Fantastic runs last weekend at the Beach Bunch Trail Challenge, the first ever ultra event in Brunei on Borneo Island. Local star Sefli Ahar proved that in his forties he has no issues going beyond standard marathon distance and won the men's 100k in a blistering time of just over 12 hours. Leading from start to finish was also Indonesia's upcoming trail talent Ruth Theresia, who took her second ATM race victory in two weeks after Coast To Coast in Yogyakarta. The 26-year-old from Bandung was clearly not intimidated by the strong women's field in Brunei, including Singapore's Jeri Chua and the Lintanga sisters from Malaysia. Theresia opened up a gap on the initial 9 km road section and never looked back. She finished the 100k in a time of 17:53. It was also her third successive win in an ATM points race, as she won Bromo Tengger Semeru 100k last November as well. Ruth Theresia now has 1000 ATM championship points and moves up to second place in the ranking behind the defending champion Tahira Najmunisaa (photo above), who also claimed another race victory in the Beach Bunch event. One week after the grueling UTKC 100 race in Thailand, the Malaysian star settled for the 50k in Brunei. She won convincingly in 5:41 (third overall!), but had to stay focused as Scotland's Margaret Rait had a great run herself to finish second in 6:14. As the 50k was credited with 400 performance points as well, Tahira boosts her 2017 total to 1500 points. For the ATM championship, the best five results of each runner are taken into account. 

Sefli Ahar: unbeatable on home soil 

Behind Sefli Ahar and Ruth Theresia, the battle for the podium places on the 100k distance was exciting to follow. Hong Kong's Isaac Yuen Wan Ho, local runners Chung Ming and Muhdabdulfarid Hjsufri, and Malaysia's Yim Heng Fatt - fifth in UTKC 70 a week ago - were all in contention. Yuen Wan Ho, in his first ATM points race of the season, had a bit of a scare when he lost the right trail and dropped far back around the km 35 mark. Being an excellent and experienced ultrarunner, he managed to stay calm and gradually ran his way back to Chung Ming, and eventually left him behind for second place in 13:46. The Bruneian Chung Ming settled for a great third place on his 100k debut. Yim Heng Fatt came in fourth and scored more points for the ATM championship, still led by Arief Wismoyono. South Africa's Christo Swart was fifth. 

Jessica Lintanga stayed ahead of her younger sister Adelinah to claim second place roughly two hours behind Ruth Theresia. Youngsters themselves, the sisters from Sabah in Team Malatra continue to improve on the ultra distances. Adelinah even showed very fast legs still in the final hundreds of meters as she sprinted with Bruneian Shazana Nabilah Hj Ayob to the finish to get the final podium spot. Filippino runner Cheryl Bihag took a fine fifth place, ahead of Moana O'Sullivan, Mila Marlina- in her third race weekend in a row - and Melissa Woo. Bihag enters the top 5 of the ATM championship ranking, after finishing 3rd in the Rizal Mountain Run last month as well. Jeri Chua, on of Asia's best-known and celebrated trail running stars, sprained her ankle in a muddy section at night while running in second position with Jessica Lintanga. She wisely decided to avoid risking serious injury and pulled out of the race at km 43. 

The 100k race started in damp conditions after a serious downpour earlier that night. However, as the skies cleared out and the sun came out, the second part of the race was held in hot conditions. 

The men's 50k was dominated by two locals, who had a great fight for the win. Eventually, it was Md Norrisman Ismail who grabbed the race win in 5:05:25. Mohd Nazrul Effendy Bin Ali Hassan Jambul settled for second after leading most of the race in 5:14. Australia's Dave Smith claimed the third place on the podium in 5:45 

Three-in-a-row: Ruth Theresia scored another win, her first outside her home country

Local runner Chung Ming delivered a great performance with 3rd place on the 100k

Nikom was the first male Thai 100k finisher in 4th place

The first SuperTrail race of the 2017 Asia Trail Master championship series took place on Koh Chang Island in Thailand and was by all accounts a great event to remember and look forward to already for next year. Yes, the jungle sections in UTKC are very technical and hard, but the course - modified and more varied than last year - proved appealing for basically all runners at the finish. Every finisher realised he or she had recorded a remarkable achievement, not in the least as temperatures rose to extreme heights of 44 degrees centigrade at noon on Saturday! In addition, the Teelakow organising crew made everyone feel highly welcome and offered outstanding refreshment stations throughout the race topped-off by pre- and post race meals at the event arena. UTKC was publicity for the sport, and even the 100k race proved to be exciting to follow!

In a nice gesture of sportsmanship, Steven Oong and Wataru Iino crossed the finish line hand in hand just before midnight after 15 hours 8 minutes. Iino from Japan, top favourite before the start, had gone off on his own relatively early in the race, but began to suffer from dehydration symptoms as darkness fell and saw the experienced Malaysian Oong return with just over 15 km to go. Keeping safety in mind, Oong decided to stick with Iino, even when he might have had the upper hand. Both were officially hailed as winners of the 100k race. Behind them in third place was Vietnam's Cao Ngoc Ha, who made a name for himself outside his own country. Cao Ngoc Ha was running together with Oong for most of the first 40 km, and never really dropped far back afterwards. He was even fastest in the final sector of 15 km, cementing his third place in the race. Very popular in Vietnam, where a new trail running community is gradually coming of age, Cao Ngoc Ha will return to the Asia Trail Master circuit soon, and could become one to watch this year as his experience grows. 

Steven Oong catches a dehydrated Wataru Iino just before the final checkpoint

Tahira wins again and is undefeated in 7 ATM races

Amazingly, the first woman came home fourth overall! Perhaps it has become less surprising when one knows that woman is defending Asia Trail Master champion Tahira Najmunisaa Muhammad Zaid, who already at Tahura Trail in Indonesia last month proved to be back at her best level. The Malatra ace from Malaysia won her seventh ATM race in a row and regained the lead in the 2017 championship ranking after Lily Suryani briefly surpassed her at Coast To Coast last week. While she admitted to be struggling with the technical jungle trails as well, it seems others had more issues with those than her. Tahira finished the 100km in 16:10, just over an hour down on Oong and Iino. In second place was Australia's Joanna Kruk in 19:57, a fine effort by all means as well. Completing the women's podium was another Malaysian, Siawhua Lim, who had lost time in the early parts of the race after missing a marker. 

The two winners of UTKC 100! 

31 nationalities were present at UTKC and this was illustrated by the top 10 of the 100k, with only 1 local runner from Thailand in fourth place. Nikom Tongjai actually battled hard for his final result, as he was shown down in tenth place halfway through the race. Grandmaster Aleksis Capili is another ultrarunner who never slows down and moves up the leaderboard the longer a race goes. Capili scored yet another fine sixth place, just behind a remarkable runner from the Czech Republic, Jan Suchomel, who completed his 99th (!!!) 100k or more race in six years. On the question which race will have the pleasure of celebrating his 100th, Suchomel did not yet have an answer. Peter Vangeit, a Belgian living in India, was next coming into the finish, followed by the second Pinoy runner Jared Teves, France's Emanuel Abadie - winner of the Merapoh Trail in 2015 - and Philipp Yeo Kian Jong, also Malaysia. 

Top 3 of the 100k , minus female winner Tahira Najmunisaa (she had to catch a flight) 

The 70 km race was of course also a Grandmaster distance, and following the new ATM championship regulations, offered 400 performance points to the winners as well. Again, two runners jointly came in: America's Zack Reimer and Canada's Julian Baker in a splendid time of 9:38:20. They were almost a full hour ahead of number three, Great Britain's Martyn Driscoll. Also on this distance, one woman stood out with a fifth place overall: Kim Matthews from Australia, though living in Thailand nowadays. Matthews finished in 11:02 and has ambition for the Asia Trail Master championship. We look forward already! The women's podium was completed by Thai runner Montha Sontornwit and Japan's Terada Kazue. 

On Facebook later this week we will publish a fine photo album of UTKC, courtesy of Adventure III, and on the same social media page you can find interviews with race winners Wataru and Steven, along with plenty of other video and photo work. 

The first SuperTrail of 2017 is a wrap, and what an event it was! 

The last official finisher of the 100k also had his moment of glory

Bandung Explorer Ace Arief Wismoyono, the 2015 Asia Trail Master champion, is back on top of the standings with a convincing victory in last Sunday's Coast To Coast Night Trail Ultra at Depok Beach in Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. In a very wet and therefore slippery and muddy race, he outpaced a strong Yohanis Hiareij and Belgian Gaspard Dessy. After three races in 2017, Wismoyono has 25 ATM championship points more than Dessy, and definitely looks ready to challenge again for the championship title this year. It was Arief Wismoyono 's fourth career ATM race victory after MRU 2015, MesaStila Peaks Challenge 2015 and Ijen Trailrunning 2016. 

In the women's race, Ruth Theresia once again proved she is one of the up and coming running talents in Indonesia. Theresia finished seventh overall and first woman by a clear margin. The 26-year-old Compressport Athlete collects her first 500 points of the season, and will be back in action in two weeks at the Beach Bunch Trail Challenge in Brunei. Mila Mirlani was a good second in CTC, ahead of Lily Suryani and Grandmaster Ina Budiyarni. Suryani collected another 425 points on top of the 300 scored in Tahura Trail in January, and is therefore the new points leader in the Asia Trail Master ranking for women this year.

The Coast To Coast Night Trail Ultra started at 9 pm and was run mainly at night time. The 70k Grandmaster distance was tougher than expected despite relatively modest elevation gain numbers (2300hm). Several climbs were very steep, and descents inside the rainforest very technical in places. Running pace was affected for most starters, and this led to a high DNF rate. Only 35 participants out of 95 starters on the 70k made it back to Depok Beach inside the cut off limit of 16 hours.

Full results and images are to follow.

One week after his surprise DNF at Tahura Trail in Indonesia, the 2016 Asia Trail Master champion Manolito Divina has bounced back during the Rizal Mountain Run in his native country of Philippines. Divina won the tough 50 km race in just under 6h30 and joins Abdoullah Mitiche at the top of the 2017 ATM championship with 500 points. He beat some prime runners in the process yesterday: last year's winner of this race Kristian Joergensen was able to resist for a while but eventually still lost 17 minutes to the champion. Still, Joergensen himself did a fantastic run, as he was almost an hour ahead of Mark Koi Grey, with whom he battled so fiercely for victory in this race last year! Another great performance was delivered by Thumbie Remigio, who despite significant rib injuries succumbed before the start made it to fourth place today! Kyle Antolin and Ernani Occiano were next up, followed by Malaysia's Abang Jamadi Rosli. 

Diorella Cerujano was fastest woman, seventeen minutes ahead of Patricia Morota and last year's winner Cheryl Bihag. Majo Liao opted not to start this year and instead help out with the race organisation, which received praise from the participants. In particular and to note were the excellent marshals and markings, and the adequate medical staff which made runners feel safe and secure on the sometimes quite technical parts of the race course. 

The men's podium. Credit: D. Salongo dela Cruz

Manolito solo in the lead. Credit: MGM productions

The first race of the new Asia Trail Master championship series took place in Bandung, Indonesia, last weekend and was a worthy opener with two fantastic winners. Abdoullah Mitiche had to work hard on the very muddy and slippery course but repeated his victory from last year, while defending female Asia Trail Master champion Tahira Najmunisaa Muhammad Zaid delivered another superb run to take the women's race convincingly. The fifth edition of the event saw over 1700 participants spread over four race distances, all of whom had to spend time washing their shoes afterwards as heavy rain on Saturday night turned most of the trail course into a mud pool. 

The mud was good for the hardcore trail runners, but less so for the fast "road"runners who use the not-so-technical Tahura Trail to gain experience offroad, or simply because it is such a good event.  Algeria-born COMPRESSPORT athlete Abdoullah Mitiche is primarily a triathlete who does Tahura Trail year after year as it fits his schedule. Mitiche won last year, and was determined to repeat that feat last Sunday, even with established trail heroes such as Asia Trail Master champion Manolito Divina, Arief Wismoyono and Alan Maulana at the starting line. After a fast start, he and Margono - second place last year - opened up a small gap over his main rivals, but then took a wrong turn that put him back behind and on the chase. Divina was going well in his first ever race in Indonesia, until he also lost the right trail. Disaster struck for the Filippino star, as he was unable to find his way back to the right path and eventually was guided to the 21 km race course by a marshal. No ATM points for Divina in his first race this year. In trail running, you never know and bad things also happen to the best. Manolito Divina will aim to bounce back next weekend already at the Rizal Mountain Run. 

Ari Masrudi, a rather unfamiliar name on the trail circuit, was putting the pressure on in the mean time. A road runner first and foremost, Masrudi kept Wismoyono, Margono and the surprisingly quick Gaspard Dessy behind as the leaders entered the final 10k to the finish. However, when Mitiche started his final charge Masrudi had no answer. Given the treacherous conditions, it was amazing to see the winning time of Mitiche being virtually the same as last season: 4:02:16, six seconds ahead of Masrudi and almost five ahead of Dessy. 2015 ATM champion Arief Wismoyono opened his new account with 4th place and Margono settled for fifth. 

In the women's race, Malaysia's leading trail lady Tahira Najmunisaa had no match on the weekend. Taking charge on the first hill climb of the day, she gradually opened up a big gap to the other women and finished in an amazing time of 4:36:11, just 34 minutes slower than Mitiche in the men's! Second place went to Ninie Hauschild, mainly known as a triathlete as well, and third place to last year's Indonesia Trail Master Shindy Patricia. The women's field was also very competitive. 

On our facebook page, you can check pre and post race interviews with some of the protagonists of this year's Tahura Trail in Bandung. Both race winners are of course also the first leaders in the 2017 Asia Trail Master points championship. The next race is already taking place next weekend in the Philippines: the Rizal Mountain Run! 

Jorge Lanante took a big victory in Thailand at UT Panoramic, but in The Punisher 50 miles race on Babak Samal Island, off the coast of Davao, in Philippines it was a Frenchman who ran away with the top hounour. Vincent Durier was too quick for local Mindanao runners Rene Amigleo, Gerardo Platon Jr and Hanover Amigo. Durier finished the race in 14:30:19. That was roughly 2h40 earlier than the others on the podium. On the other hand, in the women's race Manilyn Mamugay pleased the home crowd with her victory in 18:59:48.  

There was also a shorter 50k distance. Edgel Obrero and Elizabeth Ornopia were the two fastest athletes in that one.

The Punisher is another young event that is quickly making a fine name for itself. Not only is it always nice to have a finish on a beach, but the entire race route has a good mix of everything what trail running is about. Lots of runnable terrain, but some technical bits and river crossings gave credit to the event's name. In all, The Punisher is a race for the all-rounder. Runners, including race winner Durier, gave great reviews of their event experience. 

Race winner Vincent Durier from France

The women's champion of the day, Manilyn Mamugay

The start of the race at night with race director Doi Calbes in the middle

The first official edition of Ultra Trail Panoramic in Northwestern Thailand was a success with a finish rate of well over 50% despite the exclusive long distances of 100 miles or 100 km. From a pure performance point of view, it was remarkable to see so many runners from the Philippines taking up many of the top spots. The outstanding winner on the 100 miles is a Filipino as well, Jorge Lanante, who completed the course in 22:52, which was six-and-a-half hours faster than Grandmaster Aleksis Capili, also born in the Philippines but now residing in Thailand. Thanks to yet another big finish, only two weeks after CM 50, Capili is now within 2 points of obtaining his second Grandmaster star. In the ATM championship he also finishes in sixth place, just a few points shy of Abdul Rahman as the total number of participants in UT Panoramic was less than 100. It is assured that next year this number will grow significantly.  

In third place on the podium was the local runner Supeeraphan Sreeduangjuan in 30:33. In the women's race we also saw two finishers on the 100 miles. Thailand's Sakuna Usanawasin took top honours and Cheryl Bihag - from Philippines - was a delighted second in her first 100 miles finish ever. 

Cheryl Bihag

Top 10 100 Miles - Men

1   JORGE ALYN GIL JR. LANANTE (PHI)      
2   ALEKSIS CAPILI (PHI)        
3   SUPEERAPHAN SREEDUANGJAN (THA)   4   JARED TEVES (PHI) 
5   WIWAT YINGRAM (THA)       
6   JOEFFERY CAMARA (PHI)
7   HANET KAEWLEK (THA)
8   FATHI JUNAIDI (BRU)
9   SIDSDI PINSOOK (THA)    
10  PONPAYON THONGTAWEE (THA)   

Finishers 100 miles - Women

1  SAKUNA USANAWASIN (THA)
2 CHERYL BIHAG (PHI) 

On the 100 km course, Frenchman Remi Galland ran three hours faster than local runners Pochara Thimasan and Pakawas Mangkang. Interestingly, the same time margin separated the two best women as well. Issaree Kengnok was actually very quick as she even finished fourth overall in 12:45. Second place went to Pakanee Burutphakdee, and Kwantana Kwamuangpan completed the women's podium. 

Jorge Lanante 

Remi Galland

Manolito Divina is the new 2016 Asia Trail Master champion. The 36-year-old Filipino running star made it a hattrick of wins in the 50 miles race of theClark-Miyamit Falls Ultra event and as such overtook Jan Nilsen in the points standings. Although there are two more races on the ATM calendar in December, nobody can still match the 1650 points total by Divina. It was a classic battle in Clark last weekend between many of this year's protagonists in the Asia Trail Master series, also including the 2015 champion from Indonesia Arief Wismoyono, who proved his title was no fluke by fighting hard and finishing second in his first ever appearance in the Philippines. Jan Nilsen had an off-day and could not do better than fourth place. The 50-year-old Thailand-based Norwegian could not hide his disappointment at first, yet quickly realised that what he has achieved this season can only be described by one term: outstanding! 

CM 50 was once again characteristed by a jolly atmosphere throughout the event weekend. The start of the 50 miles and 60km races was held at 1 a.m., with a relatively mild temperature of 24 degrees that nevertheless proved hard to cope with for some of the faster runners. China's Xu Xiutao had flown into the Philippines with a mission to win and keep his own championship ambitions alive, but already after 26 km he threw in the towel. The humidity and the temperature difference between Clark and his native Beijing, where it has been seriously freezing recently, made the 22-year-old's legs feel like lead. However, also ATM points leader Jan Nilsen found himself struggling already at that early point of the race. Initially ahead together with Manolito Divina, Arief Wismoyono and Kristian Joergensen, Nilsen took a wrong trail and lost contact with the frontrunners. On the way up to the Miyamit Falls and the highest peak, he would still get close to Wismoyono, James Tellias and the surprisingly strong Louie Ganayan, but by then his main rival Divina was already out of sight. 

As Divina increased the gap, taking full advantage of his familiarity with the course, a crisp Wismoyono and persevering Tellias were the strongest of the rest. Joergensen had already dropped back with stomach issues and Jan Nilsen gradually also lost more terrain. In the end, Manolito Divina finished comfortably in 10:21:52, having ample time to celebrate his third successive victory in this race and the Asia Trail Master championship. About an hour later, Wismoyono and Tellias arrived together, after the Indonesian had gone off course in the latter stages and was joined again by the local runner, who also finished third last year. 

The men's podium with Manolito Divina, Arief Wismoyono and James Tellias

The respect runners have for Jan Nilsen was widely illustrated afterwards. Dominator of all big Indonesian volcano races, amongst other races outside ATM, what the 50-year-old has shown this year is highly remarkable. Pushing the youngsters to the best of their game, and still beating them on a regular basis as well. Visibly tired, Nilsen did admit it might be time for a short resting period. Divina was ecstatic himself: father of four young children and daytime worker in a warehouse, his ATM championship ambitions were severely under threat only a month ago when he injured his ankle during UT Mapawa. Fortunately for him, it healed just in time for CM 50, although Divina did suffer quite a bit of pain during the race. 

Last year's Asia Trail Master champion Arief Wismoyono thus finished second behind the man who is taking over his title. The Bandung Explorer team ace has had a less consistent season than 2015, and was therefore visibly delighted to end the year on a high note in the Philippines. Wismoyono will certainly again be a strong contender in the ATM series next year, having already pencilled in a list of races including the Malaysia Eco 100 in Penang, the important Malaysia SuperTrail that Divina won this year. 

In the women's race all attention went to Majo Liao, twice winner of this race, and the number 2 in the Asia Trail Master championship. A surprise to some, yet not to others, Sandi Menchi turned out victorious instead. From the get-go, Menchi was putting Liao under pressure and was able to open up a small gap on the long climb. Previously a short distance runner, Menchi has now arrived on the long distance stage and it looks like she can become a significant contender in ATM races in 2017. Majo Liao was nevertheless happy with her second place in both the race and the ATM championship. Third place went to Hong Kong runner Cherry Chung. 

Sandi Menchi won the CM 50 race for women and looked strong in doing so!

Jan Nilsen and Manolito Divina: huge mutual respect

While BTS Ultra 100 in Indonesia lived up to its reputation as one of the hardest trail runs in Asia, HK 168 raised its profile once again as one of Hong Kong's traditional events. Both races saw fantastic winners: Jan Nilsen was dominant on the volcanoes, as expected, and Isaac Yuen Wan Ho relied on his amazing stamina to collect a first proper race victory after several podium finishes in the Asia Trail Master series. As such, both Nilsen and Yuen Wan Ho increase the pressure on Philippines' Manolito Divina to win this year's ATM points championship. It will be a great man-to-man battle soon in Clark, location of CM 50 Ultra and the last SuperTrail race of the year with bonus points on offer! 

The women's races in Indonesia and Hong Kong had it in them as well. BTS 100k had a superb line-up at the start, including Ina Budiyarni, who aimed to complete her Grandmaster Quest and become the first female Grandmaster ever. After a fall in the early part of the race that injured her hip, it cost Ina blood, sweat and tears but she crossed the finish line just inside the official cut off time. While she won the Grandmaster honorary title, a podium finish was not possible given her injury. Therefore, the battle for the race victory was between Shindy Patricia, Ruth Theresia and Mila Mirlani. It was tight at the end, but Ruth Theresia nicked it by less than ten minutes ahead of Shindy Patricia.

 At HK 168, pre-race favourite Yuen Kit Shan, double winner of UTHK, surprisingly did not feature at the top of the leader board at any time during the race. It was Yi Hua Wu who was the outstanding athlete on the weekend, finishing over 3 hours ahead of Habiba Benahmed and Xiao Jing. Yuen Kit Shan did finish the race in fourth place. 

It was certainly quite a surprise for many when Jonathan Pido arrived first in the finishing strait at Ultra Trail Mapawa. The local runner from Mindanao Island was nearly half an hour ahead of two more local athletes. And then, only then, came pre-race favourite and Asia Trail Master championship contender Manolito Divina. Fourth place was not good enough for Divina to join Jan Nilsen at the top of the points ranking. The gap is 100 points. This means that the pressure in next month's Clark-Myamit Falls Ultra race, with SuperTrail bonus points on offer, is entirely on the Pinoy star. Moreover, the reason for Manolito Divina's troublesome Mapawa race is worrying: a sprained ankle sustained in the early part of the technical 50k race. Hopefully for him, his ankle will recover quickly and he will be back at his best in just a few weeks from now.

While Divina suffered from his ankle, the three Mindanao runners in front of him deserve all credit for their performances. Jonathan Pido was a class on his own as he crossed the line in 7:01:55, almost half an hour ahead of Richgie Dola, and Leo Colonia in third place! Amazingly, Dola finished the race with only 1 shoe, having torn the other one at km 30. All three runners are solid road marathon runners. Behind Divina in a strong fifth place was Thumbie Remigio, who himself returned from a prolonged period of inactivity due to a foot injury.  

It was fantastic to see Majo Liao winning the women's 50k in 9:19:08, only three weeks after the brutal MesaStila 5 Peaks Challenge in Indonesia. A great show of character that rewards Liao with second place in the Asia Trail Master points ranking. Second in the race last Sunday was Maria Luisa Prado, and third Retchelle Nave. 

UT Mapawa received praise from the runners for the beautiful course, which, however was more technical than anticipated by most. Lots of steep climbs and descents. There was no mobile connectivity at the race venue, which made live reporting virtually impossible. It did increase tye sense of adventure for the participants, on the other hand. CM 50 Ultra on the other Philippines' island of Luzon next month is guaranteed to become a thriller for the ATM championship. Several scenarios are open with plenty of top runners in the ranking scheduled to run. Manolito Divina is a double winner of that race, but it is Jan Nilsen who is in the hot seat. 

With special thanks to Christine Ferrera and Simple Hydration. 

Tough day for Manolito Divina at Mapawa means CM 50 on 27 November will be vital

The 6th MesaStila Peaks Challenge this year will go into the trail running archive as the toughest edition yet. Not only was the original course including the ascent of Gunung Merapi retained this year, it was pouring down with rain for most of the weekend. The wet conditions turned several trails into slippery mudbaths and the volcano sections at night surprised plenty a runner for being freezing cold despite this being Indonesia! As usual, the tough race profiles of the five race distances are compensated with a solid event organisation, excellent hospitality at the MesaStila Resort & Spa and pleasant atmosphere throughout the weekend. A worthy Indonesia SuperTrail in other words, which had the additional pleasure of seeing Malaysia's Tahira Najmunisaa crown herself as the new women's Asia Trail Master champion. 50-year-old Jan Nilsen, quite simply incredible this year, took the men's 5 Peaks race over 100k against some big names and claimed the points lead in the men's ATM ranking, setting up a major showdown for the title at CM 50 in Philippines next month against, amongst others, Manolito Divina.

The 100k race with 7700 metres of elevation gain started in the early hours of Saturday and provided a good warm up for the runners before the rain began to come down after the first peak - the steep Mount Andong. Defending Asia Trail Master champion and MesaStila champion Arief Wismoyono had prepared himself well for the important race and immediately put the pressure on Jan Nilsen, Kristian Joergensen, Abdul Rahman and a grouo of strong local contenders. ATM points leader Isaac Yuen Wan Ho unfortunately did not start claiming a back injury. Already on Andong it was clear that Tahira Najmunisaa was back at her very best. Coming down from Andong, the Malaysian star ran in fifth place overall and had put quite some distance between herself and her main competitors Mary Josephine Liao, Ruth Theresa and Mila Marlina, last year's MesaStilla winner. 

Tahira Najmunisaa ran a superb race and claims the 2016 Asia Trail Master championship

Arief Wismoyono knew he had to basically win this SuperTrail race to keep his Asia Trail Master title defence in check. The 50 bonus points do matter in the men's ranking. Sadly, the 32-year-old Bandung hero missed a marker on Gunung Merbabu, which put him suddenly behind Jan Nilsen, Muhammad Dzaki and Kristian Joergensen. Yohannis Hiareij, who narrowly lost the spring to Wismoyono at Ijen Trailrunning last May, seemed to have an off-day and would not feature in the debate up front. To be fair, the conditions for running got increasingly difficult, too. The combination of pouring rain, high altitudes and strong winds when night fell turned the race into a true epic. Wismoyono witnessed four of his running friends suffer from hypothermia and decided like a real gentleman that helping him was more important than chasing down Nilsen and Dzaki. Kristian Joergensen, originally from Denmark, also saw no choice but to escape from the frigid elements for a few hours, which put him down the race ranking and out of podium contention. Still, if a strong northerner like Joergensen freezes up, one can only imagine how hard it must have been out there on Merapi and Merbabu. 

Jan Nilsen: "Running smart is better than running fast" 

But when the going gets rough, one guy never seems to be too bothered: Jan Nilsen continued his amazing form this season and was in control of the race. The Thailand-based Norwegian was not even too concerned when the surprising local runner Muhammad Dzaki came closer and closer and reportedly even caught up with Nilsen with less than 10k to go! Dzaki had been training for a long time for this race, and his efforts, along with knowledge of the route, clearly paid off. Still, Nilsen had an extra gear left and ran solo to the finish at the MesaStila resort in just under 20 hours. In his usual style, Nilsen had a thing or two to say about trail markings and other inconveniences, but he quickly returned to smiles and began to  realise himself that he had just done another serious exploit - after dominating Rinjani 100 earlier this year! Muhammad Dzaki finished second, and another Indonesian Muhammad Fauzi Difinubun moved up to third place in the latter parts of the race. Abdul Rahman was fourth and consolidates his top five ranking. Joergensen, in his first 100k outside his resident country Philippines, had to settle for seventh. 

That was after Tahira Najmunisaa had taken victory in the women's race and by doing so becoming the new Asia Trail Master champion. Tahira scored two SuperTrail victories this season (Malaysia Eco 100, MesaStila 5 Peaks) plus two more ATM wins at Beach Bunch (Brunei) and Merapoh Trail (Malaysia). As the best three results count for the final ranking, only Ma Yanxing (winner China SuperTrail) and Yuen Kit Shan (winner Hong Kong SuperTrail) can mathematically still catch up with Tahira, but both would need to win CM 50 as Philippines SuperTrail next month, and another third ATM race to boot. A scenario that is unlikely. Last Sunday, the 26-year-old Malaysian was joined on the podium by Ruth Theresa, in her first 100k race (!), and Majo Liao. The latter, multiple race winner in the Philippines, showed true grit and did a great job returning from a nasty ankle injury. Majo still has two more ATM races lined up and can finish the season high in the final ranking. 

The statistics of Tahira Najmunisaa 's Asia Trail Master campaign do not lie: 5 career ATM race victories and undefeated! She also has collected four Grandmaster points already. To receive the honourary title of Grandmaster, a runner must complete 6 races of 70k or more inside 24 months.

This year, the cut off time of the MesaStila 5 Peaks had been extended by four hours to a total of 36 hours, which resulted in more finishers (28) and more delighted runners afterwards. Being an official finisher in the epic 2016 MesaStila Peaks Challenge will be remembered for a long time! 

Muhammad Dzaki and Muhammad Difunubun kept the local honours very high

Whereas the 100k, or the 5 Peaks race, obviously gets the most attention, it does somewhat injustice to the 65k race, which is essentially the same route minus Gunung Merapi and a massive elevation gain of almost 5000m as well. Given those numbers, it was decided earlier this year to grant the 4 Peaks also 1 Grandmaster point. Both the men's and women's competition was tight with changing positions and possibilities. Firdaus dropped Polish runner in the last 7km only for a superb home victory. However, Jessica Lintanga made it a double hit for Malaysia as she took the women's race after a good battle with last year's winner Ina Budiyarni. Lintanga, from Sabah, is a first-year trail runner who - like Tahira - belongs to her country's Running Project to prepare aspiring athletes for UTMB in a few years. It was her first race victory outside Malaysia. Ina Budiyarni may have missed a second consecutive race victory at MesaStila, but now has five Grandmaster points in her bag. One more, and she will be the first ever female Asia Trail Grandmaster. A feat she aims to accomplish at Bromo-Tengger-Semeru next month! 

Podium of the 5 Peaks Challenge: Nilsen, Dzaki and Difinubun

Kristian Joergensen thinking "what the hell was this?" 

A worthwile trip all the way from Poland: Michal Kaszorowksi, 2nd in 4 Peaks 

Jessica Lintanga arrives to win the women's 4 Peaks race in another downpour

THe 100 km race distance of the Vietnam Mountain Marathon was won by two European runners in the male and female categories: Petr Novotny from Czech Republic, and Nathalie Cochet from France. They both had a clear advantage over the next runners, who were both locals from Vietnam: Cao Ngoc Ha and Chi Nguyen. As expected, the race was tough with 34 finishers in total. This includes China's Wang Xin, Denmark's Caster Nielsen, Malaysia's Syed Abdul Rahim and  Brunei's Ali Ajis Rasil, all of whom had scored Asia Trail Master points before this year and will thus move up in the ranking.

There was another French winner on the classic 70km distance in Sapa: Team Uglow's Antoine Epinette was a good 17 minutes faster than American Cory Lewandowski. The female winner came from Japan: Sayaka Matsumoto proved outstanding and gave the opposition no chance. Canada's Amber Lane was second and Hong Kong's Cherrie Chung third. Interesting from an Asia Trail Master points perspective was the 7th place of another Hong Kong runner Jocelyn Cheung. 

The Asia Trail Master points championship continues next week in South Korea with Ultra Trail Mount Jiri.