The 3rd edition of Bali Ultra saw one of the most international fields of our Asia Trail Master season, but nevertheless it were the expected runners who battled for the race wins on the 80km and 50km courses. Going up and down the Batur volcano again, these trail courses turn out to be quite underestimated as quite a lot of participants - particularly those on the 80km discovered the hard way. Temperatures were very modest and excellent at the start at 6am , but once the fog cleared up and runners began the first ascent of Batur it got hot. South Korea’s Kyuho Lee was the fastest starter, but already by km 5 Alessandro Sherpa caught him and set the pace from the front. Sherpa had just returned from Europe and will be staying in South East Asia to prepare for his next bid to regain the ATM Champion title at Borneo TMBT now just over a month ahead. As some of his rivals for the championship, Sherpa looked the part in Bali. In the end he was not truly challenged, although Banyuwangi’s newcomer Dedi Furqoni kept the Italian on guard for the first 33km, until muscle cramps threw him a bit further down the leaderboard and even off the podium. Sherpa cruised home in 6h38 to take his first ATM race win of the season, his sixth in total. Behind him we saw the ever more remarkable Aurore Dacier taking second overall as the first female finisher. Based in Singapore, Dacier won Lantau 70 in March and also MMTF 50 last November. This was her third ATM race win therefore, and ever more impressive given she overtook celebrated male runners such as Yoyong Sacayle and Akhmad Nizar towards the end of the 50k race. She will certainly be one of to look out for next season. Borneo TMBT does not fit into her previously planned racing schedule this year. Mindanao’s Yoyong Sacayle ran very well given he had such a hard time and finishing outside the top 25 in KAR 110 just a week ago - suffering from a heatstroke there. Always in the mix for the podium, he was faster than Akhmad Nizar at the end. The 450 points will be very welcome for him in his bid to get into Team Pilipinas next month. Akhmad Nizar, 8th in last year’s ATM Final, is once again qualified for Indonesia with his second podium of the current season after Mantra 68. Bali’s I Made Budiana ran a smart and consistent race to claim fourth place, ahead of Furqoni and Jesse Wilkinson. Thimo Kilberth finished in eighth, and secured his spot for Team Indonesia once again.

Aurore Dacier was a class on her own, with the second and third female podium placers finishing a while later. Hong Kong’s Flora Ching Wing Yee took it ahead of Joanne McNamara and Alison Gauthier.

On the 80km, it was a three-man-battle at the front until the second ascent of Batur, when Dedy Yusof no longer had the pace to keep up with last year’s Bali 100 winner Rachmat Septiyanto and season revelation Ma’Mun Khariri - the surprising winner of Mantra 116 last month. Japan’s Yuta Matsuyama, already third here last year, was never far back but also never managed to bridge the gap to the front. Meanwhile, first female Angelie Cabalo from Philippines was having her own nice day out on the trails. Cabalo, in only her second ATM race of the season, was no match for all the other women in the race and had her eyes set on the overall top three. Catching Matsuyama in the second half of the race, when the 80k runners return from the beach in North Bali, Cabalo looked like she was going to reach that goal. The Japanese runner, however, still had something in the tank and finished slightly ahead of Cabalo. He is qualified again for Team Japan next month, for Cabalo it remains to be seen. Many Filipino runners have been competing for the points all season, and so she finds herself in a tight spot to get into the top five. In any case, next weekend’s The Punisher race will be required. Especially since Irish Glorioso proved once again that she is back on-form , as she was in 2022. Glorioso finished second , a long way back from Cabalo , but nevertheless second and ahead of some very solid competitors such as Hong Kong’s Rachel Chan - who was second in Silabur 100 in May and qualified for the ATM Final again. Carly Balmforth ran a great race, too, also showing increased competitiveness. Balmforth ran second for a while, but eventually came in fifth, shortly behind India’s Ashwini Bhat , who got herself qualified for the ATM Final with her second top six finish of the season. Indonesia’s Yustina Wardhani, an ATM Finalist last year, came in seventh, behind Hong Kong’s Yin Kwan Cheng.

Rachmat Septiyanto and Ma’Mun Khariri in the end produced the most exciting battle of the event as the two went head-to-head on the final ascent and descent of Batur. Septiyanto opened up a small gap in the descent of about seven minutes. Khariri did not throw in the towel ,though, and chased Septiyanto all the way to the finish in those treacherously tough last five km on the road back up to the Geopark Museum. Septiyanto did hold on for his third ever ATM race victory. Still, Khariri showcased his trail talent again. Taken into account he ran and won Mantra 116 four weeks ago, and had another 100k road ultra afterwards, his performance raises eyebrows. With all that hard racing mileage in such a short timeframe, of course let’s hope he doesn’t burn himself out as happens ever so often in Indonesia… Fresh and on form, he could pull off a surprise at the ATM Championship Final next month!

Hong Kong’s Flora Ching Wing Yee grabbed a nice second place on the 50km

Ma’Mun Khariri narrowly lost out on his second ATM race win of the season after Mantra 116

With this weekend’s Bali Ultra in Indonesia we have already arrived at the penultimate weekend of this season’s qualifying period for our Asia Trail Master Championship Final at Borneo TMBT Ultra on 14 September. After Bali 80 and Bali 50 on Saturday, runners can only still score ranking points at Akha Trail in Thailand and The Punisher in Philippines. That means it’s crunch time for those keen to get a spot in their team for the ATM Final. Angelie Cabalo is among those, and no surprise she is lining up for the 80km this weekend. Cabalo was 3rd in last year’s Championship Final in Indonesia, and so has great memories of her last running visit here. On paper, the Bali 80 course, quite runable but with some pretty technical sections in it, should be ideal for the Filipino. Besides, contrary to last year, participants in this event are once again permitted to climb and descend Gunung Batur. Political disagreements have been solved, and so the famous ‘sunrise’ mountain is back on the course. For Cabalo, the 500 points for victory would be highly welcome. At present, she has only one result on her record this season and with so many ambitious Filipino runners in the mix, it will not be easy to still get a spot in the Top 5 of the women’s ATM ranking for her country. In any case, after Bali, she would also need to compete at The Punisher next week. It would certainly be a pity if Angelie Cabalo fails to qualify this season, as the TMBT course should suit her just as well in what promises to be quite an open women’s championship title race.

The men’s 80km will see the return of last year’s winner Rachmat Septiyanto and Japan’s Yuta Matsuyama. The latter probably has a higher pedigree, but often Matsuyama struggles with heat and humidity. Let’s see if this Saturday will be different. Also Dedy Yusuf will be a contender.

But arguably the 50k race will capture most attention this weekend, with Indonesian star Risqi Kurniawan scheduled to face off against 2018 ATM Champion. Alessandro Sherpa. Last time they met was at last year’s ATM Final on Gunung Lawu. Risqi had tried to follow eventual winner John Ray Onifa early on, but blew up and when Sherpa caught him a bit later he threw in the towel all together. Since that wake-up call, having realised that dominating all Indonesian races doesn’t mean you can do the same on an international competitive level, Risqi rehabilitated himself in February at The 9 Dragons 50km in Hong Kong, taking third place. An injury stopped him in his tracks for several weeks afterwards, but in Mantra 68 he proved to be back with another win ahead of Hilman Maulana and Akhmad Nizar. The latter will also be racing at Bali 50 and is always a dangerman for the podium. Alessandro Sherpa spent nearly four months back in Italy, but has now returned with a view to the ATM Final. Having finished third and second in the past two years, Sherpa really wants to try and get that second ATM Championship title this season, six years after his first - time flies. More podium contenders could be Yoyong Sacayle, provided he recovered from last week’s KAR Ultra, and Luis Alvelais. As always in Bali Ultra, there is very international start field and it is not excluded we get to see some unknown runners appearing at the front.

No longer unknown, however, is France’s Aurore Dacier - based in Singapore and winner of Lantau 70 in March, and MMTF 50 before that. Dacier has the competitive spirit and will be the top favourite on the 50km for women this Saturday. That would technically qualify her for the ATM Championship Final as well, but Aurore has already stated that she cannot make it this season. Yustina Wardhani is one of the local Indonesian runners who could think of a podium finish.

ATM will be reporting live from Bali Ultra from start to finish on ATM Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

Singapore-based Aurore Dacier won Lantau 70 in March and is now aiming for Bali Ultra 50

Angelie Cabalo is going for the 80k win in her attempt to still qualify for Team Pilipinas 2024

Risqi Kurniawan will face Alessandro Sherpa on the 50k. Last year in SLU, Sherpa made him to DNF

After a few months’ off, Alessandro Sherpa has returned to Asia to be fully prepared for the ATM Final

Also Japan’s Yuta Matsuyama is back in Bali

Last year, Rachmat Sepiyanto won the 100k. He is back this year to try and do the same on the 80k.

The 3rd edition of Bali Ultra Trail is set for 3 August and will once again return to Gunung Batur in both the 80km and 50km ATM points race categories. The exciting and popular event is now open for registration. Bali Ultra will be one of the last three events where runners can score points for qualification into the ATM Championship Final at Borneo TMBT Ultra on 14 September.

The race route has again been redesigned after it was not permitted to climb Batur a year ago. Those political issues have now been solved, and the famous volcano and the crater rim are again featured in both the 50 miles (80km) and 50km courses. The other climb, Mount Abang, has not been recovered, however. The new route is essentially an out-and-back from Kintamani across Batur to the northern beach shore. Total elevation gain for the 80km is estimated at 4400hm and for the 50km at 2700hm. Start and finish is still at the Geopark Museum in Kintamani. There’s plenty of boutique-style accommodation and a few bigger hotel resorts in Kintamani. Alternatively, major tourism hub Ubud is not that far away neither and one could take a motorbike or taxi from there, too. The start is more or less at sunrise, 6am local time, so Bali Ultra Trail is a daytime race for the most part. Runners should be aware and prepare accordingly, as Bali obviously gets hot during the day. Running during the day of course means you will enjoy the the great scenery to the maximum.

Registration is open via the official website below.

Shindy Patricia won the 100km women’s race last season

Popular Nami Ishihara was 2nd just under two minutes behind Katrin Herzog last year on the 50km. Ishihara is already on the points table again this season with her 10th place in Izu Trail Journey

Akmad Nizar and Sobari Herdiana: always protagonists in Indonesian trail races

Risqi Kurniawan took his third ATM race win in Indonesia within little over a month and increasingly looks like a top favourite for this year’s ATM Championship title. Kurniawan outran a stubbornly tough Han Ching Su from Taiwan and his compatriots Akmad Nizar and Sobari Herdiana on the 50km of Bali Ultra Trail in Kintamani. On the 100km, Rachmat Septiyanto took his premier ATM race victory while Shindy Patricia proved her super-form again with her third ATM win of the 2023 season!

Bali Ultra Trail changed the race courses at the last moment to avoid potential repercussions following political statements that climbing Bali’s mountains would very soon be outlawed. This made the race more runable than originally planned, but it still proved tough enough - also due to the heat & humidity plaguing especially the many Japanese athletes.

The 50km was on paper the most competitive distance category and so it turned out to be. As said, Risqi Kurniawan again showed his amazing speed on this distance and it will be interesting to find out if he can stretch that to 77km on 2 December. What should help him in any case: he ran Siksorogo last year and Gunung Lawu is close to his hometown of Magelang! Team Indonesia is building up very nicely with also Akmad Nizar almost assured of qualification for the ATM Final. Nizar has been operating in the shadow of Kurniawan, but consistently so and the smart youngster can certainly produce something special at Siksorogo himself. Team Indonesia will also feature Bali-based German Thimo Kilberth, who had his best race of this season by finishing sixth and “only” 33 minutes behind Kurniawan. Fifth went to the second Taiwanese Pin Chi Chou. Great to see runners from Taiwan feature in an ATM race for once!

The women’s 50km developed into a tight battle between Japan’s Nami Ishihara and Germany’s Katrin Herzog. For a long time, Ishihara had the upper hand, but Herzog came back towards the end and managed to overtake her for the win. In third came Singapore’s Dening Lo, followed by Hszin Tzu Chao from Taiwan and Indonesia’s Siti Nuraini, who probably would have preferred to climb Mt Batur and Mt Abang. Bali’s home runner Dian Pradina had a great performance to finish sixth.

On the 100km, Japanese aces Yuta Matsuyama (male) and Tomomi Bitoh (female) set the pace for the first half, but both began to fade as a result of the climatic conditions and saw others coming back to them. Matsuyama was with Indonesia’s Abdul Salam at first, but he would DNF later and the experienced Rachmat Septiyanto was the one to claim the victory at the end. Second in Mantra 116 seven weeks ago, Septiyanto scored his first ATM race victory and is actually as good as qualified for the ATM Final and Team Indonesia. However, he is the lead organiser of Siksorogo Lawu Ultra and Septiyanto obviously cannot do both things. Matsuyama boosted his chances for qualification in Team Japan. Japan’s Takeshi Hashimoto was the third man on the podium, ahead of Vietnamese runners De Nguyen and Trung Hau Phan. Australia’s Washington Firmeza came sixth in another ATM race finish this season.

Shindy Patricia was chasing Tomomi Bitoh for a long time, being just a few minutes behind the strong and experienced Japanese runner. As often, Shindy is the one who slows down the least in the second part of ultras, and so it was again. In fact, Shindy went on to win comfortably but finished even second overall behind Septiyanto. Matsuyama came next but then it was Vietnam’s Julia Nguyen Thi Duong - in another wonderful performance of the weekend. Tomomi Bitoh still salvaged her podium in third.

Within just 2 months, Central Javanese youngster Risqi Kurniawan has propelled himself into a top fabourite position for the 2023 ATM Championship title.

Podium of the 50km women with Germany’s Katrin Herzog as winner

Wonderful to see a runner from Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) on the podium! Han Ching Su

Rachmat Septiyanto takes his first ever ATM race win

Third ATM victory of the season for in-form Shindy Patricia

Podium of the 100 km women

Podium of the 100km men

Bali Ultra is one of the most anticipated points race events of the 2023 ATM season and the last one in Indonesia before the country of islands hosts the Championship Final on 2 December. That means for those Indonesian runners who do not like or can travel abroad, this is the final shot at a points haul to try and get in the top 5 of the ranking and inside the host Team Indonesia. No surprise that many of the country’s trail running stars feature on the start list, but there’s a very large foreign presence as well, notably from Vietnam, Japan and Malaysia.

The event takes place in Kintamani, in the volcanic north of Bali. Many people might have heard already that the local governor has recently been pushing for an outright ban on climbing Bali’s mountains, including the famous and very popular Mount Batur - highlight of plenty a tourist visit to Bali and of Bali Ultra Trail. Whether or not the ban will effectively come into law still remains to be seen (a formal decision in September is rumoured), but the organisers of BUT have seen no other choice but to comply already, so as not to potentially jeopardise the event’s future. The consequence is that both the 100k and 50k are now much more runable than originally planned, as also the ascent of Abang has been omitted from the course. Good and fast distance runners, rather than volcano climbers will thus likely be seen at the top of the leaderboards and result lists this weekend.

On paper that means the Japanese runners, if they can deal with the tropical heat, are arguably the top favourites for the podium places and the race wins - at least on the 100k. Yuta Matsuyama in the men’s, and Timomi Bitoh in the women’s will indeed be the ones to beat. Matsuyama, double winner of UT Chiang Mai over the years, also wants to win to collect the 500 ATM points. He has expressed his desire to be part of Team Japan in the ATM Final this year. He already scored a 6th place in Dalat Ultra Trail in March, but now he is in better shape again than half a year ago. There can always be a surprise, e.g. from Vietnam, but his main rivals are probably going to be Solo’s Rachmat Septiyanto and Fuminori Kondo. Septiyanto may find the new course a bit too flat for his liking, though. Tomomi Bitoh was 2nd in Seoul 100k last year, and has just done a long ultra in Mongolia. Question thus is if she is recovered enough from that to deal with the rejuvenated Shindy Patricia, who has never looked faster and stronger than in the past eight months. Julia Duong Thi Nguyen, Isabelle Bedard and Qheiza Wiranda Edelwise are other podium contenders we know.

Patricia aside, most of Indonesia’s current top runners are on the 50k, including Risqi Kurniawan. He won this race last year and it is hard to bet against him this weekend, but there’s many unknowns on the start list. Akmad Nizar could be strong on this course as well. What about Taofik Hidayat, Sobiri Haerudin, a motivated Thimo KIlberth - who actually likes the redesigned course from his competitive point of view? Misha Ushakov looked solid in Mantra until he abandoned.

On the women’s 50km, former ATM champion Ruth Theresia features on the start list, but it is not clear yet which distance she will run after her nasty kidney infection a few months ago. Ruth is still on the way back, but showed great promise by winning the 30k race at Mantra. This weekend, Mantra 60 winner Siti Nuraini could secure her spot in Team Indonesia for the finals. Let’s see how she fares on the more runable trails. Many podium contenders also here, including Malaysia’s Jess Lintanga, Halimatun Sa’adiah, several japanese runners such as Yuuka Maeno, Novita Wulandari (winner in Dieng a month ago), Yustina Wardhani and so on.

Siti Nuraini, double winner of Mantra 75, can qualify for the women’s Team Indonesia this weekend

Rachmat Septiyanto was 2nd in Mantra 116 and hopes to collect another podium en route to potential Team Indonesia qualification at the ATM Final

Tomomi Bitoh is one of the favourites in this weekend’s 100km race

Shindy Patricia: what can she do now the course is more runable?

Bali Ultra Trail on and around Mount Batur in the beautiful Kintamani region is confirmed for the weekend of 19/20 August this year. After a successful edition as a Candidate Race last year, we are pleased to announce that both the 100km and 50km race categories are new points races for the 2023 ATM Championship ranking. Registration opens soon.

Popular tourist attraction Batur is rapidly gaining a reputation as a prime trail running destination as well. The old volcano is not the highest and also not the most technical to climb, but it is a challenge nonetheless and the views from the mountain are astonishing. Bali Ultra Trail has Grandmaster Dendi Dwitiandi as race director and the second edition will build further on the experience of 2022. The 80km becomes 100km and will retain the mentally tough out-and-back section towards the beach in North Bali. The 50km wil stick to the Batur area itself. Precise course details for the upcoming edition will be revealed in due course.

Meanwhile, book your weekend for Bali in August and prepare for another exciting race weekend!

Last year Arief Wismoyono won the 50k race at Bali Ultra Trail

Last weekend two ATM Candidate Races took place in Indonesia and Malaysia. The Malaysian Transnaning Ultra Challenge, directed by 2017 ATM Champion Steven Ong, turned out to be an extremely tough effort for even the most experienced and toughened ultra trail runners. That was expected, too, of course, and it was no real surprise that the two winners of the “Legend” five-loop race - 100 miles+ with almost 12000 hm - were Wilsen Singgin and Siokhar Lim. Singgin already had credentials for this type of challenge, having won the Ultimate 230 of Ultra Trail Chiang Rai in 2019. Siokhar Lim was 5th in the ATM Championship and is a Grandmaster who showed numerous times already that she will be there up front when things get really tough. The cut-off time of the Legend Race was 60 hours. Wilsen needed just under 50, and was over four hours ahead of Chin Han Keong and six-and-a-half ahead of Oh Jin Heng. Siokhar Lim timed her effort so as to finish within the cut off in 59 hours and 37 minutes. The other two finishers were Maihazan Nurafendy and Yuen Loong Ho. Milton Amat won the 4-loop race, Ahmad Tanjong the 3-loops, Mohammad Syahmim Nazmy the 2-loops together with Seiji Morofuji and Wai Kit Wong was quickest on the single loop. Sanisah Bujang was fastest female over 34km, Ellie Pang Hui Yi over 2 loops, Leumathong Siriporn over 3.

Over in Bali, many of the top runners were present around Mt Batur in Kintamani for the Candidate Race Bali Ultra Trail, which had been planned since 2019 but never happened until last weekend due to the corona crisis. On the programme 80k and 50k as the main race categories, with also a surprisingly competitive 25k and 10k. Overall, BUT also proved to be tougher than expected, with more technicality than the BTR Challenge last May.

The 80K race was won by “good old” 2015 ATM Champion Arief Wismoyono, who once again proved to be back at his best level. Initially, he was dropped by Lombok’s Abdul Salem and Sulawesi’s Rachmat. Two very fast runners who have made name for themselves on the domestic Indonesian scene. Wismoyono knew, however, that his favourite terrain - Mt Batur - would come at the end and he was able to stay within ten minutes of the lead duo. Rachmat Septiyanto once again had to settle for a fourth place just off the podium, as he was ‘best of the rest’. Wismoyono actually still made it look easy in the last part of the race and finished with an ample bonus of 45 minutes over Salem and 1h15’ over Rachmat. With this kind of form, Wismoyono will be top contender to regain the Asia Trail Master Champion’s title on Mount Apo in Philippines on 17 December.

On the 50k we also had a very strong quartet competing for the podium. Initially they were even five, but Alan Maulana oncemore suffered from stomach cramps and pulled out over halfway distance. Up front, the twin brothers Sobari and Sobiri battled with their fellow-Bandung runner Taofik Hidayat and Riyadi Slamet. The latter was quickest before the first climb, Mt Abang. Later, Sobari looked like the strongest of them all, having opened up a gap of over 15 minutes to Hidayat with just 5k to go. But Sobari suffered from a heatstroke and dehydration on a sunny hot day in Kintamani and struggled his way to Resto Apung and the finish. He made it by only two minutes. Hidayat second, Sobiri third and Riyadi fourth.

Shindy Patricia added another victory to her ever-growing collection in the women’s 50k race. At the first aid station it looked like she could get some serious competition from Singapore’s Hu Xiaoqin, but this year Shindy has been performing really well in the mountains and in the end she was able to cruise home. Hu Xiaoqin took second. Thimo Kilberth took a nice and sold win on the 25K, which also included a double ascent of Batur. Kilberth chose to run the shorter 25k in preparation for Jember Hills Classic in a fortnight, a race where he could already secure himself a place in Team Indonesia for the ATM Championship Final in December.

Sabah’s Wilsen Singgin showed his remarkable endurance talent again at Transnaning Ultra Challenge

Shindy Patricia runs a lot, but also keeps on winning on the domestic Indonesian scene

Sobari Herdiana won the 50k race in Bali

Arief Wismoyono was again unstoppable and won the 80k very convincingly

Taofik Hidayat came close to Sobari Herdiana, but settled for 2nd place

Hu Xiaoqin, yet another Chinese SIngaporean coming to the fore in the women’s races recently