Japan's Kohta Araki will likely steal the show at the inaugural edition of the Mongolian International Steppe Marathon this weekend in the hilly outskirts of capital city Ulanbaataar. The winner of Echigo Country Trail last June won himself a free entry for the new race set up by a Japanese company in this for many people still vast and mysterious country. When thinking of trail running and Mongolia, only the long-time classic Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset in the very remote Northwestern Hovsgol National Park comes to mind. But that is about to change with this new event of 50 km that is meant to launch a new tradition. The naming in English may be a bit confusing still - is it Mongolia International Steppe Marathon or Bogd Khan Ultra Trail, and how does that rhyme with the applied abbreviation MSUT - but the 50k race course is crystal clear and in the hands of none other than Carole Fuchs, the French winner of Cordillera Mountain Ultra in Philippines and recent conquerer of Mount Everest. It is a hilly course run at quite high altitude between 1350m and 2200m above sea level. 

A bit of background. Bogd Khan was born in Tibet and was the third most important man in the hierarchy of Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. Nevertheless, he moved and lived most of his life in Mongolia. In 1911 he was enthroned as the Khagan - Head of State - of Outer Mongolia after it declared its independence following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in what is now known as China. The Bogd Khaganate - the reign - was short-lived as in 1919 Chinese troops returned to Urga, as the capital city was then called. In the political turmoil that ensued, Bogd Khan was again reinstated to the throne for three more years till his death in 1924. Then, the People's Republic of Mongolia was officially announced, backed by Soviet Communists. The winter palace of Bogd Khan has been well-preserved an is now tourist attraction in Ulanbaataar. 

Fascinating stories and cultural relics are omnipresent in this region of the world, and for sure adds meaning to the new trail event in August. 

While Araki starts the new race as a clear favourite, everybody is hoping to see some Mongolian talents emerge this weekend. Mongolia has a strong tradition in other endurance sports such as cycling, but also its ultra road runners have been doing quite well in international competitions. Trail, however, is largely new to them. 

This is a 2019 Asia Trail Master Candidate Race, and news will become available this weekend via the facebook page of the event. 

https://www.facebook.com/MSUT.Official/

A rather unfortunate service message: this year's ULTRON Ultra Trail Panoramic in Thailand cannot take place on the envisaged date of 7-9 December. The event, which was also being entirely redesigned and centred around Pai only, will return in 2019 on the same second weekend of December. Recent elections in the area have reportedly caused a change in governance and in this context it has proven to be too difficult to guarantee a quality event for the many runners who come to this one. 

Organiser Teelakow apologises for any inconvenience this cancellation may cause, and emphasizes Ultra Trail Panoramic is not dead and will return next year. 

In the context of Asia Trail Master, it means the final race weekend is now entirely focused on Izu Trail Journey in Japan, where the new champions will be crowned. For the lovers of 100 miles races, it means that HK 168 in Hong Kong on 1/2 December is now the final ultra trail on our calendar this season. Registrations for that event are open.

100 miles finishers score 50 bonus points for the championship, which puts winning HK 168 on the same level as winning the Japanese SuperTrail, Izu Trail Journey, on 9 December. 

Alessandro Sherpa won the Magnificent Merapoh Trail 100 in commanding style last weekend. The Italian ran off by himself already in the first kilometres of the 100k race, which this year featured 800 hm more elevation gain and is - at least for the fast guys - ran almost entirely at night with start at 9 pm. Sherpa won in 11:26:46 -spectacular as only marginally slower than last season's winner Sefli Ahar from Brunei - and was never really threatened. Especially as 2017 ATM Champion Steven Ong retired after 25 km with his ankle injury bothering him too much. There's still many races left on the calendar, but it does look that Ong will not feature at the very top of this year's championship after setting up his outdoor retail shop in Kuala Lumpur. Japanese runner Tomohiro Mizukoshi was trying but could not bridge the gap to Sherpa, and finished second in 12:15. One could wonder how come Mizukoshi let the Italian get away so early, as for a long time afterwards they were running at an equal pace. 

It is the second victory of the season for Alessandro Sherpa after Penang Eco 100k,  and his fifth ATM points race of the season. He dedicates the victory to the victims of the massive earthquake in Lombok. With 2200 total points, he also took over the lead in the ATM Championship at the expense of Pablo Diago Gonzales (2100 points). Japan's Mizukoshi improved his total points tally also and is now third in the ranking. One of the revelations of the season - even though he was 17th in last year's Izu Trail Journey - and that race doesn't lie. 

The Merapoh podium was completed by Mizukoshi's compatriot Hisashi Kitamura, his first podium success in an Asia Trail Master points race. Kitamura ran with a great pace and seems to have growth potential. Based in KL, Kitamura is now 7th in the ATM Championship. And also Gakubo Chiba arrived in Merapoh in 4th place, making it 2-3-4 for Japan in this race! Next was Yeo Kim Hong from Singapore, who came in a superb fifth, followed by another interesting new face, Mohamad Raydi Koto Cham from Indonesia in sixth. And in 7th we find even a runner from Nepal in the race result: Kajiman Rai. Were any local Malaysians running TMMT 100 apart from Steven Ong? Muhammad Shahrin Faiz Bin Roslan is first Malaysian in the race result in 8th place, underlining his own personals strong 2018 season. Roslan has climbed up to 8th place as well in the ATM Championship with four strong results in the bag. In the championship, he is first Malaysian, too. Highly profiled Mohamed Affindi was a DNS due to fever, while Sabah runner Milton Amat is reportedly aiming to win Borneo TMBT Ultra 100 in 3 weeks. 

Singapore’s Evelyn Lek won the women's race in convincing style in a time of approx 14:27, which is fast. Lek is a road runner who has only recently been getting a taste of trail and TMMT was her first ever 100k trail! She appeared at the top of the leaderboard at CP3, when she caught up with Adelinah Lintanga, Hiang Song Ng and Philippines' Ann Jilian Pulanco. Lek didn't look back from then on. Has Singapore found itself a new trail star? 

Adelinah, the youngest of the Lintanga sisters, had to be satisfied with second place again. Twelve months ago she had to tolerate Tahira Najmunisaa ahead of her. Still, she does a good job for her ATM championship. In fact, now she is tied with Jassica Lintanga in tenth place. Tough cookie Adelinah was fourth at the end of 2017, and given that this year's women's championship seems to be more open she could become a contender down the road - or should we say down the trail. 

Ann Jilian Pulanco, a good runner and 3rd in Dalat Ultra Trail this year, asked for ice to treat her hip at CP3, and dropped to 7th after leading the race in the early parts. Also Ng Song Hiang fell back to sixth after a fast start. More experienced ultra trail runners Jefferlyn Castellano  and Jocelyn Cheung on the other hand kept moving up the leaderboard as the race went into injury time. Cheung proved that her podium finish at Mesastila last year was no fluke by grabbing third. Castellano settled for fourth. 

Canada's Julian Baker raised some eyebrows by completing the 70km race in 6:57. That's his second ATM race victory after UT Koh Chang 70 last year. Baker is based in South Korea and - so he says - is prepping himself to feature on the 100k circuit soon. We can't wait! The women's 70km was also won by a woman from western origin, namely Pauline Svoboda from the Czech Republic - in her debut on the long distance! What's more, Svoboda is based in Singapore just like Evelyn Lek. Singapore hardly has trails, let alone mountainous technical trails, but they seem to produce some excellent trail runners of late! 

The 2018 female podium of the 100km race with Evelyn Lek in the middle

Alessandro Sherpa was outstanding and he's now the man-to-beat in the ATM Championship

Julian Baker collected his 2nd career ATM race win over 70km 

Kajiman Rai from Nepal was an excellent 7th in the 100km race

The top five of the men's 100km at the award ceremony at night

Malaysia-based Italian Alessandro Sherpa has a shot at the Asia Trail Master championship lead this weekend as he lines up for the 100km at the Magnificent Merapoh Trail in his residential country. Sherpa needs 400 points (=minimum 4th place) to overtake Pablo Diago Gonzales, but may be keen to make a mark by winning the race ahead of 2017 ATM Champion Steven Ong, who will reportedly be making his first appearance of the season in an ATM ultra race. 

Organised by Ten Senses, mainly known for its road running events in the country, the Magnificent Merapoh Trail - aka TMMT - has quickly developed into one of Malaysia's most popular trail events that attracts a wide international audience as well. The passage through four dark and natural caves is a highlight, as well as the renowned 3km long river crossing. The race courses for all distances (100km, 70km, 35km) have been redesigned for this year. While overall still runable, the 100km now has 2300m of elevation gain as well, or an increase of approx 800hm compared to previous years. Most of this vertical gain will be conquered by the 100k runners just before or around dawn after roughly 50km. The river crossing is now back towards the end of the course, between km 70 and 80, which means nearly everyone will cross at daylight contrary to last year. It has been relatively dry over the past days in Merapoh, so the water level in the river is normal and participants won't have to swim :-). 

Close to 1000 runners will take part, which is the maximum quota for the event given the very remote location on the border between Pahang and Kelantan states, as well as the Taman Negara National Park. 

Among the race favourites we have Alessandro Sherpa, who based on his big victory in Penang Eco 100k last May will find another course very suitable to his characteristics as a trail runner. Japan's Tomohiro MIzukoshi is another excellent runner who could set the pace like he did in Penang 100 miles. Mizukoshi is number 2 in the ATM Championship at the moment, having already completed five ATM races this season. The Tokyo runner will be trying to erase his 8th place (330 points) in Korea 50k in April, his 'worst' result of the season, to boost his ATM championship total a bit higher. He cannot threaten the position of leader Pablo Diago Gonzales, however, as the Spaniard is 240 points ahead and Mizukoshi can maximally gain 170 points if he wins TMMT 100. 

Announced is the return of Steven Soonseng Ong, last year's Asia Trail Master champion, in what would be his first ultra race of the current championship. If he starts, he is always a victory candidate. Sherpa and Ong squared off once before under ATM, which happened in the 100 miles race of Ultra Trail Panoramic in Thailand last December. Ong won. Eight months later, Sherpa has proven to be in great shape while Ong has been very busy setting up his new outdoor and running retail shop in Kuala Lumpur.

There has been speculation that Mohamad Affindi, second in TMMT 100 last year, will also be a late addition to the start list. Affindi has was dealing with the after-effects of the flu earlier this week, though. One dangerous dark horse is Canadian Julian Baker. Based in South Korea, Baker is last year's winner of Ultra Trail Koh Chang 70. This season his ATM record is still blank. 

The women's race was dominated by Tahira Najmunisaa in 2016 and 2017, but now being 7 months pregnant, the female star of Malaysian trail running will be cheering for the others. In fact, remarkably, Tahira will take part alongside her husband Abdul Rahman in the 35km race on Saturday. Malaysia still has a strong runner at the start who could grab the win: Adelinah Lintanga from Sabah. The Grandmaster was 2nd behind Tahira last season. Her main competitors for the podium will be Erin Aziz from Kuala Lumpur and Philippines' Ann Jilian Pulanco - who was 3rd at Dalat Ultra Trail in Vietnam last March. Erin Aziz could be the first woman to reach the plateau of five races this season. After her great 3rd place in Mantra Summits Challenge 75 last month, the ULTRON runner has Indonesia's championship leader Ruth Theresia within sight. Aziz requires 373 points this weekend to claim the points lead, which corresponds to a top five race result in TMMT 100! 

Subject to connectivity, we will be broadcasting and reporting live from Merapoh from start to finish. The 100k flag-off is scheduled for Friday at 9 pm. 

The Merapoh caves are iconic for this event. This year a new technical cave section is added

We are happy to announce another 2019 Asia Trail Master Candidate Race that will increase the diversity even more in our series, and particularly in the Philippines. The Mount Talinis Mountain Marathon is organised by an experienced team of runners and event managers in the Negros Oriental region of the southern Philippines. Effectively, this will be the first time ATM ventures outside of Luzon and Mindanao and giving local runners in the Visayas an opportunity to shine on the international stage. Host town is Valencia Public Plaza on Negros Oriental. Mt Talinis Mountain Marathon of course features the ascent of the volcano Talinis as highlight of the 50km race this year on 6/7 October. Talinis, also known as Cuernos de Negros (Horns of Negros) is 1903m high and is located roughly 20km from regional capital Dumaguete City. The climb is quite foresty, often foggy and has several mountain and crater lakes. The region has a very rich biodiversity but unfortunately also suffers from illegal logging. Another good reason to mark this event in your calendar and show the local communities that the national parks are a major asset long-term. 

This year it's a 50 km race (CUT 18 hours) that starts at 11 pm. For 2019, a Grandmaster Quest distance is envisaged of 70 km. 

There's two airports nearby: previously mentioned Dumaguete and also Mactan, which even hs international flights. 

More details via the facebook page of the event:

https://www.facebook.com/UTMTNEGROSORIENTAL/ 

The organisers of the iconic and important Magnificent Merapoh Trail (TMMT) in Malaysia have released the final version of the course maps and profiles for next week's 4th edition. The race distances have remained at 100km, 70km and 35km - of which the two longest are valid for ATM Championship points - but the elevation gain has increased to over 2000 hm for both 100k and 70k. As a result, the cut-off times may also be increased pending further discussion with the course directors. The late arrival of the new routes is due to significant and also mandatory changes for this year. Cave lovers will be happy to learn there's additional caves in this year's route! The renowned 3km long river crossing is also still in the course. 

For all details, registered participants can download the PDF Guidebook now. 

It was a thrilling moment last Sunday when Philippines' Elias Tabac rushed into the finish at the Kaliandra Eco Resort in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. The super tough Mantra Summits Challenge is run on remote high mountain trails with little to no mobile connectivity, and the scarse announcements that came through to the event arena were indicating Pablo Diago Gonzales was about to grab his fifth career ATM race victory. 

But as it turned out, Davao’s Elias Tabac passed Pablo Diago Gonzales in the last kilometre of the 75k and 5500 hm race! He won in 14:36, his second ATM race victory of the season after Pilipinas Akyathlon. Tabac now has 1000 championship points and is 11th in the championship ranking, alongside his compatriot John Ray Onifa. With many more points races yet to come this season, can Elias Tabac be a contender for the ATM championship title? 

In the Mantra race, ran mainly at nighttime by the faster guys, Tabac struggled without headlight in the second half of the night. Ukraine's Mikhailo Pavliuk, Alessandro Sherpa, Arief Wismoyono had all climbed up Arjuno Welirang close to each other. A very trim-looking Pablo Diago Gonzales - third in this race last year and keen to win it this time around - then made an attack,and ran together an advantage of half an hour by km 42. Tabac was in second place at that point but started chasing the Spaniard down as it got dawn. That took a lot of effort, especially as his running shoes completely disintegrated on the very rough and technical trails. His heels became entirely exposed as the shoe soles broke off. Pablo Diago Gonzales was already in cruising mode approaching the Kaliandra resort, and couldn't believe it when Tabac rushed passed him with just over 1 km to go! The Filipino pace was too high to even try to fight back. Tabac ran his heart out and grabbed the victory. 

Pablo Diago Gonzales has one consolation: he regains the points lead from Japan’s Tomohiro Mizukoshi in the ATM Championship with his fifth result of the season. He now totals 2100 points in five races, of which four were podiums but as of yet no wins this season. In any case, his tally, which will be boosted by another 50 for the abroad bonus, is the first real benchmark for anyone who wants to become ATM champion this year. It was a very strong and aggressive run by the Singapore-based Spaniard, who prepared well for Mantra and even lost approx 4 kg to be able to climb faster. 

Alessandro Sherpa, winner of Penang Eco 100k last May, came into the finish at the Kaliandra Eco Resort as third, but one hour behind the front runners. Sherpa had an eventful night and also had to cope with belly cramps. Ukraine's Mykhailo Pavliuk was a - relative - new face in fourth place. Pavliuk is known for his fast climbing speed and had prepared himself in Malang for a week to do well in this race, his first ever race beyond 50 km. Pavliuk was right up there with Sherpa and Wismoyono, but lost terrain towards the end as he also got lost late in the night. Bandung’s Arief Wismoyono arrived in fifth place in just over 17 hours. He will strengthen his top 5 rank in the ATM Championship with this fourth result of the season, but probably had hoped for more. Australia's Andy Bourke took 7th, ahead of India's Shashwat Rao and the 2 Malaysians Shahrin and Grandmaster Yim Heng Fatt, who completed his first ATM race of the season after a longish competitive break. Shashwat Rao has made it into the top 10 of the ATM Championship with his fine effort. He is in 8th place with 1080 points from three races. 

Ruth Theresia has given the Indonesian home crowd something to celebrate also, as she won the women's 75k race, coming in as 10th overall. The hard-fought victory puts her back on top of the ATM Championship standings as well, at the expense of Philippines' Aggy Sabanal, who reportedly returns to ATM action in September. Ruth Theresia 's compatriot Sri Wahyuni from Surabaya took another podium place in an ATM points race: second. Kuala Lumpur’s Erin Puteri Aziz from team ULTRON was a great third. All three women feature at the top of the ATM championship thanks to today’s performances. Ruth Theresia leads of course, today was her third victory of the season already! 

Interestingly, and perhaps something to think about, only 2 Indonesian runners (1 man, 1 woman and both Team Bandung Explorer ) made it into the top 10 of this Indonesian race...

The next points races are the Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset and the Magnificent Merapoh Trail in Malaysia.

Amazing: look at his shoes!

Pablo Diago Gonzales could not quite believe it at first

What a podium!

Shashwat Rao from India finished again in the top 10 and is now 8th in the ATM Championship

Mikhailo Pavliuk from Ukraine finished his first race of over 50 km in 4th place

There was also a 50km race at Mantra, won by Bandung's Yusoff Aprian

After a four-week break the 2018 Asia Trail Master championship series continues this weekend in Indonesia and the feared Mantra Summits Challenge. The very technical mountain race in Malang, East Java, was much talked-about in the trail scene following the inaugural event that saw the race winner come into the finish after 10 hours and 43 minutes. And it was not a snail, but Fandhi Achmad, who had taken the measure of even more established mountain runners as Jan Nilsen and Pablo Diago Gonzales! 

Organised by the Malang Trail Runners, the team of female Indonesian star Shindy Patricia, Mantra Summits Challenge has even been beefed up more this year with a 73 km distance and 5500 metres of elevation gain. That's also the distance that matters for the ATM Championship. The great Kaliandra Eco Resort again plays host for the event, which also offers last year's courses of 50km, 30km and 15km.

The A-race has attracted some very strong mountain runners from across the Asian region, including some serious contenders for the ATM championship. West Java's Fandi Achmad will certainly not get a repeat victory on a silver platter on Sunday. Staying on home soil, Arief Wismoyono is scheduled to take part. The Bandung Explorer ace is always at his best in the mountains of his home country. Having started his 2018 ATM campaign relatively modestly with two fourth places in UTKC and Tahura Trail and a fifth in Sungai Menyala Forest Trail, Wismoyono ranks 6th in the ATM championship so far. The 2015 champion can jump into the top three this weekend. One runner on the start list, however, can regain the points lead: Pablo Diago Gonzales will be starting his 6th race of the season, and needs just 210 points to overtake Japan's Tomohiro Mizukoshi. That means a top 10 result at Mantra. Pablo loved this race last year and was indeed close to both Achmad and Nilsen, and actually had been.ahead early on until he missed a marker... and therefore lost time. Can he take revenge and put a fifth ATM mountain race on his record of wins? 

Alessandro Sherpa may prevent that from happening. After some strong podium places, the Malaysia-based Italian finally scored his big premier ATM race victory at Penang Eco 100k last May, beating Hong Kong superstar John Ellis in truly impressive fashion. Mantra Summits is a different animal than Penang Eco, but Sherpa is no stranger to the Indonesian high mountains neither. 

And yet, who will be able to follow Elias Tabac? Elias who? Many people probably still don't know the Mindanao mountain goat, but the Filipino was the fantastic race winner of the Pilipinas Akyathlon last February. Tabac earned a sponsored weekend by Singapore's Rolling Hills Project with that victory, and here he is at Mantra Summits for his second ATM race of the season. Being in a foreign country for the first time might be a bit intimidating for the young runner, but once on the trails we can expect him to be right at the front. 

Six women will undertake the Mantra Summits Challenge 75k, which means that a mere finish - within the CUT of 24 hours - will result in.a large points haul. Ruth Theresia starts as the obvious race favourite. She won the 50k here last year, and after a short break recently should be fresh and strong to take the 75k on Sunday... and regain the points lead in the ATM Championship! Still, she won't have a walk in the mountain park as Surabaya's Sri Wahyuni is also on the start list and keen to take her first victory after a number of podium places in ATM races. Wahyuni was pushing Theresia in Brunei this season, and this type of gruelling mountaint terrain does not scare her. Other female podium candidates are Lily Suryani, Erin Puteri Aziz, Lye Chui Peng and Fadila Yusoff. 

We will be reporting live from the event at the Kaliandra Eco Resort starting tomorrow - subject to connectivity. 

Arief Wismoyono: always strong in Indonesia

Alessandro Sherpa: a second ATM win?

Fandi Ahmad: can he repeat last year's great victory? 

Sri Wahyuni gave race favourite Ruth Theresia a tough challenge in Brunei. Can she do the same on. the much more technical Mantra trail?

Elias Tabac:the rising star from Davao could score his second ATM win of the year

China's Liang Jing, who in April also won the points race Ultimate Tsaigu in Linhai, Zhejiang, proved to be also the fastest trail runner in the Long Ji Terraces Ultra Trail in Guangxi in the Southwest of China. A race that requested and received the label of 2019 ATM Candidate Race. Liang Jing was 40 minutes ahead of Li Quang in the tough 100k race to finish in a time of 11:45:38. 

Similarly, Xie Wenfei is beginning to make a name for herself in the trail scene as she captured the women's victory in 15:45:50. Xie Wenfei was second in the Ultimate Tsaigu race earlier this year, after overtaking Philippines' Majo Liao just before halfway. In second place behind her was Wei Yanping, who outsprinted Li Na coming into the finish. 

The Long Ji Terraces Ultra Trail is taking place in one of the province's most significant tourism hotspots. The rice terraces and fields are famous throughout China and are a chapter in every backpacker guidebook for Guangxi. The event was well-appreciated by the participants and we are looking forward to formally entering the 100k race to our 2019 Asia Trail Master Championship calendar! 

Fantastic viewpoints along the course of the Long Ji Terrace Ultra Trail

Xie Wenfei wins the women's 100k

Liang Jing also number 1 in Guangxi

Runners get unexpected extra support during the race

We are happy to welcome the 1st edition of Bogd Khan Ultra Trail aka Mongolian International Steppe Marathon on 19 August as a 2019 ATM Candidate Race.  A 50k hilly grassland trail in the mountainous outskirts of capital city Ulanbaataar. With outdoor and endurance sport expert Carole Fuchs as race director and a Japanese production, the event has high ambitions to become a summer classic on the Asia trail scene. The longest distance this year is 50 km. 

A bit of background. Bogd Khan was born in Tibet and was the third most important man in the hierarchy of Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. Nevertheless, he moved and lived most of his life in Mongolia. In 1911 he was enthroned as the Khagan - Head of State - of Outer Mongolia after it declared its independence following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in what is now known as China. The Bogd Khaganate - the reign - was short-lived as in 1919 Chinese troops returned to Urga, as the capital city was then called. In the political turmoil that ensued, Bogd Khan was again reinstated to the throne for three more years till his death in 1924. Then, the People's Republic of Mongolia was officially announced, backed by Soviet Communists. The winter palace of Bogd Khan has been well-preserved an is now tourist attraction in Ulanbaataar. 

Fascinating stories and cultural relics are omnipresent in this region of the world, and for sure adds meaning to the new trail event in August. 

More details via the facebook page of the event. 

https://www.facebook.com/MSUT.Official/

Egon Trails, organiser of Ijen Trailrunning, is happy to announce a special tour package in East Java for trail runners, in conjunction with Asia Trail Master. After the Ijen race on 29/30 September, runners can bridge the gap to the following week's Plataran X Trail Bali race (6 October) by climbing Gunung Raung and do four days of exquisite sightseeing and trail training! 

Gunung Raung is the famous highest peak (3334m above sea level) of the Ijen mountains cluster and one of the most active volcanoes on Java.  The scenery is phenomenal. Beginning on Monday after the Ijen race, the guided tour package consists of 4 days and 3 nights, of which 1 on the mountain itself. The climb of Raung is a genuine training session, but other than the physical exercise there will also be plenty of cultural and more easy-going activities before taking the bus and ferry to West Bali and the Plataran resort for the X Trail event. 

The price for the package is very democratic and depends on the number of runners or people taking part. Please note that these are also special prices for participants in the Asia Trail Master points races Ijen Trailrunning and Plataran X Trail Bali Menjangan only. 

Spending a week in the breathtaking volcanic mountains of East Java and ending with beach and pure relaxation in Bali! 

More details can be obtained via info@egon.co.id and info@asiatrailmaster.com . 

The 3rd edition of the Echigo Country Trail in Nagaoka, Niigata, was the most successful to date with around 1000 runners who traveled to the traditional countryside of Japan, roughly 2,5 hours northwest of Tokyo by shinkansen bullet train. In beautiful weather, Kota Araki once again proved to be one of his country's best trail runners with an outstanding race victory in the men's 53 km. Half a year ago, Araki also won the Izu Trail Journey. He finished in 4:46 - a new course record - and over fifteen minutes ahead of Sota Ogawa, who in so doing collected his first ATM championship points after the DNF at Penang Eco 100. Ogawa ran a strong race on the generally runable course, although he prefers it rough and tough. He concluded in 5h02, and was able to hold off Kenichi Kawano and Tsutomu Nagata. Seven minutes later, Kazufumi Ose arrived in fifth place. Earlier this season, Ose was second in the 9 Dragons 50/50 in Hong Kong. 

Another sixteen minutes later, in 6th, came Tomohiro Mizukoshi. His assignment was clear at the start: finish in the top 14 to claim the points lead in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship. He did it in style and therefore is the first ever Japanese runner to be on number 1 on our championship ranking. Mizukoshi wouldn't be Mizukoshi if he hadn't grabbed the bull by the horns in the race, of course. Just like in Penang Eco, he started fast and mixed with the naturally faster-paced runners ahead of him. A courageous strategy, but he pulled it off. There's a gap of four weeks till the next points race in the ATM Championship - Mantra Summits Challenge in Indonesia on 14/15 July - so at least until then Tomohiro Mizukoshi can call himself the ATM Championship leader! 

The women's race also produced an amazing result as 47-year-old Yukako Takashima took the victory in 6:16. An impressive feat as in second place was nobody else than France's Carole Fuchs in 6:52, winner of the Cordillera Mountain Ultra and several other races outside the ATM circuit. Fuchs, of course, had just returned from a mountaineering expedition and a successful ascent of Mount Everest. It is normal she is not at her best level right now, yet let's not take anything away from Takashima's win neither. The podium was completed by Mayumi Kobayashi.

Kirk Kenny's highly-anticipated photo album of the Echigo event weekend will be made available on our facebook page later this week.  

With Ultra Trail Mount Damavand (postponed to August 2019) and Tam Dao Mountain Trail (postponed to later date) not taking place this month, the ATM Championship is taking a one-month-break now until the Mantra Summits Challenge in Malang, East Java, Indonesia on 14/15 July. That one promises to be another cracker with a very technical mountain course of 75 km and 5500 hm. 

The women's podium this year