As in BUTM 100 early March, the Sabah runners Gustin Tiam and Rejlen James were fastest in the 100k long ultra of Silabur Cave Trail in Kampung Bedang, just under two hours drive east of Kuching near the Kalimantan border. After being ahead early on, good old Gustin tolerated the company of Hijazi Rija and Haziq Asyraf until the dying moments of the race. That’s 1000 ATM points in the bag out of two races, Gustin is on the way to qualification for Team Malaysia in the ATM Championship Final by the looks of it! The same goes for Rejlen James, who had to dig a little deeper to score the win last weekend, even though she also looked very composed and in control of proceedings. Still, Hong Kong’s Rachel Chan, ATM Finalist last year and 7th in the Siksorogo Lawu race, proved to be in great shape and was challenging James. Rachel loved the runable terrain in the hot weather and was even leading after the first third of the race. When the trails turned more technical and muddy, James felt more at ease and took command. Rachel did well to keep second place, ahead of Adelinah Lintanga, who at some point seemed to be closing in - as she did in BUTM in March, too. However, stomach cramps stopped Lintanga’s hunt. In fourth and not far behind was local hero Celeste Teo in what was a very spirited effort from her. Siriporn Leumathong overtook India’s Ashwini Bhat in the last 10k for fifth place.

Very high temperatures characterised the first day of the 100k race, before rainshowers gave the 126 participating runners a welcome relief on Saturday evening and night. The downside was, of course, that the trails also became much muddier and therefore more slippery. Experienced trail runners suddenly also had to cope with unexpected blisters.

Temperatures were a lot cooler on Sunday morning for the 50k and the shorter distances. Jeffery Budin, returning from a competition break, felt great and immediately set the pace with his teammate Mohd Sulhan. The duo would create a big gap towards the rest with Singapore-based Richard Hall Jr in third place. Budin’s pace was too high for Sulhan, and so he scored his 2nd ATM race victory after UTOP 100 in 2022. What a good rest can do with some runners!

The women’s 50k was exciting to follow with a number of runners genuinely contesting the win and the podium places. Singapore’s Dening Lo went ahead with youngster Shamiera Auther, until the latter had a slip that caused a small gap between them. Deeper into the race, just when Dening Lo had thought she had the victory in the bag, Auther reappeared. Still, the Singaporean proved too quick and took her first ATM race win. Behind Auther, there was a nice battle between Lolita Lintanga and Kona Liau, but at the end it was Singapore’s Joy Sim who had the last laugh and the fastest dash to the finish. Sim was delighted with her first ATM race podium, the just as young Lolita Lintanga had to settle for her second fourth place in a row.

Gustin Tiam collected his 2nd ATM race win of the season!

Rejlen James and Borneo : it seems an unbeatable combination the past two seasons

Rachel Chan gave Rejlen James a run for her money, and can be satisfied with a strong second place

Unexpectedly impressive: Jeffery Budin takes his 2nd ATM race win after a 6-months break from competition

Singapore’s Dening Lo took her first race win in the ATM Championship series

Joy Sim was a delighted third on the 50k podium!

The second Malaysian ATM points race event of the season takes place in Sarawak, Borneo, this weekend and this for the first time in our series’ history. Silabur Ultra Trail , aka Cave Trail, takes place at Kampung Batu Bedang, approx 1,5 hours drive from Kuching and near the border with Indonesia’s Kalimantan. On the programme are both a 100k long ultra and a 50k medium distance race featuring a number of caves that Sarawak is known for in adventurous travel communities. For once, the list of participants for the 100k is longer and in both the male and female categories we see the top duo of BUTM 100 in early March. Gustin Tiam, Mohd Sulhan, Rejlen James and Adelinah Lintanga will again face off this weekend with start at 10am on Saturday. There’s less elevation gain compared to BUTM, and with several other podium and victory candidates this could turn into an exciting and tight competition.

It’s only been a couple of years that Sarawak is claiming its stake on the Malaysian trail running map. Contrary to its northern neighbours Sabah and even Brunei, events and runners were few and far between. Sally Yap, ‘Alpha’ Siet Fah Lim, Celeste Teo and others have changed that, encouraging event promoters and organisers to build proper trail events, too. Alpha Sports is among those with several events in its portfolio. Silabur was a a Candidate Race last year, and in this season’s “Borneo Year” has been offered a spot on the ATM Championship calendar. The caves around Batu Bedang have attracted quite an internation field with several runners from, a.o. Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong and even India.

Good ol’ Gustin Tiam and up-and-comer Mohd Sulhan may be the men’s favourites on the 100km, but there’s quite a few others who can challenge for a podium result - or more. Wont Kudin, for instance, has already banked a great 4th place in BUTM this season. Phua Cho Ka and Kenneth Mun Keat Yow are two others. In the women’s 100km, it’s all eyes on Rejlen James and the once again in-form Adelinah Lintanga. But Celeste Teo may be very motivated on home soil. Mailin Salungin is another strong and experienced trail runner, who recently won the BDUTM Candidate Race in Brunei. Rachel Pui Hung Chan from Hong Kong was 7th in last year’s ATM Final and 3rd in MMTF 100, ahead of Celeste Teo and Rejlen James - the latter having had an off-day, admittedly. India’s Ashwini Ganapathi from Bengaluru is known as a long ultra specialist, having been part of her country’s team in the Asia-Pacific 24h championships (she ran 181 km!). She was also the only female finisher in the Everest Extreme Ultra in 2022. It will be interesting to see how she fares against Rejlen James and co on the trails in Sarawak.

The 50k for men seems wide open and we are bound to discover some new names this weekend. On the female side, the Lintanga sisters Jessica and Lolita could both eye the highest prize. Both are in good form, as shown already at BUTM with a fourth and fifth place respectively. Singapore’s Dening Lo was a surprising third in Bali Ultra last year and may be their main competitor for the win, along with Kona Liau - second in BUTM 50k and so ahead of the Lintangas in that race. Joy Sim, originally from Sarawak, is still a rather young trail talent who could pull a surprise, too.

ATM will be reporting live from the Silabur event all day on Saturday (100km) and Sunday (50km) on the usual channels.

Adelinah Lintanga has returned to her best level, as shown with a great second place in BUTM 100 in March

Gustin Tiam finally won his ATM race at BUTM 100 in March

Mohd Sulhan is an upcoming trail talent who already was a great 2nd at BUTM 100.

Celeste Teo is from Sarawak and always a podium candidate on the long ultras

Traditionally, most of the Malaysian trail events take place in the second half of the year but we have a great teaser on 19 March already, with the SIlabur Ultra Trail in Sarawak, a new ATM Candidate Race. Organised by Alpha Sports Events and hosted by Kampung Lobang Batu Tebedu, Silabur offers four different race categories of which 60km is the longest. Key feature of the event are the impressive cave complexes, such as the magnificent Silabur Cave aka Jade Cave.

Nature lovers and adventure seekers have long traveled to Sarawak in East Malaysia, Borneo Island, to explore the many caves the state has to offer. The Jade Cave is located roughly 100km away from Kuching - your gateway by air. The 60k race may have modest elevation gain of 1400 hm, but do not be fooled - there’s technical single trail sections with thick jungle included. Accommodation is via hotel or local homestay and arrangements can be made from Kuching to the race venue as well.

Registration is open. Follow the event’s facebook page linked below to stay up-to-date with the latest developments.

There have been plenty of ATM Candidate Races this year, and also in the early months of next season we already have a few nice events lined up. Silabur Ultra Trail is another new event in Sarawak on Malaysian Borneo on 19 March 2023. It proves that many event organisers wish to be part of our Asia Trail Master Championship calendar in the near future, and that event organisation and management is bound to improve even further as spots-per-country on our main calendar are limited and will not increase in number.

Silabur Ultra Trail will take place at Bidayuh Kampung Lubang Batu, Tebakang, roughly 40km from Serian town & 100km from Kuching, the main city with international airport connections. The trail courses cover natural mountain trail & the magnificent Silabur Cave aka Jade Cave. The longest race distance is measured at 60 km with race start at 3 am, but less ambitious runners can also opt for 30km, 15k mand 8km.

Highlight of the event is of course the Silabur Cave, which is a truly impressive sight and the main tourism attraction. It’s a limstone cave with huge vertical cliffs and a jade colour scheme. Accommodation is in homestays as the nearest bigger town or city is Kuching, 100km away. In fact, Silabur is not so far from the border with Indonesia’s Kalimantan.

Test

 

The first ATM Candidate Race in Sarawak on the Malaysian side of Borneo delivered a great classic dual between Hisashi Kitamura and Milton Amat. On paper, the Jagoi Heritage Trail Run of 50km and 1250 hm looked ideal for the Japanese to assert his characteristics as a runner, but Sabah’s Milton Amat turned out not have any issues at all with the set pace and almost made his victory look easy by outgunning Kitamura in the final technical descent to the finish line. A significant psychological victory for Amat, or should we say ‘blow’ for Kitamura, in light of the upcoming Borneo TMBT Ultra 100 - one of the highlights of the ATM Championship season, and a race Kitamura has targettedr to win after a narrow defeat by the same Milton Amat in 2019.

The Jagoi 50k race was not a first edition, but the first time the competitive field was robust. The local organisers and local village community were also delighted to see some of ATM’s top stars taking part in their race - even though no points were up for grabs as it was a candidate race. It rained heavily the afternoon and evening before the race, which turned some of the trail sections muddy and more technical than previously anticipated. Ireland’s Malachy Kirwan - still relatively new at trail running - was struggling with the conditions and in the end had no answer to the pace set by Kitamura from the start. The Karate Kit was quick out of the blocks and tried to put pressure on Milton Amat straightaway. However, the Sabahan remained visibly relaxed and had no issue letting his classic trail rival go in front by 20-30 seconds. For about 20km they were joined by a third runner, in fact. Mark Steacy, also from Ireland and residing in Kuching, was the surprise of the day. Eventually Steacy had to slow down a bit, and saw Wilsen Singgin still catching him and overtaking him in that final descent for third place. Nevertheless, a great new name who will also compete at TMBT 100. Up front, Kitamura felt it coming at the last aid station before going up the longest and toughest hillclimb. Amat was still right on his tail (see video on facebook). Amat took over towards the summit and used his technical downhill superiority to win the race.

The women’s race was dominated by local hero Sally Yap and Sabah’s Mailin Salungin. Both runners stayed side-by-side all race and decided not to sprint it out for the overall win (both won their respective age groups). Afterwards, Salungin was all praise for the youngster Sally Yap, who is one of the new names in Malaysia post-covid. After winning BUTM 100, she will also try to score TMBT 100 in three weeks’ time, and in so doing secure her spot for Team Malaysia at the ATM Championship Final in Philippines on 17 December. An impressive third place in Jagoi went to Grandmaster Siokhar Lim, who was coming very close to the lead duo on the final hillclimb. 50k and 1250 hm are peanuts numbers for Siokhar, who typically excels in the long and tough mountains ultras, but yesterday she showed her general running pace has increased, too. Celeste Teo, third at MMTF 2021, also looked solid in taking fourth place yesterday.

You can replay the race of the leaders via our ATM DTA platform here: (laptop/desktop required)

On our Facebook page, you can find several videos and photos of the race, too.

There have been quite a few ATM Candidates in Malaysia already this season and this Sunday we have the next one, but it’s a rather unique one. The T8 Jagoi Heritage Run is the first trail event with an ATM logo in Sarawak. Originally scheduled for 2020, finally this event can take place roughly one hour south of Kuching. Jagoi features a 50k main race that has attracted some very strong runners from the region. Hisashi Kitamura and Milton Amat, for example, are set to race each other in what could be a great teaser for the big Borneo TMBT 100 clash in three weeks from now. Yet, Jagoi is only half that distance, and seemingly more runable than TMBT with just 1250 hm. Kitamura may thus have an advantage on paper this weekend, but for both ATM stars it is likely to be just a psychological game this weekend. And when two dogs fight for one bone, a third may run away with it. WIlsen Singgin is also at the starting line on Sunday, and also Singapore-based Irishman Malachy Kirwan. For ultra distance specialist Singgin the Jagoi 50 might be a bit too short to assert himself, but for Kirwan this distance and elevation chart looks ideal. Coming from road running, Kirwan suffered a knock of the hammer at the BTR Challenge in Bali to finish fourth, but he will have learnt from that experience and might as well put his name firmly in trail runners’ minds this weekend.

Also the women’s 50k will be an interesting one to follow. Home runner Sally Yap is present, and so are Mailin Salungin, Siokhar Lim, Laslin Sarawi and Celeste Teo - to name a few.

ATM will be covering the race live from Sarawak on our usual channels, and also via our live tracking platform.

Home favourite Sally Yap, number 1 in ATM Malaysia Ranking, will be keen to deliver a good run this Sunday

We are happy to announce our first ever Candidate Race in Sarawak, the Malaysian state to the south of Sabah and Brunei on the island of Borneo. Jagoi Heritage Trail Run is an ambitious project to the benefit of the Bidayuh ethnic group and its 3rd edition is scheduled for 4 October 2020 in Balai Kampung Duyoh.

Organised by Grit Event Management, Jagoi Heritage Trail Run will feature three race distance categories of which the 50km is the main event. Those who prefer shorter can opt for the 20km and 6km races. This is an ancient rainforest trail, but still with elevation gain of nearly 1300 hm for the 50km. This elevation comes very much at the end of the race with the ascent of Bung or Mount Jagoi.

Jagoi Heritage Trail Run takes  place on the Bidayuh ancestral ground of Jagoi located in Bau and is 50km away from the state capital of Sarawak, Kuching. That is also the international gateway. The lead objective of the event is encouraging the local residents to embrace ecotourism as another source of income. Bidayuh is a collective name for several indigenous groups of people living in the southern part of Sarawak. The name “Bidayuh” means “people of the land”. They are the second most numerous group of Dayak tribe after the Iban, and they also have their own language (see YouTube clip below).

For more details on this 2021 ATM Candidate Race, please check the website and join the event’s facebook page.

Those runners with more time on their hands could explore the Jagoi Heritage Trail Run as final preparation for the Malaysian points race in ATM, Ultimate Trails of Penang, the following week.