Credit: TWT

Veronika Vadovicova joins John Ellis as 2019 Asia Trail Master Champion after another jaw-dropping run at TNF Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping in the State of Perak last Saturday. People are running short of superlatives when talking about the 29-year-old Slovak, even more now as she followed Kristian Joergensen and Alessandro Sherpa into the finish after 84km and 5000 hm…. ahead of Hisashi Kitamura and John Ellis. Vadovicova ends her sixth ATM race of the season unbeaten with 2700 total points, 100 more than Christine Loh and 175 more than Asuka Nakajima, who still leapfrogged Fredelyn Alberto in the final points race of the 2019 season. 

More than 2100 runners turned up for the ATM Final at a fantasic arena - including marquee tent - inside the Spritzer Eco Park just outside the city centre of Taiping. The organising team - MMTF Consultant - left no stone unturned while preparing for the event and all their efforts paid off to the extent that event the weather gods were afraid of spoiling the party. Taiping, known as the wettest city in Malaysia, didn’t receive a spot of rain for four days! The contrast with 2018 when the event almost drowned in the swamp could not have been bigger. It proved event director Ewegene Tan right when he stated that even for Taiping standards last year was extraordinary. 

As such, the mood was brilliant as soon as runners arrived at the arena on Friday. They were treated by food and drinks, local performances and ATM live interviews on stage during RPC. Nearly all the protagonists of this year’s Championship were present plus plenty of Grandmasters and other top runners who “did not want to miss this trail party’ . Among those where last year’s winner Daved Simpat, Kristian Joergensen, Xie Wenfei, Pablo Diago Gonzales, Ruth Theresia, Yuzof Eskandar, Seiji Morofuji and the strong Vietnamese duo of Quang Duc Nguyen and Nhon Trong. By Saturday’s start time of 6:00 am, two unfortunate news came in. First, Singapore-based Christine Loh confirmed she could not make it to Taiping in time for the 84k race due to work obligations (she ran 25k in the late afternoon and came a very good second in that race ahead of a.o. Tahira Najmunisaa). In fact, Loh was back at the finish just in time to see Veronika Vadovicova take the 84k win and therefore the ATM title. The second unfortunate news was the DNS of Sabah’s Milton Amat, who suffered a high ever attack on Friday night. 

Unsurprisingly, outgoing ATM Champion Alessandro Sherpa woke everyone up immediately by driving a fast pace from the gun. Only Kristian Joergensen and Hisashi Kitamura felt like responding and tagged  along. In the women’s, Guangzhou’s Kapheer Xie Wenfei looked strong and even arrived at the first checkpoint even ahead of Veronika Vadovicova and Asuka Nakajima. Eight kilometres further the positions would already switch, though, as Veronika turned on her engine and quite rapidly opened up a gap to her main opponents for the race win. By CP2 at km 30, it was already clear that the Slovak phenomenon was enjoying herself and having a blessed day. At that point she overtook Vietnam’s up-and-coming talent Nhon Trong for overall fifth place. Meanwhile, Joergensen had managed to pass Sherpa on the early slopes of Bukit Larut, the famous Taiping mountain that runners on the 84k had to climb twice, each time from a different direction. Using his poles effectively, the Manila-based Dane gradually ran away from Sherpa, without poles. However, while some feared the Italian would disintegrate - as happened a few times this season - he kept on going with a solid pace that was only a fraction slower than Joergensen. Not doing any competitive racing for two months and focusing on improving his training certainly paid off for Sherpa who had his best race of the year. Kitamura’s legs felt heavy after the previous two weeks of serious racing, but even Daved Simpat could not bridge the gap to Sherpa on Bukit Larut. About half an hour later newly crowned ATM Champion John Ellis passed by in good spirits and moving up the leaderboard (after 18km Ellis was running just inside the top 20…). New Zealand’s Gregg Porter and Yuzof Eskandar were having a great race in seventh and eighth, while Mohamed Affindi (ankle), Tomohiro Mizukoshi (knee) and Pablo Diago Gonzales (missing his top form) already showed signs of struggling. XIe Wenfei was comfortable as second woman, while Asuka Nakajima still had Ces Wael, Izzah Hazirah and Alyssa Ong in her rear view mirror so to speak. 

The second ascent of Bukit Larut settled race positions. This was were Joergensen made the difference and showed he was the strongest runner of the day. In fact, he was outstanding. From just under ten minutes at the bottom he increased his advantage over Sherpa to more than half an hour at the summit. The Italian later admitted the second climb was tough. Lucky for him that SImpat and Kitamura had nothing left neither. In fact, Veronika Vadovicova looked fresher than all of them as she dropped the Japanese and caught up with a struggling SImpat just before the summit. The Sabahan then also decided to stop running citing knee pain. Kitamura then realised a male podium was still possible for him on this technical course that is normally not his best terrain. Sensing that his main rival for that podium spot would most likely be John Ellis, who is famous for returning from the back to the front in the final third of races, Kitamura began to dig deep in his energy reservoir. Ellis and Kitamura have developed this fierce yet friendly rivalry between them over the past season and Dot Track Asia GPS dot watchers were revelling at the sight of Ellis’ dot indeed creeping closer and closer to Kitamura’s with less than 20k to go.

The final 12km to the finish were anything but flat and the three “bumps” turned out to be steep legbreakers for most of the 84k runners. A very spicy desert after the two climbs of Bukit Larut. Those hills also squeezed the juice out of Joergensen’s legs. Nevertheless, he cruised home to the finish at Spritzer Eco Park to take his best race victory ever and his second of the season in ATM in a time of 10:22. Joergensen has recently switched to a vegetarian diet and follows a more detailed training plan. He’s visibly leaner than ever. Afterwards he confirmed his intention to try and challenge for the 2020 ATM title. Alessandro Sherpa finished a great second, albeit nearly 50 minutes later. That just shows how outstanding Joergensen was. Next in the finish was Veronika Vadovicova with her typical bright smile and totally relaxed look as if she had just gone for a 10k jog. Vadovicova is the new Asia Trail Master champion and nothing short of world class. It has been truly exciting to witness her path from the first win in March at Cordillera Mountain Ultra to last week’s Izu Trail Journey in Japan and now MMTF. 84k was Veronika’s longest race of the season, by the way, which proves that medium distance elites can also grab the ATM crown if they choose their points races well. 

Hisashi Kitamura depleted himself entirely to claim fourth overal and third male on the podium. For the second race in succession, he has the upper hand against John Ellis - fourth male. The Australian already tipped the ever-improving Karate Kit for the 2020 ATM title challenge. Another runner who has become a genuine podium contender in the long and tough ultras is Sabah’s Wilsen Singgin. For the 28-year-old, winner of Ultimate 230 in Chiang Rai, it was also his third ultra weekend in a row and to finish 5th male and 15 minutes behind Ellis is impressive. Singgin was first Malaysian as well therefore and still forces himself into the ATM Championship final Top 10 of 2019. Vietnam’s Nhon Trong, too, is going to be a hot guy to follow next season. Hailing from Ho Chi Minh City, Nhon Trong only began running a year ago and already managed to get himself a big win at Penang Eco 50k this year, which put him under our microscope. Originally thinking of doing the 55k at MMTF, Nhon Trong upgraded to 84k on Friday night to race against and learn from the other elites. Sixth place was a great reward and according to several race observers on the course even more could have been possible. 

Next came Xie Wenfei as second female and eight overall. The colourful China runner also expressed ATM title ambitions for next season and will certainly be a contender on her form of the last three months. The “stranger” on the MMTF course and inside the top 10 of the leaderboard all day turned out to be Gregg Porter from New Zealand, who made his debut on the ATM tour. Running very consistently, Porter secured 7th place in the male category. Malaysia’s Beng Wan Ong was another less familiar name in 8th place and second of his country. He managed to keep Tomohiro Mizukoshi and Seiji Morufji behind. The latter arrived together with 3rd place woman Asuka Nakajima, who by doing so also scored 50 extra points to jump ahead of Fredelyn Alberto to third place in the ATM Championship ranking. The Jakarta-based Japanese actually had a very good performance herself, which was testimony to her excellent debut season in ATM in which she scored 3 race victories. Philippines’ Fredelyn Alberto herself was still tired from her first 100 miles race in Thailand a week ago and finished 9th in the race. That translates into 4th place in the Championship. 

Last year’s female MMTF winner Izzah Hazirah proved that she truly likes the Taiping terrain by edging out Ces Wael for fourth place. Alyssa Ong was next as sixth woman. Filipino mountain runner Koi Grey secured his fifth place in the ATM championship already before the start as Thailand’s Sukrit Kaewyoun was a DNS. It may have taken the pressure off Koi as he cruised into the finish as 14th. 

The 2019 Asia Trail Master Championship is a wrap. We wish to express deep gratitude to all our contributors, sponsors, media and other supporters for the past season - the best ever yet again - and of course a BIG thank you to all you runners who keep coming in always bigger numbers and enjoying the events on our race calendar, be it as a championship contender or a Grandmaster Quest runner. Without all of you, Asia Trail Master cannot exist. 

We wish everybody a fantastic festive season and we’ll be back hitting the trails on 18 January 2020 with the traditional season opener in Bandung, Indonesia: Tahura Trail ! 

Finish of 2019 Asia Trail Master champion John Ellis as 4th male

Km 52 Race Report: Veronika Vadovicova is together with Hisashi Kitamura

KM 31 Race Report: Joergense has overtaken Sherpa

Km 18: Sherpa leads Joergensen while Vadovicova overtakes Xie Wenfei

Kristian Joergensen was the dominant male winner of MMTF

One week after his title winning 100 miler, John Ellis ran a courageous race to finish 4th

A win was never on the cards but Asuka Nakajima ran a great race to finish 3rd in the ATM Championship

Wilsen Singgin was a surprisingly strong 5th and first Malaysian to sneak into the ATM Top 10

China’s Xie Wenfei was 2nd woman and 7th in the finish overall: let’s not forget this was remarkable!

John Ellis was crowned the male 2019 Asia Trail Master champion in Thailand last weekend, but the women’s title is yet to be decided this Saturday at the ATM Final in Malaysia, the TNF Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping in the State of Perak, not too far from Penang. The ATM Final brings together most of the Championship top ten, Grandmasters and other protagonists for the final race weekend of what has again been an incredible season of Asian trail running. The 84km race around Taiping is a technical and tough one with elevation gain of over 5200 hm and always a chance of a heavy rainshower.

A year ago the event nearly drowned under the heavy downpours that lasted most of the day and night. Event organiser and Taiping native Ewegene Tan assured everyone that the weather was extraordinary even for his city’s wet standards. He has been proven right because this week we have seen blue sky and sunshine almost. every day. In any case, runners have not been deterred neither, which is testimony to the great event management skills of the team, as no fewer than 2100 will toe the starting line this weekend, with nearly a thousand on the two long race categories of 84km and 55km. For a clear understanding, only the 84km matters for the ATM Championship conclusion.

Rain or no rain, TNF MMTF is a rainforest trail with two major ascents AND descents in it. This appeals to many, less to others with fewer technical skills. John Ellis, to name one, found it much too risky to hing his championship ambitions on this final race of the season and decided to try his luck in The Punisher and Ultra Trail Panoramic. The Australian Hong Konger is a tactical mastermind and he argued that Milton Amat could be hard for him to beat in Taiping. As we all know, his strategy worked out very well. He took the title, yet will run MMTF nevertheless - big kuddos to him. The men’s race will therefore be a race for a prestigious race victory and for the runner-up positions in the ATM Championship ranking. The start list is outright impressive for an Asian race and is a dream for people who enjoy placing a bet. Asia Trail Master would also like to thank all the participants for turning up in droves for this final appointment of the 2019 calendar! Saturday’s race is going to be a big show and we can follow the action live as all leading contenders will carry a GPS device. Follow them here via the Dot Track Asia platform.

When scrutinising that men’s start list, we realise that it might actually be a tough ask for all three leading Championship rivals - Ellis, Hisashi Kitamura and Milton Amat - to expect a podium finish on Saturday. For Ellis and Kitamura it is the third ultra weekend in a row, and Amat also ran his 100 miles last week. Logically speaking, MMTF for them will not only be a physical task, but also a mental one. We have top runners entering the race fresh as a daisy such as Daved Simpat - the winner last year -, Kristian Joergensen - in the shape of his life - and Alessandro Sherpa - the 2018 ATM Champion who has skipped competition recently to focus on training and who knows this course already. Put others in the mix such as Koi Grey, Mohamed Affindi, Pablo Diago Gonzales, Sukrit Kaewyoun, Tomohiro Mizukoshi and last but not least Hung Hai and Quang Duc Nguyen. Koi Grey and Sukrit Kaewyoun are battling for a top five ranking in the ATM Championship. Koi was fourth in his comeback to trail running in this race precisely. Sukrit ran “only” the 50km of Panoramic to save energy for Saturday. Tomohiro is again fully fit, as he proved in Izu Trail Journey last week. Affindi wants to finish the season like he started: as a race winner. Especially after a prolonged break due to military duties. Pablo Diago Gonzales was one of the very last sign-ups, saying “I don’t want to miss this party”. Note: Pablo Diago excels on tough technical terrain. Hung Hai is the double winner of Vietnam Mountain Marathon of the past two years and running abroad for the first time. Quang Duc Nguyen is a more established Vietnamese trail runner who actually kept Hung Hai in check this year at the Vietnam Jungle Marathon in May.

One top runner in our ATM series has had to pull out of MMTF with a nasty parasite infection, unfortunately: Ander Iza Rekakoetxea is receiving special treatment in his native Spain and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Christine Loh in pole position, but Veronika Vadovicova still the title favourite

By winning three races in a row in Thailand, Malaysia’s “pocket rocket” Christine Loh has propelled herself into the ATM Championship points lead before MMTF and is therefore in pole position to become the new champion this weekend. She will battle against Asuka Nakajima and Veronika Vadovicova for the title in Taiping. Christine is a good runner who is, however, not the biggest fan of the most technical jungle trails. Famously in June, she quit halfway through Moon 100 in Thailand saying she is not a bushwhacker. For Christine on Saturday, she may very well be counting on the fact that to finish first you first need to finish. The fact that she is in the points lead puts the pressure on her two rivals, as it remains to be seen how much is left in her own tank after the 100 miles of UT Panoramic last weekend.

Green-eyed and not shy of wide smile, Veronika Vadovicova has captured the attention of the whole Asian trail community this season. While still based in Shanghai in the first semester of 2019, the former triathlete from Slovakia in Eastern Europe dominated every race she started in a style that raised plenty of eyebrows. Standing out was her 4th place overall in Sungai Menyala, three minutes behind John Ellis and three minutes ahead of Mohamed Affindi. One month later, she was running alongside Hisashi Kitamura in Vietnam Jungle Marathon, pushing the Japanese to an effort-induced collapse at the finish line. Vadovicova disappeared from the scene in summer as she moved back home, but last week she re-emerged to become the first foreigner to win the Japanese classic Izu Trail Journey. Vadovicova looks world class and on paper few would bet against her at MMTF. A top 3 placing in Saturday’s race is enough for her to beat Christine Loh’s 2600-point-benchmark. Yet, Veronika has knee worries and the technical course around Taiping could become a painful affair.

So tight is the female ATM Championship competition this season that Asuka Nakajima tumbled from first to fourth place in the ranking just a week ago! The good news for the Japanese road runner turned trail runner is that mathematically she can still reach Christine Loh’ mark of 2600 points by winning MMTF. Obviously, that doesn’t leave her any room for manoevre or tactical play, yet it may also be liberating as winning the race is all she has to think of. And then hope Loh and Vadovicova fail to score any points. Nakajima is known as a roadie, but actually she has already earned her spurs on the trail a while ago. Let’s not forget she was dominant in Mantra Summits Challenge - one of the toughest events on the ATM calendar. This indicates she may also be at ease in Taiping. Contrary to the other two title contenders, Nakajima took a break from the circuit since Borneo TMBT Ultra 100 and may arrive fresh and fully fit.

For Fredelyn Alberto, the ATM title dream ended in Thailand last week when Christine Loh had the upper hand. Alberto, a role model in Hong Kong, is another athlete who won a lot of hearts in the course of this ATM season. The Filipino domestic worker had some outstanding races, mostly on technical terrain such as this weekend in Taiping. If the legs still allow, Alberto will be aiming for a second ATM race win after Moon 100 - and a top three ranking in the Championship.

Other women to look out for as podium contenders or more are last year’s winner Izzah Hazirah, in-form Jcy Ho, Adelinah Lintanga - second last year in this race, the ever-improving Ces Wael and last-but-not-least Kapheer Xie Wenfei from Guangzhou, the incredible winner of Ultimate 230 in Chiang Rai two months ago. The Chinese runner actually can be a spoiler for the title contenders because she has bagged two ATM results this season, the other being 3rd place in Ultimate Tsaigu 110K. Regulations say that anyone with minimum two results is eligible to score more points at MMTF. Kapheer is therefore the women’s dark horse for Saturday!

Glory for Malaysia on Saturday? Christine Loh enters MMTF as the points leader in the ATM Championship

Asuka Nakajima retains a mathematical chance of grabbing the ATM crown

Veronika Vadovicova pulling Hisashi Kitamura forward during VJM in May. The unbeaten Slovak is the big favourite to win the ATM title, but her knee is bothering her still after Izu Trail Journey last week.

Izzah Hazirah won MMTF last year and returns to Taiping this weekend

Kapheer Xie Wenfei won Ultimate 230 in Chiang Rai: the dark horse for Saturday without a doubt!

Mohamed Affindi won the season opener in Indonesia. Can he win the season closer in his home country?

Hung Hai, twice winner of Vietnam Mountain Marathon could cause the upset in the men’s race

Daved SImpat won MMTF a year ago and returns as a big favourite yet again after a tough season

MMTF is technical when dry. When wet it is outright challenging

The TNF Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping in Malaysia’s State of Perak is this year’s Asia Trail Master Championship Final on 14 December and the excitement is rising as the last weeks of running of 2019 approach. We are very happy to know already that almost every runner currently ranked in the top 10 of the men’s and women’s championship standings will be present in Taiping. MMTF has also pledged free entry and hotel for those top-ranked athletes. Anyone who still want to get inside the top 10 and enjoy the privilege should run The Punisher near Davao on 30 November. That’s the cut-off for MMTF privileges.

Below you can now see the final race course plan of the 85 km - the main race of the event. Last year the event was - unfortunately for some, fortunately for others - soaked in rain to the extent it can hardly rain more this time around. We expected a dryer race, but the biggest difference compared to 2018 will be that it will almost be a complete daytime race - at least for the protagonists. Start time is 6:00 am.

TNF MMTF Malaysia is the Asia Trail Master Championship Final in Taiping on 14/15 December. It is the 84km race where most likely the male and female champions will be crowned, although that of course depends on the points situation going into the event. 

Speaking of which, for those runners challenging for a good ranking in this year's Championship, please remember the special regulations. 550 points for the winner, and only runners who have scored points in minimum 2 ATM races during 2019 are eligible for points in this TNF MMTF 84km race. This is to warrant a fair competition between the contenders for the title. The same minimum-race-rule applies for Ultra Trail Panoramic and Izu Trail Journey a week earlier, albeit that 1 ATM in 2019 suffices there.

Please also note that the Top 10 of the ATM Championship ranking after The Punisher in Davao, Philippines, on 30 November receives A FREE race entry for TNF MMTF Malaysia, along with tons of media and sponsor exposure as a big show is in the making!

As announced during our video broadcasts at Tahura Trail last weekend, the 2019 Asia Trail Master Championship will reach its conclusion in Malaysia on 14/15 December. The Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival, in brief MMTF, will be held for the second time in Taiping, Perak, and feature a 85 km race that will be labeled as the ATM Final.

The event had a successful inaugural edition two months ago and Taiping City will be a very welcoming host to the top contenders in this year’s championship. As in 2018, the ATM Championship Final will offer 550 points to the winner of the 85 km race, but only those runners who have scored two results during the year will qualify for points at MMTF. This measure was introduced last year to guarantee the fairest of fights between the championship challengers.

In order to become the last event of the ATM season, MMTF will thus be held two weeks later than in 2018, and follows Ultra Trail Panoramic in Thailand and Izu Trail Journey in Japan on the calendar.

Event Director Ewegene Tan is delighted to have MMTF as the ATM Championship Final: “We will do our very best to ensure a fantastic trail running experience for all runners, whether fighting for the championship or simply completing the race.”

More details will become available in due course. Registration is also due to open soon.

ATM cover page

14/12 - Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival (MAS)

The last 100 miler of the ATM season in Hong Kong was won by local ultra runner Wong Wai Lun, but only narrowly so. At the very end, he had an advantage of only 20 seconds on Lau Chun Man and Jiang Liangjun. Of the ATM protagonists, Japan’s Hisashi Kitamura was running with the front pack until km 90, when nasty stomach cramps sealed his fate. Kitamura had to DNF and therefore stays sixth in the ATM Championship ranking. A remarkable finisher in ATM context was Brunei’s Ali Ajis Rasil. He completed his 10th Grandmaster distance and is therefore now a 2-star Grandmaster!

Meanwhile in Malaysia, the inaugural Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival took place in Taiping, Perak. A 2019 ATM Candidate Race organised by Ewegene Tan, a renowned ultra trail runner himself. The 70km main race - and all the others - were characteristed by very wet, muddy and slippery conditions that made the trails hardly runable. In addition, many rope sections up or down steep hills were a test of upper body strength for many participants. According to many, the weather of the previous days had made MMTF arguably the toughest ultra race in the country. Plenty of talented runners at the starting line, too. Including Alessandro Sherpa, ATM championship points leader. The Italian has suddenly come under pressure after being beaten in a straight dual by Spain’s Salva Rambla in the Singapore Trail Blazer last week. Rambla announced he was going to Izu Trail Journey and decided to DNS in Taiping to save his energy. Rambla can still become ATM champion now, leaving Sherpa hardly a choice but to travel to Japan as well next weekend. Perhaps with that in mind, Sherpa did not protest to loudly when race officials disqualified him after six hours of racing for officially missing a checkpoint (CP3), which appeared to be the result of a misunderstanding. At that point, Sherpa was trailing the two Sabahan brothers-in-law Daved Simpat and Saffery Sumping. Just behind was Filipino Koi Grey, making his comeback on the ATM circuit after a two-year-absence. Grey later missed a marker, which put him out of contention for the victory. Still, it was a remarkable return for the fashionable and popular pinoy runner, and his fourth place was well-deserved. Australia’s Christopher Koelma was a happy but tired third place, but nobody could touch the two runners from Kota Kinabalu. It was no surprise that Simpat arrived first, with Sumping some minutes down in second. Together with Milton Amat, the Sabahan trail runners could become a major force on the 2019 ATM Championship tour.

In the women’s 70k race we saw the emergence of a new local Malaysian talent, Izzah Hazirah. The 29-year-old from Kuala Lumpur ran to victory in only her second major trail race ever, and her first over an ultra distance. She finished half an hour ahead of Ng Song Hiang and more than an hour ahead of Norzaimee and Grandmaster Adelinah Lintanga. Izzah Hazirah loves mountain hiking, but has no real history as a runner. She has joined Team Malatra and we are looking forward to seeing more of her in the next season.

The fact that MMTF was a very specific trail race was proven by the results of Evelyn Lek and Siokhar Lim as well. Both are solid race winners in this year’s ATM championship series, but both struggled to come to terms with the slippery course in Taiping.

One woman who felt it was fun, though, was Tahira Najmunisaa. Barely six weeks after the birth of her fourth child, Tahira returned to competition and won the short distance race of 15km. She is already looking forward to getting back into to top shape for 2019.

Ali Ajis Rasil is now a 2-star Grandmaster

Credit: adventuredotmy

Credit: adventuredotmy

2-Star Grandmaster Lily Suryani spinning the wheels at night