Updated 31 January 2018.
The 3rd edition of Rizal Mountain Run in Basekamp, San Mateo, in the rugged mountainous suburbs of Manila goes into the history books as the toughest so far. Not only was the total race distance and elevation gain increased to 53km and 3100 hm, the hard rainfall in the days leading up to the event made the trails slippery and technical to the extreme. As a result, the DNF rate was high for the 50K athletes at 40%. Rizal Mountain Run delivered two outstanding winners of whom we can be expected to see a lot more still this season.
John Ray Onifa burst onto the trail scene last October when he defeated Manolito Divina by half an hour in Ultra-Trail Mapawa 50k, and since then many have wondered if the 24-year-old from Visayas could repeat that performance. The answer is yes. Onifa took the bullet by the horns from the start, and opened up a gap in the first, technical and even dangerous 10K of the race. Onifa never looked back. Local boy Elmer Retolado was going fast behind him until he twisted his ankle in the very muddy conditions. As such, Rizal expert Kristian Joergensen inherited second place and was the only one who kept Onifa within potential striking range until the km 45 mark. Joergensen trains in the Rizal mountains and was very familiar with the course, which he ran entirely in training a fortnight ago. When Joergensen crossed the finish line in 7:04 (six minutes faster than during his training session in dry weather!), he could not believe he was nearly half an hour behind Onifa: “I was 10 minutes behind before the last checkpoint, so how did I lose 20 minutes in the last 8 km?” The answer was as straight as it was overwhelming: Onifa still had the strength and energy to run up the whole last climb of 4 km while others were walking up. An impressive run by the youngster, who could become another serious ATM title contender from the Philippines this season.
JR Onifa is still new to trail running, coming from a few solid road run performances, and has never gone beyond 50 km in racing conditions. Interestingly, that is a characteristic he shares with Jeff Campbell, who won last week’s Tahura Trail in Indonesia. They now both top the 2018 ATM Championship ranking with 500 points.
At the end of the tough 53K race, Onifa was still running up the last long climb!
Aggy Sabanal Smith was the strongest woman
The third place on the podium was occupied by Filippino Dean Perez, who did very well by staying ahead of Pablo Diago Gonzales. Last year’s winner of RMR, Manolito Divina, was present at the event, but only as a sweeper for the short distance race. “Tolitz” confirmed he suffered a lot from his stomach cramps in UT Panoramic early December and, combined with the demands of a new business initiative, his 2018 trail running campaign will only begin in March.
At CP1 after a tough 10km, the women’s race looked like it would be a dual between Agostoralin Sabanal, also known as Aggy Smith, and Melanie Hingpit. Only a minute or two separated both runners at that point, but eventually Sabanal turned out to have too much power on the day and completed the 53 km as 8th overall in just over 10 hours. Hingpit held onto second place, and another Filippino runner, Maricar Hiponia, completed the podium in third place.
The third points race in the 2018 ATM Championship is set for next weekend and it is again in the Philippines. We move further north to the Cordillera area, where on Sunday the Pilipinas Akyathlon 46k takes place with some of the country’s finest expected to be at the start.
The 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship series continues in Philippines for the next two weekends. First the Rizal Mountain Run in the mountains east of Manila, and second the Pilipinas Akyathlon in the Cordillera region. Two crispy points races that offer the local pinoy runners, especially, an excellent opportunity to put themselves in the spotlights early in the season. The 3rd edition of the Rizal Mountain Run, organised and directed by experienced trail runners Dean Lim and Majo Liao, takes place this Sunday with start and finish in Basekamp, San Mateo, and is a bit of an underestimated race. The 50k course - the one that matters for ATM championship points - has over 3000m of elevation and that requires an effort. Four athletes have shaped the race in the last two years by occupying the podium on both occasions. Kristian Joergensen won the inaugural race in 2016 and came second behind Manolito Divina last year, while Diorella Cerujano achieved the same but the other way around: 2nd in 2016 behind Cheryl Bihag, victory last season. In fact, Bihag took bronze last year as well, and in the men’s Mark ‘Koi’ Grey fought great battles with Joergensen in both editions to score second and third place respectively. Joergensen and Cerujano return to Rizal this weekend so it’s fair to say that anyone who wants to win this race will need to get passed them.
There is competition for them, though. Danish-born Joergensen is expected to be at the top of his game as he has been preparing for an extreme ultra in Hong Kong next month, and that may be needed to repeat his triumph of 2016. On the start list we find top runners such as Pablo Diago Gonzales and John Ray Onifa. Diago Gonzales was fourth in the 2017 ATM championship and has scored 4 career race wins in the ATM series so far. Most notably in the Philippines, the Singapore-based Spaniard was the best on Mount Apo last season. Diago Gonzales likes the 50 to 70K distance, yet in the last direct confrontation he finished behind Joergensen at CM50 Ultra last November… The big question for many trail insiders is whether the two European expats are a match for hot Filippino rookie John Ray Onifa. Onifa raised many people’s eyebrows at UT Mapawa last October when he ran away from Manolito Divina and gave him nearly half an hour at the finish of a 50K race! Onifa is a young talent who comes from the road but has developed a taste for trail. Coming from a modest background, it is great to see him return to the ATM scene so early in the new season and it will be interesting to see if he could repeat that exhillirating Mapawa performance at Rizal this Sunday. While these three are expected to challenge for the podium spots, it is a new season so there’s always the possibility for new names, new faces.
The same goes for the women’s race, where Cerujano is expected to compete with her compatriot Melanie Hingpit - third at CM50 Ultra recently - and Grandmaster Ina Budiyarni from Indonesia, the latter having seemingly recovered from quite a bad fall on her hip halfway through Tahura Trail last week. Budiyarni brings a lot of trail experience to this event compared to the others, will that be sufficient for her to claim the win on this technical course?
In conclusion it is worthwhile mentioning that local hero Manolito Divina has opted to function as as an official this weekend rather than run the race. The 2016 ATM champion feels not recovered enough from his unpleasant DNF due to bad stomach cramps at UT Panoramic early December. Divina is on the start list of Pilipinas Akyathlon next week, though.
John Ray Onifa: can he repeat what he accomplished at UT Mapawa last season?
2017 ATM #4 Pablo Diago Gonzales launches his 2018 campaign at Rizal
Grandmaster Ina Budiyarni is a podium candidate in the women's 50K race this Sunday
Melanie Hingpit was third in CM50 last November and will challenge for the win this weekend
Ultra-Trail Chiang Rai will be the longest points race in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship. While keeping last year's inaugural 122 km race course, the people at teelakow in Thailand are adding 'The Ultimate 200' to the programme. And actually the course is 220 km.... For lovers of long ultras, this will be a feast! Both the 220 km and the 122 km are marked as A-races, meaning the winner scores 400 performance points on top of the 100 for finishing. The 220k finishers will receive the additional 50-point '100 miles' bonus. Also the top 10 of the 66K C-race will receive ATM championship points according to our points system.
Venue of the event will again be the great Singha Park in Chiang Rai, which is relatively close to the airport as well. Chiang Rai is a tourist area, so your companions can visit the sights while you are doing the running. The 220k starts on the 19th of October at 6 am, the 122 km starts 24 hours later.
We are pleased to announce the support of Singapore's Red Dot Running Company for this year's Asia Trail Master Championship series. The brain child of Asian ultra legend Jeri Chua, Red Dot Running Company aims "is aimed at becoming a focal point for the running community in Singapore, starting with the trail and ultra runners who will always have a special place in our mountain-loving hearts". RDRC works closely with niche brands that are born from sheer passion, looking to provide aspiring adventurers with the perfect kit. In addition, Red Dot Running Company wishes to showcase the work of local and regional photographers, and the incredible trails we have in the region. Runners from Red Dot will be taking part in several Asia Trail Master races this season.
To find out more about RDRD, approach the runners on the tour or visit the website here.
A Hong Kong trail superstar came to Indonesia and conquered the Tahura Trail Marathon in Bandung, the opening race of the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship series. Jeff Campbell was the hot favourite before the start, and he delivered on his credentials in exquisite style, completing the muddy course in 4 hours and 5 minutes ahead of the strongest field ever in this great race. In the women’s race, 2017 Asia Trail Master champion Kim Matthews started her season’s campaign with a comfortable victory as well. Although the event weekend was significantly drier than last year, many parts of the course proved too be extremely treacherous and slippery for the over 420 runners on the longest 42k marathon distance of the event.
The 35-year-old Campbell is a specialist of the medium distance trail and renowned for his velocity. While he admitted that Tahura Trail was muddier and therefore tricky and technical more than he has been used to in Hong Kong, Campbell felt in command of the race. It wasn’t a start-to-finish solo run, though. Until past the halfway mark, he was still accompanied by Italy’s Alessandro Sherpa and the surprisingly strong Margono Ono, a local speed walker who finished fifth in this race last year. In fact, Margono received praise from both westerners for his sheer speed in the first half of the marathon. While he had no response to the acceleration of Campbell and Sherpa after 20 km, the Indonesian did maintain a high pace and caught Sherpa still at the end to snatch second place away from him. A bit further back was local Bandung hero Arief Wismoyono, who equaled his fourth place from last year. Perhaps more at ease on the ultra distances, Wismoyono nevertheless looked good in this short and rather fast race and stayed ahead of Ari Masrudi, who still beat him at Tahura last season. The 2017 runner-up in the championship will be a top favourite for UTKC in Thailand next month, along with Sherpa - who will also be competing in the first SuperTrail of the year. The solid performances of Margono and Wismoyono were further accentuated by the fact that Gaspard Dessy - third in 2017 - “only” came in ninth yesterday, and the Tahura king of 2016 and 2017 - Abdoullah Mitiche - barely made the top 15 this time around! Triathlete Mitiche was in shape and focused to go for the hattrick, but a direction error early on put him in a chasing group where he never really got out of. Also Fandhi Achmad - winner of Bandung Ultra 100 last September - and Asia Trail Master champion Steven Ong were the whole day condemned to the chase. In the case of Ong that was not entirely unexpected, as the 41-year-old Malaysian is at his best on the ultra distances. The champion started his 2018 ATM season with a 12th place.
Jeff Campbell is supported by a.o. Gone Running - also a sponsor of the 2018 ATM Championship - and will likely be seen more often on the tour this year. Born in Canada, he only discovered his running talent about four years ago and since then he has made a remarkable rise to the very top of the Hong Kong trail community. While 50K is his standard race distance, Campbell pointed out after the race that eventually he will try and move up to longer distances as well.
Margono Ono: a speed walker about to turn trail runner
The men's top 3 captured 1 km before the finish line: Campbell, Margono and Sherpa (P: Adventure III)
Kim Matthews took a relatively easy start before overtaking Ninie Hausschildt and then pulling away from the Indonesian, who has a subscription on second place at Tahura. Ninie Hausschildt, also more a triathlete than a trail runner, finished runner-up for the third consecutive year! In third place was Sri Wahyuni, who has become a regular podium visitor in Indonesian trail races lately.
Matthews looks increasingly confident and strong in Asian trail races, which is bad news for her challengers to the throne. Last season, the Australian speech therapist suffered more than once from heat exhaustion, but seems to have overcome this problem since moving to Ho Chi Minh City.
Bandung’s own Ruth Theresia opted to run the 21K half marathon at Tahura Trail. Theresia is in full training programme for the SuperTrails in Thailand and Philippines in February and March with the 2018 ATM championship title as top goal. It was nice to see that Matthews and Theresia ran side by side during the 10K race at Tahura the day after as well. There is competition, but trail running is mostly about fun and friendship!
Steven Ong and Kim Matthews were celebrated as the 2017 ATM Champions
Tahura Trail offers great scenery (P: AIII)
Everybody excited for the new season!
The 4th Asia Trail Master Championship begins at 6:45 am on Saturday with the 42k long Tahura Trail in Bandung, main city of West Java in Indonesia. It’s the 6th edition of the most popular race in the country based on participan numbers, and as last season, the two defending Asia Trail Master champions Steven Ong and Kim Matthews will be joining a very strong line-up of local and regional runners. In fact, the entire top 4 of the male 2017 Tahura race is back, including winner Abdoullah Mitiche and 2017 championship runner-up Arief Wismoyono.
For Abdoullah Mitiche, Tahura Trail is his annual rendez-vous with the trail world before he focuses on what he loves even more: triathlon. Last year he was outstanding in overcoming a stern challenge from Ari Masrudi, Arief Wismoyono, Gaspard Dessy and Manolito Divina to take his second consecutive victory in the final kilometres. Can Mitiche do a hattrick at Tahura? It for sure won’t be handed to him on a silver plate. Other than the already mentioned runners, Steven Ong is keen to do well in his first ATM race as champion, even though being an ultra specialist he might find 42k on the short side. However, if the weather plays in his favour - when it’s wet - the course may just be technical enough for him to aim for the race win. A lot will also depend on the pace set by two western runners based in Hong Kong and Singapore respectively: Jeff Campbell and Alessandro Sherpa. Canada's Jeff Campbell has raised many eyebrows in recent months as he ran from victory to victory in Hong Kong. Sponsored by Gone Running, Campbell this year wants to see more of Asia and see where it gets him in the Asia Trail Master Championship. Hong Kong with all its concrete steps is rather unique, and on Saturday we will find out how Campbell fares on more natural and potentially muddy trails with a higher risk of missing markers along the route. Italian Alessandro Sherpa already knows what trail running is like in Indonesia. He was leading BTS Ultra last November until he failed to obtain his drop bag and saw no other choice but to end his race. Sherpa bounced back in UT Panoramic in Thailand last month, finishing fourth in the 100 miles won by Steven Ong. While he prefers running ultra, Sherpa is sharp as a knife on shorter distances and will regard Campbell as a challenge-in-the-race to boot. The men’s 42k Tahura Trail is going to be a blast with many potential winners who could just as well fail to even reach the podium! It’s the thrill of the shorter trail races that makes Tahura Trail the ideal season opener for the ATM championship.
The men's podium last year: they are all back!
ATM Champion Steven Ong
Alessandro Sherpa: ready to make an impression!
Two months after their first and tight clash at Clark-Miyamit Falls Ultra in Philippines, Kim Matthews and Ruth Theresia will already be facing each other again. It could be a tough task for the Vietnam-based Australian, as Ruth Theresia is of course competing on home soil in Bandung and knows the course well. The form of the day will decide! Last year’s second place Ninie Hauschildt is also on the start list and definitely in for another shot at the podium on Saturday. Other women who could make it to the podium are Sri Wahyuni, Ina Budiyarni, Mila Marlina and Malaysian Puteri Norsharina, just to name some of the better known runners on the ATM tour.
As usual, we will be reporting live from the field at Tahura Trail on Saturday via facebook, instagram and twitter.
Kim Matthews is up against local hero Ruth Theresia for the second time after CM 50 Ultra.
The 4th edition of the Asia Trail Master Championship series commences in Bandung, Indonesia, this Saturday with the 42k long Tahura Trail. A classic race, not too short yet with enough spice to test the legs in the early part of the new season following the new year's festivities. Before we focus on what is to come, let's take a quick look back - out of respect - to the podia of the previous three editions of the Asia Trail Master Championship series.
One of the hot newcomers in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship has opened registration. Mantra Summits Challenge is accepting all experienced mountain runners for a genuine challenge over 75 km on a technical course that reaches peaks well above 3000m altitude. Shorter distances are also available, yet the 75 km is what counts for the championship and the Grandmaster Quest.
The event is organised by the Mantra Runners in Malang, East Java. As last year, when the race was a Candidate Race, the Kaliandra Eco Resort will host the event, providing comfortable accommodation in even quite a historic Javanese setting.
Definitely one of the toughest races on the calendar, do not take this one lightly. For runners traveling from farther away, the Mantra Summits Challenge can be combined with the less technical Ijen Trailrunning event one week later a bit further east in Java. Doing that allows you then to hop onto a ferry to Bali to conclude your fantastic East Javanese trail running week in which you can score a load of Asia Trail Master Championship and Grandmaster points. Our Wold the Trail Indonesia package will also include a mid-week training and hiking session on either Bromo or one of the other majestic volcanoes in this area.
Registration for Mantra Summits Challenge works via the official event website.
We are happy to confirm that UTN 100, aka Ultra-Trail Nan, in northeastern Thailand will again be a points race in the Asia Trail Master Championship on 20 and 21 October this year. The scenic event offers a 100K and 50K option, whereby the 100K counts for the championship.
The 100K race goes in and around the Doi Phu Kha Park and is quite tough with approx. 5700 metres of elevation gain. More precise details for 2018 will become available in due course. Last season, local heroes Sanya Khancai and Phichanan Mahachot took the victory.
You can find out more details on the race on our event cover page.
It remains one of the gems on the Asian and Asia Trail Master race calendar: Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2018, an accomplishment that few - if any - trail running organisations can claim! The classic 100k and 42k races are held in a very remote area that requires some travel time, but all participants over the years argue it is well worth the effort and time. Once more, MS2S is a points race in the Asia Trail Master Championship series as well. Race Day is 1 August 2018, and subject to the overall number of starting runners being above or below 100, the male and female winners of the 100k race will score 500 (400 performance points +100 finisher points) or 400 (300+100) points for the ATM championship. The elevation gain for the 100k is 3360 hm and you have 18 hours to complete the distance. In other words, it is really from sunrise to sunset and you do need to keep moving during the race.
Mongolia Sunrise 2 Sunset is also non-profit as it helps the local Mongolian communities in the Hovsgol National Park preserve their environment and livelihood.
As the event philosophy explains: the park has two small Mongolian towns as well as scores of local nomadic groups and families, and therefore any conservation efforts must go hand in hand with these local users of the park. The event therefore aims to contribute as much as possible to the local economy and to raise awareness among locals that standards of living can best be raised by preserving the park and the local culture. We have tried to achieve this by engaging the local community in the event. This ranges from hiring help to setting the course to hiring local doctors supervise aid stations. We are also actively encouraging locals to participate in the race. In setting the course, we have sought to minimize the impact on the natural environment and we use bio-degradable green paint to mark the course.
Registration is open and travel packages from Ulanbaatar are available via the official website. For the key details you can also take a look at our event cover page and the video trailer below.
More details: