John Ray Onifa is unstoppable in the second half of this season! The Filipino stormed to his fifth ATM race victory of 2023 in Hong Kong’s Dark 45 in a time of 4h41! This follows a hard-fought 50k win over Kristian Joergensen in VMM just a week ago. Second place in Dark 45 - like last year - went to David Longo in 5h20, seven minutes faster than Wai Hung Wong. A performance that confirms the competitive step forward made by Longo last year, Australian but living in Hong Kong for a long time after a university spell in Central Java no less.

Ryan Whelan had to settle for fourth in 5h41, Jose Luis Alvelais was seventh. The latter is already guaranteed of a spot on Team Hong Kong for the ATM Championship Finals in Indonesia on 2 December. Interesting to note was that 2019 ATM Champion John Ellis returned from a long injury break with a 30th place finish - and finishing was the only goal.

The women’s 45 km race was won by Kit Chun Wong in a great 5h54. That was 25 minutes faster than Angie Yan. Hoi Yan Ng completed the female podium. Last week’s great VMM 100 winner Man Yee Cheung was fourth, not yet fully recovered from that tough Vietnamese race.

The second edition of Dark 45 was efficiently set up by The Peak Hunter, a young event management team, with great success. This is definitely an event-to-stay at the start of Hong Kong’s trail running season!

Photos are courtesy of Lam Sport Photos, Hong Kong

Kit Chun Wong was a great female winner , her first on the ATM circuit

Five ATM races in 2023: five wins. The top favourite for this year’s ATM title ? John Ray Onifa!

David Longo does not run a lot of races, but when he does, he is in the mix for podium these months!

Jose Luis Alvelais assured himself of a spot on Team Hong Kong for the ATM Championship Final

At midnight, Saturday to Sunday, Dark 45 takes place on the famous Maclehose Trail in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It’s the second HK points race in the 2023 Asia Trail Master Championship series after Lantau 70 in March. Last year, this event signalled the return to trail racing after the covid pandemic, but in 2023 the event is under a new management: The Peak Hunter. That’s the team led by the famous Wong Ho Chun. Many of Hong Kong’s trail stars are signed up, including former ATM Champion John Ellis, who is making a bit of a come back after a long period of injury. Still, Ellis is not hopeful of a top result this weekend, indicating that the road - or trail - to real competitiveness will be long.

In the absence of Jeff Campbell, the man-to-beat will be John Ray Onifa. The Filipino is back at his best level, recently, and only his enthusiasm may propel him to yet another race victory - just a week after winning VMM 50 against Kristian Joergensen. His main challengers are expected to be Ryan Whelan, first and foremost, and also David Longo, Jose Luis Alvelais and Stone Kit Chan.

The women’s race seems more open, but has a lot of contenders for the win. Flora Wing Yee Chin, Angie Yan can dream of it for sure. Man Yee Cheung may be the biggest name on the start list, but she did run and win a tough VMM 100 just a week ago.

One of the great newcomers on the ATM scene last year was Dark 45 in Hong Kong’s New Territories. A nighttime race on the famous Maclehose Trail between Shui Long Wo and Tsuen Kam Au Rotary Park, one of the most popular sections of that long trail. A year ago it was the first bigger event in Hong Kong that was permitted to take place following the covid period. Now it will be organised by a new team, however. The Peak Hunter is a local trail community and charity foundation founded by Hong Kong trail ace Wong Ho Chun, and also including rising trail star AND cancer survivor Angie Yan. Rendez-vous at midnight on Sunday, 1 October.

For Hong Kong trail runners, Dark 45 is the second ATM points race of the 2023 season after Lantau 70 in March. No 9 Dragons yet this season, so for Hong Kongers these two are the only options to score points at home and get potentially qualified for the ATM Championship Final in Indonesia on 2/3 December (minimum two Top 25 race finishes). For non-Hong Kongers, this is a 45k with quite a bit of spice in it as the 2800 hm of elevation gain indicates.

Jeff Campbell was the fastest runner in Dark 45 last season. It was a race that saw the emergence of David Longo as a serious podium contender in any race, and also the renaissance of injury-plagued and then-still reigning ATM Champion John Ellis. Meg Sterling took the women’s victory after a nice battle with Natalie Webster.

Details can be consulted via the Peak Hunter’s Instagram and facebook pages. Registration opens shortly.

The covid crisis clearly has not had much impact on the running velocity of Jeff Campbell. At last Sunday’s Ferei Dark 45 event on Hong Kong’s Maclehose Trail in the New Territories, Campbell dominated proceedings from start to finish and scored his fourth ATM points race victory in 5h05’. It was the first ATM points race in Hong Kong since The 9 Dragons in February 2019. The Canadian-born was of course quite familiar with the trails, but the fact it was a night race brought an element of uncertainty. In the end, it did not matter. Australian T8 manager David Longo was a very solid second, half an hour behind Campbell, but 23 minutes ahead of his company’s co-founder and reigning ATM Champion John Ellis. Ellis struggled in the early parts of the race with breathing issues on a very hot and humid night in Hong Kong. Never to be underestimated, however, Ellis fought back once again and managed to score the podium by overtaking Dennis Theodosis and Roy Chun Wa Tong in the dying moments of the race that finished in Tsuen Kam Au after more than 3000 metres of elevation gain.

The women’s race was actually more exciting to follow with lots of changing positions at the front. Natalie Webster looked like she could win it, yet Meg Sterling narrowly managed to outsprint her towards the end in 7h49. The podium was completed by Ka Yin Tong.

David Longo impressed with an unthreatened second place behind Campbell but ahead of Ellis and co

A difficult start, but still a podium for John Ellis on what is a short distance for his liking

Ferei Dark 45 was the first ATM points race in Hong Kong since early 2019

It’s been three-and-a-half years since the last edition of The 9 Dragons took place, the last ATM points race in Hong Kong. The cosmopolitan city had already been in socio-political turmoil before covid-19 struck , and still today, Hong Kong is struggling to find its feet in an ever-complex world. Once heralded as the heart of Asian trail running, Hong Kong started its season last month oncemore with hardly any trail event properly scheduled. Permits are issued at the very last minute, causing throbbing headaches for event organisers, who try to keep their legacies and their businesses alive. Today, any race above 50 km still has virtually no chance of going ahead. Covid infections remain too big a concern for the authorities. Yet, mandatory quarantine-upon-arrival in Hong Kong has recently been abolished. That means residents can now travel abroad again without too much hassle upon return. The door is open.

Local organisers make do with what they are permitted to. XTE Events is one of the city’s long-standing companies and is happy to announce two of their events going ahead this month. Starting with Ferei Dark 45 this Sunday, start at midnight. A 45k race on the Maclehose Trail that will see the return-in-action of John Ellis, still the reigning Asia Trail Master Champion. Ellis had zero incentive to try and defend his ATM title in 2020, but now we are two years further down the line and his hunger is very much back. This weekend’s 45k race is normally too short and too fast for him, but the Australian sounds keen to give his best and get his ATM campaign in gear. As a former ATM champion, Ellis only needs to score two ATM race finishes to get a wild card for the ATM Championship Final in December. For the Ellis of 2019, the Mount Apo Sky Race 75k is not an impossible task, especially given that race tactics will likely play a significant role there. To underline his ambition to try and renew his ATM title, Ellis has already booked a plane ticket to Davao himself..

At Ferei Dark 45 this Sunday early morning, Ellis will not rank as the top favourite to win the race. Amongst others, there are Jeff Campbell and Ryan Whelan on the start list. Campbell is as keen as Ellis to deliver a great showing in ATM this season. A former double winner of Tahura Trail in Indonesia and also Sungai Menyala in Malaysia, Campbell is moving up to 70k in a fortnight when he is scheduled to race in Vietnam. Similar to Singapore-based Belgian Vanja Cnops in the women’s competition, Campbell has been almost unbeatable over 30-50k race distances. But his competitive performance going beyond that distance is less certain. If he qualifies for the ATM FInal as part of Team Asia Expat, the speedster is likely going to be the first male runner reaching the foot of Mount Apo.

But this weekend, he has Ryan Whelan to worry about first. Whelan has been the coming-man for a few years, the covid pandemic not helping him. He won UTKC 70k in Thailand in February 2020, which could later turn out to be a milestone in his progress as a competitive trail runner. Whelan was fast during our 7 Missions virtual event in January 2021 and we are all looking forward to seeing his performance this weekend.

Given it’s been well over three years, we are bound to discover some new Hong Kong names appearing this month as well. Ferei Dark 45 and Ultramarathon de Sai Kung in three weeks on 22 October will be closely followed, indeed.

Jeff Campbell will embark on a rather busy schedule with Dark 45 this weekend and VJM 70 in two weeks

There was uproar just before last weekend’s Borneo TMBT Ultra when rumours came out that XTE Events in Hong Kong had secured a permit for a 45k real trail race on the Maclehose Trail on Sunday, 2 October. Several runners in the plagued city contacted us to please have the race as a last-minute addition to the ATM Championship calendar, as it has virtually been impossible for them to race or even leave the city at all. Today, we are happy to confirm that the 45k night race is ON , and that it will indeed be a points race for the ATM Championship ranking, opening the options for plenty of Hong Kong based runners to be part of this year’s ATM Final in December. We are grateful to Mr Felix Shum and XTE Events to make this possible at such short notice, and we are looking forward to a fantastic night of trail running in just under a fortnight from today!

XTE Events is known in our circuit from its HK 168 Ultra event, which was on our calendar until 2018 and until the new date made that too difficult. Earlier this season, it had already been announced that XTE’s other event - Ultramarathon de Sai Kung - would join ATM on 22 October. That event is also still on, albeit only regarding the 50k race. Hong Kong authorities currently still do no allow any race longer than 50km, so the 100K race in Sai Kung won’t happen. Lantau 70 one week later suffers the same fate. Hence, Ferei Dark 45 is a welcome gift for many runners in Hong Kong. At least, there’s the genuine possibility of 2 ATM race finishes, a prerequisite to be qualified for the Asia Trail Master Championship Final in Philippines on 17 December.

The start venue is Shui Long Wo, and the finish the Tsuen Kam Au Rotary Park. The race will be run on the Maclehose Trail in the New Territories. Race start is Sunday midnight, and there’s a very long cut off time of 15 hours. Stay tuned for more news soon. Registration goes via the official website, which you can access via the link below. Of course, the conditions of entry are still more cumbersome than before. Please be aware of these covid-19 mitigation efforts:

• 1. All runners must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (i.e. receiving THREE doses 14 days before the event day).

• 2. All runners are required to take COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and provide validated negative results within 48 hours before the start of the race.

• 3. All runners must conduct rapid antigen test (RAT) on the event day with their names written on the test device. They need to show the pictures of testing result to the Safety and Hygiene Officers at the start area.

Will we see the long-awaited return of 2019 ATM Champion John Ellis at Ferei Dark 45?

And Veronika Vadovicova, based in Hong Kong since early 2020 when it all started with covid. Will she make a return to the ATM scene?