After five podium places - including two at CM50 Ultra - Kristian Joergensen has won his first ever Asia Trail Master points race last weekend. In Clark, the Philippines-based Dane was clearly the strongest in the 8th edition of CM50 Ultra, finishing more than 40 minutes ahead of Japan’s Tomohiro Mizukoshi. The Tokyo runner therefore lost 50 important championship points, which unfortunately has put him out of contention for this year’s ATM championship title. Mizukoshi is highly likely to end the season in third, although a top result at Izu Trail Journey could still propel him ahead of Salva Rambla. For Joergensen it was his third ATM race of the year after scoring second places in Rizal Mountain Run and Borneo TMBT Ultra.

Triple CM50 winner Manolito Divina was also in the mix early on in the race, which started at nighttime. But the 2016 ATM champion is still chasing his best form after taking many months off running. ‘Tolitz’ slowed down in the second half of the race. Carlo Chiong and Joseph Gentileo kept the Filipino honours high in the men’s race with a third and fourth place ahead of Spain’s Ander Iza Rekakoetxea. To note was the excellent performance of 2-star Grandmaster Aleksis Capili. A big fan of CM50, Capili produced his fastest run to date and came in as eighth, but having Rekakoetxea within his sight!

In the women’s race we had an unexpected winner, Cheryl Navarro. Insiders had noted she could finish close as, after all, she won the 60km B-race of CM50 a year ago. As it happened, Navarro was a lot quicker than the rest and even finished inside the overall top ten. Let’s see if she will feature more often in other ATM points races next season! Malaysia’s Jassica Lintanga continued her fine form of this season with another podium placing as second. Lintanga also jumps into the top five of the ATM Championship. The final step on the podium was for Cecile Wael. Aggy Sabanal did not have her best race last weekend and had to be content with 8th place. It means Sabanal stays third behind Sri Wahyuni in the ATM championship. She has another chance to get second in Izu Trail Journey in 2 weeks.

Kristian Joergensen dominated the CM50 race this year

The final two weeks of the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship series but still four points races to go. On Sunday, the new COMPRESSPORT Trail Blazer in Singapore and the traditional CM50 Ultra in Philippines will already shed a big light on who the ultimate championship challengers are this year, and -who knows- maybe it will all be decided already! Both points leaders in the championship will be running, too, albeit with different motivations.

Ruth Theresia has accumulated such an advantage over the other women by winning three back-to-back races in Indonesia in September and October, only a mathematical possibility remained for some other race winners of this season to still overtake her on points. But time has run out. Carole Fuchs will be doing Izu Trail Journey on 9 December, but that won’t be enough to catch Theresia. Corinne Williams has decided to end her season after Borneo TMBT Ultra due to other life commitments. Singapore’s Evelyn Lek - who burst onto the scene by winning both Magnificent Merapoh Trail 100 and Vietnam Mountain Marathon 100 - will compete in her home race this Sunday, but even if she wins it and follows up with Izu and HK 168, she cannot reach the 2650 total points tally set by Ruth Theresia. The leading lady of the renowned Bandung Explorer Team can therefore rest on her laurels and enjoy her second participation in CM50 Ultra supporting her friends. Ironically, exactly one year ago, Ruth lost her chance to become ATM champion in this same race after a great battle with Kim Matthews. While Ruth has emphasised not to look for her at the front of this weekend’s race, another finish would mean her 16th Grandmaster race finish! At the end of 2018, she is the only runner who is a 3-Star Grandmaster!

Who can we expect to compete for the race victory in Clark? Plenty of good local athletes on the start list, such as Aggy Sabanal, Melanie Hingpit, Ann Pulanco and Khaterina Visperas. Sabanal, who is also scheduled to run in Japan in 2 weeks, will be eyeing the first runner-up position in the ATM Championship behind Theresia. In addition, there is the in-form Malaysian Jassica Lintanga. The Sabahan runner will aim to score another podium - and who knows a first ever ATM points race win - and in so doing cement a top five ranking in the 2018 ATM Championship.

The men’s race in Clark will see Manolito Divina in action for the second time this season after his comeback on the ATM tour in Plataran X Trail Bali. He will be competing against tough guys like Spaniard Ander Iza Rekakoetxea, and other Filipino top runners such as Jared Teves, Joeffrey Camara, Ray Cabanig, Arnold Lozano, Aleksis Capili, Kyle Antolin and Felmer Hiponia. In the context of the ATM Championship, eyes will be cast on Japan’s Tomohiro Mizukoshi first and foremost. He is ranked second behind Sherpa, and still has potential to challenge leader Alessandro Sherpa on points by improving on his ‘worst’ results of the season. Mizukoshi is currently 210 points behind, but a win in CM50 could reduce that gap to 110. And in 2 weeks there is his home race, Izu Trail Journey, where last year he ran very well, too. More runners to watch out for in Philippines are Sungsik Joh and Kristian Joergensen, the Manila-based Dane, who ran a fantastic Borneo TMBT early September. A Joergensen in that kind of form will be a serious contender for the race victory in Clark as well.

While Mizukoshi will be trying to catch up with Sherpa, the Italian himself will do his utmost to further increase the gap in the new Trail Blazer race in Singapore. Previously Sherpa had announced an end to his season to allow his injuries to heal properly, but he clearly feels his points margin is not wide enough to sit back and relax. Attack is always the best defence, as they say in sports. The name of the Singapore race is not a coincidence: the 25 km will be very fast for a trail race, of course aided by the fact that the nation state does not have any serious elevation gain to speak of. Sherpa has a great running speed, but how much will his knee and ankle hamper him? In addition, Spain’s Salva Rambla will be giving him a run for his money, too. Rambla himself is not entirely out of the Championship neither, especially should he win this Sundays’s Trail Blazer. Furthermore, in an atypical and non-technical trail race like this one we can expect several road runners to appear who may upset the normal order of things. In any case, while Ruth Theresia can prepare for a big celebration party on Sunday, Sherpa is unlikely to find himself in that situation already.

Dawn at CM50 is always something magical

Melanie Hingpit couldn't hide her joy for scoring a third place on the podium!

While Brunei's Sefli Ahar hauled himself alongside Steven Ong in the ATM championship ranking last Sunday, Melbourne's Kim Matthews defeated Ruth Theresia from Indonesia to jump to number 1 in the female ATM championship ranking with just 3 races left to go. That's in a nutshell what this year's Clark-Miyamit Falls Ultra delivered. But the Philippines' SuperTrail always has a lot more stories. It is an out-and-back course, which in today's trail world often seems conservative and old-fashioned, but every year again runners are devastated by the difficulty of the 50 miles course. No wonder there were so many delightful scenes at the finish! 

The drama began already before the start as ATM champion and triple winner of CM50, Manolito Divina, announced he was suffering from serious toothache. According to insiders, he was even considering pulling out from the race. He did not, and as always, ran for what he was worth. However, once more this season, someone else matched his pace...and eventually beat it also. Sefli Ahar from Brunei stayed with the Filipino champion at nighttime until he " could not wait anymore ", as he said afterwards. Sefli has matured quickly in the trail running world, coming from a successful track & field and road marathon world. His trail inexperience still cost him the victory at Penang Eco 100K last May, but now he really has got his act together. A winner in Merapoh Trail last August, three weeks ago at Bromo Tengger Semeru Ultra and now CM50. Together with his home race, Beach Bunch Trail Challenge, that's 4 wins in the bag and another race - Izu Trail - coming up. Sefli has 2100 ATM points and is a joint fifth in the championship with Malaysia's Steven Ong. The important thing here is that both these top runners only have 4 results so far, while championship leader Arief Wismoyono (2475) and Manolito Divina (2450) already have five. The rules of the ATM championship say "the best five results count", which implies for the likes of Arief, Manolito and also Isaac Yuen Wan Ho, it is now about eliminating their worst result of the season with a better one, while Steven and Sefli can still get a full whack. 525 for winning UT Panoramic, 550 for winning Izu. 

Steven and Sefli are both, of course, racing still this season. Ong will be in Thailand for UT Panoramic 100 miles, and Sefli is going to the Japan SuperTrail Izu Trail Journey on the same weekend. The men's championship is going to be a thriller! It's not just about these two, both Manolito and Arief are also in the mix for obvious reasons. To finish first, you first need to finish. And Arief is in the lead now. The 2015 champion from Indonesia is undecided whether to run or not run in Thailand still, as he is struggling with a shin splint injury sustained after BTS Ultra. Manolito, the defending champion, is not giving up neither and has announced his intention to challenge Steven on the 100 miles at UT Panoramic! 

Indonesia vs Malaysia vs Brunei vs Philippines: stay tuned for the outcome on 10 December! 

CM50 is every year a surprisingly tough race for all competitors

While the men's championship is anyone's guess at the moment, Kim Matthews has the women's title within reach as she stayed ahead of Ruth Theresia at CM50. The pair was never more than five minutes apart during the race until Ruth fell quite hard in a descent and lost momentum afterwards. Kim did not suffer from the heat as much as in a few other races this time, and was able to push on straight to the finish. In fact, she looked stronger and fresher at the finish than ever before this season! The Vietnam-based Australian scored her fifth win of the season and jumps ahead of defending ATM champion Tahira Najmunisaa in the ranking. Matthews totals 2635 against Tahira's 2600. Ruth remains third with 2575. 

The ambitions of the Malaysian superstar are currently the subject of big debate. The truth is: Tahira holds the key to the women's 2017 ATM championship. But she needs to race - Thailand now as the only option - and face Kim Matthews in a straight dual if she wished to defend her title. The coming days will bring more clarity! 

The CM50 race in Clark saw two great third place finishers as well. Kristian Joergensen proved to be in excellent shape and was the only runner able to keep pace with Sefli and Manolito last weekend! Behind him was a big void to fourth place, but Joseph Gentileo showed talent in beating Spain's Pablo Diago Gonzales, who had "not his best day" in Clark. Pablo had championship ambitions still before the start, but unfortunately for the triple race winner this season it will be a place of honour at the end. Pablo is one of those runners who can still cause an upset in Izu Trail Journey, though, and steal points away from others.... 

Also in the women's CM50 race, third place was perhaps less expected. Melanie Hingpit got it, and not even far behind Ruth Theresia. A new name on the women's scene! 

For post-race interviews and videos of the protagonists' arrivals, please see our facebook page!

Kim Matthews and Ruth Theresia: a great competition but all respect afterwards

Sefli Ahar was an emotional winner of the CM50 this year

The Philippines SuperTrail race in Clark is once again the scene for a crucial battle in the Asia Trail Master Championship, albeit not the final battle for sure. In both the men's and women's race, ATM title pretenders are facing each other with the current points leaders absent. Both Arief Wismoyono and Tahira Najmunisaa Muhammad Zaid have decided to sit this one out and see what happens with Manolito Divina, Sefli Ahar, Pablo Diago Gonzales, Kim Matthews, Ruth Theresia and several others this weekend. CM50 Ultra is one the Philippines' classic races, and in case you wonder, it is 50 miles and not 50k. 

Both the male and female ATM championship is tight this year, and several runners still have a chance to become champion. Contrary to last year, home favourite Manolito Divina is under quite a bit of pressure. As a triple winner of this race, he has home advantage and is for sure the one-to-beat, but is he as fast as last year? In the past two months, Divina had to settle for two second places (Vietnam Mountain Marathon and Ultra Trail Mapawa) when he was expected to win. It cost him 100 points for the ATM championship, which has made him more vulnerable and has allowed other top runners to dream about the title themselves. On paper the fastest challenger for Tolitz tomorrow is Brunei's Sefli Ahar, unbeaten in 4 ATM races if we exclude the unfortunate DNF at Penang Eco this year. Recently, Ahar broke the 102k course record at BTS Ultra and if anyone can follow the sheer running speed of Divina it is him. Ahar himself wants to become ATM champion and quite simply must score a big result, as he only has 3 results in the books so far. Other contenders for at least a podium this weekend are Pablo Diago Gonzales - let's not forget he won 3 ATM races this year -, Kristian Joergensen, James Tellias and Rexell Aguirre. Especially if it were to rain, keep an eye out for the technically skilled Gonzales. 

The three leading women of the ATM championship are only 25 points apart in the ranking, and the numbers 2 and 3 are ready to jump ahead of Tahira Najmunisaa this weekend. Both Kim Matthews and Ruth Theresia have taken the battle to Tahira all season, at least in terms of points. The Australian and the Indonesian will be running together for the first time at CM50, and it is anyone's guess who will come out on top. Both are multiple race winners this season. CM50 being a SuperTrail, the winner will collect 550 points and that is enough to jump marginally ahead of the Malaysian 2016 champion, whose future in ultra is the subject of much debate these days, in fact. Local runners who can be expected to fight for the podium are Maria Luisa Prado and Diorella de la Cruz Cerujano.

As usual, we will be reporting live from the action at CM50 Ultra throughout the night and day via our social media channels. 

The two leading contenders for the women's race and the ATM Championship

Can Philippines-based Kristian Joergensen cause an upset this weekend?

The CM 50 Ultra starts at night, which allows for fantastic vistas at dawn

The registration for the penultimate SuperTrail of the 2017 Asia Trail Master Championship is ending soon. Everyone who wishes to do the Clark-Miyamit Falls Ultra 50 miles in Clark, Philippines, on 26 November should submit his details online by 15 October.  

The event is a classic on the Philipines' race calendar and over the years has seen only the best of winners. Last year it was the scene of a great battle between Manolito Divina and Jan Nilsen for the men's Asia Trail Master Championship. This year promises no less. 

Registration is possible via this website link. 

More info on CM 50 Ultra via: