Home star Ruth Theresia won the women’s 100k and extends her ATM points lead

While Bandung’s own home star Ruth Theresia managed - narrowly, though - to score an important victory on the 100 km last weekend, Arief Wismoyono had to accept Sabah’s Milton Amat was the faster man. The Bandung Ultra 100, also the Indonesian SuperTrail in the Asia Trail Master Championship series, was the first ever ATM points race win for Amat, after three four places earlier this season including Borneo TMBT 100 just two weeks ago. His success in Bandung propels Amat into the top five of the Championship and with a genuine chance to compete for this year’s title during the final stage of the 2018 season.

As usual, Milton Amat took off fast. But contrary to the 9 Dragons and Borneo TMBT, he managed to keep a consistent high pace and did not allow anyone to come back. He crossed the finish line in 15:10:41, also indicating how tough this race course is. In his home race 2 weeks ago, Amat came 4th in 13:37 and that after breaking down in the final kilometers. Arief Wismoyono spent most of the race in the company of Spain’s Salva Rambla. A newcomer on the ATM scene who has come straight from his home country and will be living and running in ATM points races for almost six months, gathering intelligence for the trail market in Spain. Rambla was surprised of the technical difficulty of the Bandung race, but nevertheless satisfied with his first result. Even when he had to let Wismoyono go in the last part. Brunei-based Canadian Michael McLean grabbed fourth place in 18:03, or just over 2 hours slower than when he took 6th in Borneo TMBT. Last year’s winner Fandhi Achmad finished in 7th place in 23:16.

Ten minutes later Ruth Theresia entered the finish arena as winner of the women’s race, and therefore extends her points lead in the Asia Trail Master Championship. It is her fourth victory of the season, which means the championship crown is very much within reach. She could wrap things up with another - fifth - strong result, which would eliminate her off-day at CMU in Philippines (33th place). One of her biggest contenders for the title, Aggy Sabanal, is running this weekend’s Vietnam Mountain Marathon.

However, Ruh Theresia had to struggle to obtain this success last weekend. Having injured her ankle during training two weeks ago, the local Bandung star was unable to run full power. As such, Hong Kong’s Jocelyn Cheung kept up with Theresia nearly all the way to the finish! Cheung - third in Magnificent Merapoh Trail in August - found a trail course much to her liking in Bandung, being a great technical runner. She arrived just four minutes behind Theresia in second place. The podium was completed by Poh Suan Pah. Shindy Patricia decided she needs more recovery time after UTMB and did not take part in the race.

Arief flanked by his wife comes in 2nd

Spain’s Salva Rambla opens his ATM account with a 3rd place

It has been a while since the last one in Malaysia, but this weekend is SuperTrail weekend in the Asia Trail Master Championship. Bandung Ultra 100 is the Indonesia SuperTrail, which means all finishers on the 100k distance score 50 bonus points for the points championship. Important also for home runners Arief Wismoyono and Ruth Theresia, who will be giving it their all on familiar terrain.

Bandung Ultra 100 entered the scene with a bang last year. Along with Mantra Summits Challenge in East Java, the event captured the imagination of hardcore technical trail runners especially. The 100k has well over 6500 metres of elevation gain and a tight cut-off time of 32 hours. Twelve months ago, Fandhi Ahmad won both new races. He is back at the starting line tomorrow and will certainly act. as the benchmark for Arief Wismoyono and others with victory ambitions. One of those is Spaniard Salva Rambla. Having arrived in Asia just a week ago, Salva Rambla will be competing in at least six ATM races in the second part of this season with a mission to increase understanding and spread awareness of our events in his home country Spain, which is of course one of the top nations in global trail running. Salva and his partner will also be working on a TV documentary, and he will of course also run the races for what he is worth. Spain is not Asia, and Bandung Ultra 100 is definitely not the easiest race to start an Asian campaign, but he is no rookie neither.

It will be interesting to see where Abdul Aziz Dermawan ends up this weekend. A talented young runner who scored great results even on the steps of Hong Kong a few years ago, but it has been a while he has competed at top level in Indonesia. Aris Sopiandi Muklis is a podium candidate, having done well in this race last season as well.

There’s a few Japanese runners who could cause an upset, and there’s also Rexell Aguirre from Davao in Philippines who always does well on technical terrain, having placed second on Mt Apo last year as an example. Brunei-based Canadian Michael McLean was a very impressive finisher at Borneo TMBT Ultra 100 only two weeks ago. McLean passed six runners in the final 10 km to end up 6th in the race result. In Sabah, McLean looked surprisingly fresh at the finish compared to all others and can certainly be regarded as the dark horse for this weekend’s race in Bandung. Amazingly, there’s another top performer of Borneo TMBT Ultra on the start list: Malaysia’s Milton Amat! The sympathetic Sabahan was running in front together with Daved Simpat for most of the race, until he got. a knock of the hammer and slided down the order to arrive in fourth place at the finish. Earlier this season, Amat scored 4th in the 9 Dragons Ultra in Hong Kong and 4th in Penang Eco 100 miles. He is indeed the highest-ranked Malaysian in the current Asia Trail Master points standings in 8th place with 1400 points. Let’s hope for him he can do one rank better in BDG 100 and finally get a podium. He would be knocking on the door of the ATM Fab Five as well then.

In the women’s race, championship leader Ruth Theresia is the clear favourite on paper. Competiting smart and much less than in 2017, Ruth is eyeing a championship win, indeed. Surabaya’s Sri Wahyuni has come closest to pushing Ruth in ultra races this season, yet overtaking her has not been on the cards so far. Wahyuni is on the start list again for Bandung, however reports indicate she is injured and won’t be competing for a few weeks - denting her chances in the championship. Ruth may therefore receive most pressure from another East Javan, Shindy Patricia. Riding the wave of her success in Chamonix, Shindy is a highly skilled technical runner who will find herself at ease on the trails in Bandung. If Ruth doesn’t find her fastest legs, Shindy won’t be far away. And neither will Eni Rosita be. Rosita might not have the sheer trail speed as the likes of Ruth and Shindy, but her stamina counts for two. When the going gets tough, Rosita could be competing for more than just the podium. Hong Kong’s Jocelyn Cheung will be another podium candidate, as she showed again last month with a third place in the Magnificent Merapoh Trail in Malaysia.

Arief Wismoyono is currently in 6th place in the ATM Championship

Ruth Theresia: on the way to her first ATM Championship title?

An incredible finish at Borneo TMBT Ultra 100 2 weeks ago: Michael McLean

3 times 4th: can Milton Amat score an ATM podium this weekend?

Impressive winner last year: Fandhi Achmad