The second Hong Kong points race of this year’s ATM season was won by the still reigning men’s champion John Ellis and Ezster Csillag, who finished second overall and first woman. Ultramarathon de Sai Kung in the New Territories had a rather small field of participants on the 58km course, but the quality was there. For Ellis and Csillag it was the ideal form-test before some bigger goals in November and December.

Three weeks ago at the Dark 45 event, Ellis was still struggling quite a bit and had to battle hard to just make it to the podium behind Jeff Campbell and even his Australian T8 buddy David Longo. Last Sunday, however, Ellis looked like he is nearing peak form again as he managed to push till the finish and drop Longo by a margin of 47 minutes no less. Longo himself did not have the best of days, came second, but behind Ezster Csillag, who has just returned back to Hong Kong from her home country Hungary. As an ATM Champion, John Ellis has now got two ATM race finishes under his belt this year, which means he receives a wild card already to defend his title on Mount Apo in December. Ezster Csillag is hoping to secure her spot on Team Asia Expat in one of the coming ATM races, while David Longo is as good as safe to get his place in Team Australia.

The run for third place on the men’s podium was contested between Samuel Lee, Bogdan Onyschenko and Arnaud Courtin. It was decided in Lee’s favour. Second and third female were Filipino Dolores Sales and Siat Tjhui Djie.

There’s still ATM points races every weekend, except on 12/13 November, giving competitive runners a chance to qualify inside their country’s top four or five and get a spot on the team for the ATM Championship Final on Mount Apo in the Philippines on 17 December.

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Three weeks after Ferei Dark 45 we already have the second ATM points race in Hong Kong on Sunday. Ultramarathon de Sai Kung by XTE Events has been on our calendar since the early part of the season, and although the 100 km has had to be scrapped due to the ongoing covid restrictions in the city, the 58 km is the longest real race in Hong Kong in quite some time. The field of participants is not big for this one, but there’s a couple of international stars scheduled to race and collect relevant ATM Championship points in the persons of a.o. John Ellis, David Longo and last-but-not-least Eszter Csillag. The latter has just returned to Hong Kong from her native Hungary in Eastern Europe, following motherhood and a sensational 5th place in UTMB last summer. Csillag has competed on our ATM tour before, winning the 2019 edition of the 100k at Magnificent Merapoh Trail in Malaysia. For the remainder of 2022, supported by T8, she aims to go for the ATM Championship title in December. Qualifying for Team Asia Expat requires ATM points, and UM de Sai Kung looks like the perfect race to open her account.

Reigning ATM Champion John Ellis will be hoping to score better than his 3rd place at Dark 45 this weekend, but in any case will be happy to know that a race finish means automatic qualification for the ATM Championship title race in Philippines on 17 December. Past ATM Champions get a wild card as soon as they have finished two ATM points races in 2022.

It will be very interesting to watch if Ellis can keep up with his fellow-Australian David Longo, who was a very strong 2nd three weeks ago. Longo clearly made a leap forward in competitiveness during the covid years, the question is whether that can result in a first ever ATM race victory.

We will be following the race via our usual channels this Sunday.

David Longo was a strong 2nd in Dark 45 three weeks ago, can he score his first ATM race win this Sunday?

Hong Kong runners can look forward to two ATM points races this month as Ultramarathon de Sai Kung has now officially received a permit to be held on the scheduled date of 22 October. This implies that all HK - based runners at least can score 2 race finishes, a first prerequisite to be eligible for participation in the ATM Championship Final in Davao, Philippines, on 17 December.

This coming Sunday, Ferei Dark 45 will be the first Asia Trail Master points race in Hong Kong in nearly 3,5 years following a period of civil unrest and covid. The 45km race will be previewed tomorrow and will be covered via our usual channels as well starting before midnight on Saturday night. XTE Events has now also secured the permit for its other event in the New Territories, UM de Sai Kung, albeit only for the 50k race. Anything longer than 50k is currently still not possible in Hong Kong.

T8 has produced these gems, the Team Hong Kong national country team tee for the ATM Final qualifiers

The 5 male and 5 female runners who score most ATM points will receive an invitation to join the team

We are happy to announce a new entry in Hong Kong on our 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship calendar: Ultramarathon de Sai Kung on the weekend of 22/23 October. Organised by the experienced team of XTE events, which also has HK 168 in its portfolio, the second edition of UM de Sai Kung features two race distance categories that both offer points for the ATM Championship rankings. Runners can choose between 105 km with 5200 hm, or 53 km with 2900 hm.

Hong Kong has had a rough battle with covid-19, as everyone knows, and the situation remains highly sensitive today. It is a good sign, however, that trail events are formally returning to the calendar. Vaccination certificates and a negative PCR test result are still a must-have, and other measures and restrictions to prevent spreading the virus are logically mentioned on the UM de Sai Kung website. Only time will tell if these will all still be strictly necessary come mid-October. Together with Lantau 70, scheduled one weekend later on 29 October, Hong Kong-based runners at least now have two local races to score points and qualify themselves for the ATM Championship Final on 17 December.

Ultramarathon de Sai Kung, takes place on the eastern side of Hong Kong, the so-called backyard of Hong Kong. With 75% of the course on trails and covering two country parks - Ma On Shan and Sai Kung Country Parks, it covers some of the most beautiful scenery in Hong Kong, including unspoilt beaches, remote villages, nature trails, reservoirs, undulating and steep hills. The course maps and details are added below.

The 2019 edition of the 105km race was won by Thomas Robertshaw in the men’s and Lora Chau Ying Wong in the women’s. The half distance saw Ngan Li victorious ahead of early years’ ATM protagonist Isaac Yuen Wan Ho and Wing Yan Lau in the women’s.

All details and registration for the UM de Sai Kung can be found on the official website below.