will aim to win Izu Trail Journey in Japan. 

Arnie Macaneras finally delivered a strong result that has been in the tank for a long time. He could become one of the runners to watch out for in the 2020 ATM season. He is not alone: 19-year-old Godwin Lachica Mirar from Bukidnon on Mindanao was equally impressive by finishing in fourth place while another local Davao runner, Joemar dela Cruz, arrived as fifth. Canada’s Michael McLean secured sixth place.

The women’s race was dominated by Hong Kong’s Jcy Ho, who scored her second ATM race victory of the season after VMM 70. The podium was completed by very experienced Grandmaster Cheryl Bihag and Manilyn Mamugay, a former winner of The Punisher.

A great 2nd ATM race win for Jcy Ho! She consolidates her top 10 ranking in the ATM Championship

The two race winners of the Punisher 80: Jcy Ho and Hisashi Kitamura

Arnie Macaneras delivered on all his promise: 2nd place!

19 years old and fourth place: Godwin Mirar!

Cheryl Bihag can never be underestimated: a well-deserved second place for arguably the most experienced female filipino trail runner

The 5th edition of The Punisher, a pretty nice trail race on Babak Samal Island off the coast of Davao CIty on Mindanao in the southern Philippines, could see the crowning of the new men’s Asia Trail Master Champion. John Ellis decided not to sit around and wait till the big ATM FInal in Malaysia in a fortnight and try to wrap things up already tomorrow. To achieve that he must do one thing he actually is pretty good at: winning the race! It would boost his total ATM points tally to 2725 (see our news piece earlier today), which would be out of reach for his two remaining title rivals Hisashi Kitamura and Milton Amat.

However, Kitamura wouldn’t be the ‘Karate Kit’ if he were going to let that happen without a fight. The Kuala Lumpur-based Japanese changed his plans for the weekend and re-directed his flight from Osaka to Davao with the purpose of giving Ellis once again a good solid run for his money. Those two have been going head-to-head for most of the season, mostly with Ellis gaining the upper hand at the end, but their epic battle in Ultra Trail Chiang Rai is likely to be remembered as the ‘race of the season’. Kitamura made the Hong Kong-based Australian suffer like hardly ever seen before. Tomorrow on the 80km course on Babak Samal, it’s the rematch! It matters for Kitamura, because he cannot afford Ellis to add more points to his total at all or his own championship chances are virtually over. The race course is generally quite runable - which suits Kitamura - but has its share of technical sections as well to pay attention to.

The Uglow ace may get some help, however, as one local runner is keen to make a name for himself on home soil this weekend: Arnie Macaneras. He was the man who bravely followed John Ray Onifa at CMU for a good while before breaking down. Macaneras learnt from his over-enthusiasm in the Cordillera and came back on Mt Talinis to push Kristian Joergensen to the limit. It is fair to say that Macaneras has the potential to be a spoiler for Ellis’ ambition to conclude the ATM Championship. The young Filipino has nothing to lose and wants two big scalps on his trail record. It will be interesting to see how the two ATM title contenders are going to deal with him.

Other podium contenders in the men’s race this weekend if the dice rolls right for them are Michael McLean, last year’s race winner Rexell Aguirre and who knows Grandmasters Richard Akol and John Eruel Oquino, the latter not for nothing the number 8 in the ATM Championship ranking this year.

In the women’s Punisher 80k. race we will be looking out for Hong Kong’s Jcy Ho. The Oxsitis ambassador will aim for her second ATM race win of the season after scoring the 70k at Vietnam Mountain Marathon last September. Jcy Ho is 9th in the Championship standings and not a title contender, but as she will also run TNF MMTF in two weeks could still earn herself a final spot in the top five by the end of the season.

Jcy will be competing for the win and the podium against Rhea Batac, recently podium in the V Trail Laos, former Punisher race winner Manilyn Mamugay Grandmaster Cheryl Bihag and Karen Widmer from Switzerland.

Just a month ago at UTCR, Ellis and Kitamura ran each other to pieces. Will they do so again now with the ATM Championship title very much at stake on Babak Samal Island this Saturday?

John Ellis, also known as a co-founder of the popular T8 brand

He enjoys the competition with his “idol” Ellis a lot, but he certainly prefers to beat him too: Kitamura!

Popular local runner Manilyn Mamugay is a former winner of The Punisher.

After her impressive series of performances in September, Team Oxsitis’ Jcy Ho is a victory candidate this weekend as well in her bid to climb into the ATM Championship top five by year’s end