It has been four months exactly since the last Asia Trail Master Championship points race took place. That was Ultra Trail Koh Chang in Thailand. At long last, this weekend we can all again enjoy some real action rather than ‘virtual’, even when Dalat Ultra Trail is not immune to the corona pandemic neither. The Vietnamese country border remains closed for the time being, so that only residents inside Vietnam can participate. And afterwards, we will all be in the waiting zone again until mid-September when the Vietnam Mountain Marathon is on the agenda, which will then hopefully launch an exciting final three months of the 2020 ATM season. Brief, let’s cherish the Dalat Ultra Trail as a light at the end of the tunnel and enjoy as runners or spectators to the fullest!

Originally scheduled for its usual mid-March date, DLUT attracted close to 5000 registrations, confirming its position as one of the most popular trail running events in Asia as a whole. A new 100K category has been added on top of the classic 70K, and both races offer ATM Championship points. The 100K as the A-race with 500 points for the winner and the 70K as the B-race with 370 points for the winner. After three points races in the early months of the season, Hisashi Kitamura leads the men’s ranking with 850 points and the trio of Fredelyn Alberto, Charlotte Taquet and Amy Sproston top the women’s ranking with 500 each. Kitamura theoretically only has to fear one man, and the female trio is set to become a quartet of race winners. It could, however, become a sweet year for Vietnamese elite runners. Touch wood, they have three domestic points races still on the ATM calendar and with the new updated regulations for 2020 saying “best-three-count” instead of “best-five” , they could have an ideal starting position for the ATM Final on 19 December, Borneo TMBT Ultra 100.

All the known elites of the Vietnamese trail scene are logically in Dalat this weekend. That includes Quang Tran, who led the race last year until he ‘hit the wall’. Hisashi Kitamura and John Ellis caught him after he had also missed a marking sign, and he decided to DNF. Quang Tran is the measuring stick, the reference, for all male elites in his country, and he will be keen to show that the 2019 non-finish was just an accident. He started his 2020 with a victory in a significant domestic race in a time faster than the year before. “I was very motivated to train and do well in that race,” says Quang Tran, who had also planned to move to a town closer to Dalat. “But then the covid 19 broke out and the government ordered social distancing and other preventive measures, so I returned immediately to Ho Chi Minh City as that would be easier for self-quarantine.”

Quang Tran has one A-race in mind for this shortened 2020 season: “after three years, I will return to Sapa and the Vietnam Mountain Marathon (a race he won in 2017, kvdv). I m very excited already, I spend time thinking about it almost every day.” But first Dalat. “Last year I made a mistake, I was too greedy and when I lost the right track I continued too long, stubbornly.” It is a lesson that nearly all elites once in their careers learn the hard way. “Now I m looking forward to racing again against Nhon Trong and the others. Maybe even the regional elites in Asia later in 2020, yes. In Vietnam, Nhon Trong is the one to watch in the future.”

And finally Quang Tran has some advice for all participants this weekend: “My advice is to stay calm, pace yourself well from the start, and don’t treat the ultra-trail like a race.”

Nhon Trong has been tipped by Quang Tran as the biggest trail talent for the future, and the youngster will try to show that once more in Dalat. A very fast runner, Nhon Trong went beyond his own comfort zone at the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival by doing the 84k race (which he finished in 6th place). It was his first long ultra. At the end of January, he challenged Alessandro Sherpa for the win at the Cau Dat Farm 55K race, a Candidate Race for the ATM Championship in 2021. This weekend will be his first 100K.

The same applies for Hanoi-based Frenchman Valentin Orange, who has been tipped as a dangerman this weekend. Having made consistent progress over the past year, Orange considers himself a real mountain trail runner and this weekend’s Dalat Ultra Trail is likely to fit him much better than when it is organised in March. The wet season has already started in southern Vietnam and the usual dry, runable trails in the pine forests are much muddier and therefore slower now. This creates opportunities for elites who otherwise lack the top speed to fight for victory.

Last but not least to mention is of course Hung Hai, another great Vietnamese multisport talent. Winner of the aforementioned Vietnam Mountain Marathon in the past two years, Hung Hai represented his country in the South East Asia Games last December for the duathlon race. It will be exciting to see how he deals with Quang Tran tomorrow.

Trung Nguyen has kindly enough been assisting Asia Trail Master in Dalat the past days, and will run the 100K himself, having just fulfilled the mandatory 14-day quarantine earlier in the week. Trung lives in Singapore and has had to travel to his native country for work reasons. After his 5th place in EcoTrail Al Ula in Saudi Arabia last February, he has 375 points in the bank and a theoretical chance to overtake Kitamura as points leader in the Asia Trail Master Championship. To achieve that, he needs to win and grab the 500 points that come with it. As Quang Tran said in our interview yesterday: “motivation is key”.

Highlights of the 2019 70K race

Hung Hai has trained extensively for this Saturday’s big 100k race in Dalat

A typical view: running in the pine forest. This year it could be a lot muddier and technical than normally

As we enter the final three days of the ATM 500 Run Asia, Run Virtual team challenge, no fewer than 134 teams have already completed their running journey. On day 11, thirteen squads had the honour of announcing their arrival, coming from several countries. Among the better known elite athletes today was Pablo Diago Gonzales, the Singapore-based Spaniard and multiple race winner in the ATM series over the years. Gonzales formed a team called “Doctor Pain” with his pals in Singapore and it looks like he pulled them forward . Despite being busy on the bike in recent months, Pablo collected an amazing 210 km by himself. Running on nearly a daily basis he only required 20:11:49 for that mega distance. His teammates Fran, Raquel and Ramon did their shares nicely, too. A great effort.

Other teams who finished today were:

• Rukut Rukut Team in less than 60 hours

• OFRA Running Squad

• KetaKebal I

• BOG Alpha

• SuperFit Global Team I

• JB Ultra Team A

• JB Ultra Team C

• Bandung Runderground

• Brutal Racing

• Indonesian Spartans 5

• SPR Virtuathlon

• Vertical 2 Sky Mountain Runners 3

25 more teams are now within striking distance of that epic 500k mark and can be expected to reach it tomorrow!

Our reigning female ATM Champion Veronika Vadovicova has launched her own Asia Trail Girls project , as recently already announced via our social media channels. Just before the start of ATM 500 Virtual team challenge, the project’s website was also officially launched. Originally from Slovakia in Eastern Europe, Veronika has been living in Asia for quite a few years already - mainly in Shanghai and now in Hong Kong. As she discovered the trail scene and the Asia Trail Master circuit, she found out that the percentage of women in trail running events is still quite on the low side in most countries here in the region. Asia Trail Girls is a project to foster the growth of women’s sports on the continent.

“Asia Trail Girls is a platform which is trying to help girls and women from all over Asia to discover the beauty of trail running. It is a platform where we encourage each other, give each other advice and share knowledge and experience.”

People are encouraged to contribute and blog about their own experiences in trail running, and the website will also serve as an information pool on community events and trail races across Asia. Conveniently, there is also a possibility to sign up for the newsletters so you can always stay up-to-date.

For the inaugural ATM 500, Veronika managed to sign up three all-ladies teams and inspired others in Asia to do the same. Her own “Trail Girls on Fire” managed to complete the 500k distance in just two days and with a higher average speed than the other teams on that day!

On day 10 of the inaugural ATM 500 Run Asia, Run Virtual, no fewer than 16 teams from across Asia reached the virtual finish line. Team Hallasan from South Korea included. The team built around Been Lee initially looked like it was going to finish very early, but eventually the team took their time to complete the last dozens of kilometres. Still well within the time limit of 14 days, so congratulations to the full Korean team!

Arnie Macaneras, who finished a superb second in UTKC 100 last February, brought his Vertical 2 Sky Mountain Runners 4 home today. An all-women team called Limbang Ladies, presumably from Sarawak in Malaysia, also completed the 500k today - and even with decent pacing, too.

Other teams that finished on Wednesday were:

• Indonesian Spartans 1

• TDA Runners

• Monte Alba Team

• Pinoy Runners Japan

• Team Happy Fit

• ARA Kura

• KedoDOrun Melata

• Night Walkers

• KedoDorun Professor and Prodigy

• Ketakebal 2

• Self Awareness Runners

• Team US

• US Underdogs

It is great to see so many teams completing their journeys this week. We now have 121 official finishers, meaning nearly half of the teams that started last week on Monday. We have no doubt that the remaining teams will likewise do everything possible to fulfil this challenge!

On day 9 of the inaugural ATM 500 - Run Asia, Run Virtual team challenge, no fewer than 15 teams managed to complete their journey. Among those was Team Javan Hawk Eagle Trail from Indonesia, which also set a very quick total time of 47:51:48. This team also focused on running short but sweet each day, rather than on absorbing a big ultra on one day. Congratulations to Bugi, Rani, Azizul and Mujialif!

Team ROTW from Sabah came into finish, including well-known athetes Bernardo Sanchez and, of course, Wilsen Singgin - who won the Ultimate 230K in Chiang Rai, Thailand last October. Together with Rhey Yang and Emily Andrew they completed their 500k challenge on Tuesday.

The Vertical 2 Sky team from Mindanao in the Philippines, headed by experienced runner Rexel Aguirre arrived home as well. Aguirre himself ran no less than 234 km for his team!

Other teams who reached the conclusion of the ATM 500 were:

• Cebu Mountain Goats

• Team Brutal Strike

• Bara94jul

• Tutong Brunei

• Team MCO

• Team Long Distance Relay-tionship

• Sayap Kiri Squad

• Meratus Team

• 4 Sekawan

• UN Sonsog

• KedoRun Glinding

• Team Ariwo

CONGRATULATIONS to all runners in each of the above teams, indeed!

Day 9 brings the total of finishing teams to 103. With five more days to go, will the remaining 140+ teams also make it? We certainly believe in it!

Our preferred kinesiology tape partner New-HALE has produced an excellent short explanatory video of its key products. Previously included in our episode 4 of the Tale of the Trail show, here is the video clip separately. New-HALE has been around for years and also works closely together with runners in Japan to prevent injuries and manage minor ailments. 

You can order the New-HALE V-Tape and X-Tape easily via the online Gone Running store in Hong Kong.

The second week of the ATM 500 - Run Asia, Run Virtual team challenge started how it will also end next weekend: with the spotlights shining full on Vietnam. The Dalat Ultra Trail is coming up this Saturday, the first ATM Championship race in four months and the only one for the coming three months as well. Vietnamese runners are clearly getting excited and are finalising their preparation for the big event in the cool southern highlands of the country. No fewer than three Vietnamese teams completed their ATM 500 journey on Monday - most likely no coincidence. Grand Dory & 3 Turbo Team, Team Run n Beer and RnB Dream Team 10 were happy finishers and with a few days of rest are likely to hit the trails in Dalat full on! Congratulations to all those runners!

A second team from neighbouring Cambodia also reached the virtual finish line of ATM 500. Team Phnom Penh thus follows into the footsteps of Team Kim KoK, illustrating that Cambodia has entered the regional running community in great style!

In Thailand, the CS Thailand arrived home and Canadian Michael McLean guided his Smiling Assassins home from his current base in Phuket as well. McLean is the captain of an elite squad that focused on training rather than competing over the past week, though. Fredelyn Alberto - co-ATM championship leader at the moment - ran three marathons in a row with a more-than-solid pace, something that even last year was still her weak point as an elite trail runner. Kristian Joergensen prepared himself in Denmark for his ‘Everesting’ attempt to the benefit of Medecins-sans-frontieres this coming weekend, and Tahura Trail winner Jeff Campbell put in a 35K in a time of 2:24 on day 1… In case anyone was wondering if this quartet had turned out-of-shape ..

Team Pyxis from Philipines was the only team from their country to conclude on Monday. Big thumbs up to them!

In Indonesia, the Lombok team RIOT was an excellent finisher on Monday. Lombok, the fantastic-for-sports island to the east of Bali is facing a particularly difficult year as the tourism industry has collapsed, so we hope that the performance of this running team inspires the local community to stay strong. Another team from Indonesia, this time from the main Java island, Team Wong Edan reached the virtual finish line as well. This team consists of two female ATM Grandmasters: Ina Budiyarni and Sri Wahyuni, the latter also known for ranking third in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship. The two experienced ultra runners were joined for the occasion by David Wahyu and Gandha Kristyandi. Especially for Sri Wahyuni, the ATM 500 turned out to be a very welcome pleasant experience. On her personal instagram, the Surabaya-based runner reported to have miscarried not so long ago, with all the emotional devastation that comes with it. The virtual ATM 500 challenge was her comeback to running, also thanks to the encouragement of her three teammates in Team Wong Edan. Given this background, it is amazing that Sri Wahyuni ran 140K for her team in the past week!

The first week of the inaugural ATM 500 - Run Asia, Run Virtual team challenge is a wrap! For seven days we have seen great excitement throughout Asia and we are happy to see that no fewer than 78 out of 250 teams have already reached the virtual finish line, i.e. the 500 km mark. On Sunday, 22 teams joined the others on the official results board (see below PDF file), of course taking advantage of the weekend leisure time.

Team SoFARsogood from Singapore, consisting of Zen Chew, Sean Tat, Low Mun Cheong and Neo Lay Peng managed the quickest pace of those 22 teams with a total time sub-50 hours. This team also adopted a strategy of seven relatively short daily stints rather than going for an ultra long distance on any given day. Sean Tat ‘s 42K marathon was the highest in distance, but a time of 3:46 indicates a fine run, indeed! The Malaysian Baby Shark Dududu Team and the second Uglow team from Hong Kong, featuring a.o. Matt Leung and former Vietnam Mountain Marathon winner Sayaka Matsumoto also finished their 500k challenge with a similar approach.

People adopt the strategy best suited to their running characteristics. Several people even hike on mountain trails rather than run on flat roads. In the ATM 500 Run Asia, Run Virtual, all is possible. What counts is to cover a distance of 500k within 2 weeks.

The other teams who completed their journey today were:

• THK2 Runners

• Team Falcon

• Butterflies

• Ultra Trail Girls

• Sakieu Ge Uyuhan

• BOG Delta

• Run4Life Davao

• RFI Trail Virtuathlon

• Team Pinoy

• Antam Saja

• MKRC Squad Ghouls

• Team Otucan

• Vertical 2 Sky II

• Liposu logot2

• Wong Edan Kui Kebas

• Ular Sarkodes

• Mana Mo Lari

• Team Achilles Davao

• Running Buddies 2601

• Retro 2

Day 6 brought another 12 teams to the finish of the inaugural virtual ATM 500 Team Challenge. One team in particular caught the attention: Team ‘Office Girls On The Run’ from Philippines. An all-ladies team who completed their 500k journey in an amazing time of 45:38:28, or an average speed of 10.96 km/h..

Of course let it be clear that the ‘Speedster List’ is just a gimmick. Teams who finished the ATM 500 on the first couple of days were obviously more focused on distance than on running pace. Nevertheless, it is a striking effort from this Filipino quartet consisting of Seannah Swift, Rose Russell, Nhea Barcena and Edna Agoo. They clearly had a dedicated strategy for this 500k challenge, and broke it up in six relatively short stints each per day. The longest stint was delivered by Barcena on day 1: 38 km in a time of 3:54, already indicating a solid pace. The rest of the week clearly did not tire her too much - maybe it was quiet in the office during the days - because on Saturday she recorded a stunning 15 km in 59 minutes 23 minutes! They were all flying on their last day, reportedly motivated to break the time of Sherpa’s Angels. Agoo did 32K in 2:44, Russell did 20K in 1:51:59 and Swift a 26K in 2:14:50! We certainly hope to see them back soon on the trails of the Asia Trail Master Championship!

2015 ATM Champion Arief Wismoyono led his Bandrex Bajigur team from Bandung in West Java home on Saturday as well. Wismoyono showed great form this week with fast times, such as 83K in 8:12:41 on Day 1 and a very fast 5k in 20:20 on day 3. It is great to see that Wismoyono still has that kind of speed in his legs, after two years were exactly that key element of elite running seemed to have gone missing. His protege in Bandung, Yusuf Aprian took the team’s lion share with 153km and Alan Maulana also proved his running velocity with 95K in 9:41:27. Novita Wulandari did great in completing 125k in a time of 20:53:39.

Over in the Davao area of Mindanao, the first of five Vertical 2 Sky teams reached the finish, and ironically it was “team five”. It’s the team led by Manolyn Mamugay, multiple race winner in her home region. Marjones Abugan, Marvin Concubierta and Henry Seron Jr flanked her for the past six days.

Also the Borneo Running Team, Team BisaKol, The Expandable Runners, Team Pace Siput Runners and Team AyuLizanCicaWeda were great finishers on Saturday.

The Borocay Spartans from Philippines, ASIA 2 from Thailand, TSRT from Brunei and Lari2ID from Indonesia all showed some quick times of their team’s respective members during the week. Those teams also completed their challenge now.

The fifth day of the inaugural ATM 500 Team Challenge saw another fourteen teams reach the virtual chequered flag. After five days of running, no fewer than 43 of the 250 teams have managed to complete their challenge. Just like two days ago, teams from Borneo Island somehow captured the attention on Friday. Of all finishing teams today, the Kalimantan-based Borneo Extreme Team set the fastest time of 59:01:42 and up northwest in the Malaysian State of Sabah, Milton Amat brought his family team home before the start of the weekend.

Milton actually could not run too much anymore the last two days as his tally had already reached 250 km, and remember each team member must fulfill a minimum requirement of 75 km. At the end of the day, this team ran not 500K but almost 550K in total, with Sabah’s trail running star taking 262 km for himself and Lukas Tingal another share of 126 km. Milton’s sister Egnes ran 76 km and Milton’s son Rheo did a fabulous 83K - in just under 9 hours, by the way.

Quite some more Indonesian teams completed their virtual journey today. Carla Fellani’s Child Warrior Indonesia team made it, as well as the Indonesian Spartans 1 and the Makecee Academy. Congratulations to all! Slightly under the radar because they began modestly in the beginning of the week, the ‘Miners & Friends’ team also finished. A team that consists of 3-star Grandmaster Lily Suryani - back from a period of inactivity and the opening of her own Warung Medali in Sanur, Bali - and Grandmaster Dendi Dwitiandi, the event organser of the forthcoming Bali Ultra Trail in November - a Candidate Race for the Asia Trail Master Championship series.Their team was completed by Faisal and Adi.

Squads from the Philippines have been doing great all week, and it was no surprise to see a few more teams coming in. The Team Kamote Runners features Grandmaster and Championship placer Cecile Wael, along with Emanuel Manongsong, RL Plaza and Rick Crescini. Circumstances made it difficult for them early in the week, but here they are now. The Boracay Dragonforce team, Team Ninja, Team Cholo Flight Multisports and Team Cordillera were more Filipino finishers.

A second Bruneian team successfully accepted the ATM 500 challenge. Team Last Minute Runners with Leo, Dayat, Pie and Yaza. Thumbs up!

The Flying Bird Team, Spirit 50 Team and Team Kepala Batu were three more great finishers before the first weekend. Among the many outstanding performances of the week, we noted a 50K in 4:23:44 by Tedjawirja Sunadinatha on Monday - member of Team Spirit 50.

We are sure that on the weekend many more teams will aim for the virtual finish line and we wish all of them ‘good luck!’

In the Speedster Ranking, the Sherpa’s Angels with Alessandro Sherpa, John Ellis, Chong Mei Sze and David Longo are still leading with an average speed of 11.39 km/h . It’s a gimmick, but have some teams planned a two-week-long strategy containing short but fast sections each day?

The 4th episode of the Tale of the Trail was released on Friday, 12 June at 7 pm Hong Kong time. Labeled “Embracing the continent” , it focused largely on the virtual ATM 500 team challenge, its creators and the ‘winning’ team BSK Marina Loopers in Singapore.

Main takeways:

• ATM 500 is an unexpected success. Creators Karen Geh and KC Tan talk with Kris about how it all came about and provide some statistics and further insight into the concept.

• BSK Marina Loopers each talk about their experience of a ‘crazy hot day’ in Singapore last Monday, when the quartet ran 125km each to complete the 500k of ATM 500.

• Amy Khor gets to know ‘Rocking’ Rie Sugaya better in the ‘Singapore Connection’ and learns of her background as a judoka and road runner, who got pulled into trail by a few friends

• Alfan Impriadi announces the cancellation of the 2020 Ijen Trail event, but says the 2021 edition may take place in Q2 - April or May - rather than Q3

• New-HALE explains the various uses and benefits of its excellent kinetape system in a great video

• Hisashi KItamura has been keeping busy in his garage while awaiting the relaunch of the 2020 season to defend and extend his points lead in the ATM Championship

• Shindy Patricia was this episode’s Mystery Guest, and the 2-star Grandmaster from Malang in East Java tells us about Cultra, yoga and mentoring a young generation of runners such as Christin Mutia

Watch the whole show on YouTube (also available on facebook)

Day 4 of the inaugural ATM 500 Virtual Team Challenge again witnessed the finish of no fewer than eleven teams, after only three yesterday. Some big names of the ATM scene were among those, including the Sherpa’s Angels Team, which includes reigning ATM champion John Ellis and his predecessor Alessandro Sherpa. Under pressure by the Tokyo Nomad Team from Japan in the ‘Speedster Ranking’ , the international team managed to put the hammer down one last time to run home in a total time of 43:54:52, or an average speed of 11.39 km/h. Note that this great performance was not solely achieved by the two champions. Both David Longo and Malaysia’s Chong Mei Sze proved to be in top shape as well! The latter covered 129 km for her team in a time of 12:44:08.

The Japanese team also managed to reach the virtual finish line in a total time of 44:59:11, slightly quicker than. the first of the two Hong Kong-based Uglow teams with Elsa Jean de Dieu as captain. The team only had 13km left to run after yesterday and they left that job to Bryan Crane.

The first of the Cambodian teams completed the challenge, too. Team Kim Kok has been one of the revelations this week evidence of the growth of the sport in the Southeast Asian country. In Indonesia, we saw the Team OD led by Taofik Hidayat from Bandung Explorer take the virtual chequered flag. Team Dalagan joined the six previously finished teams of the Philippines. Grandmasters Richard Akol and Tin Salazar, plus ultra specialist Rolando Espina and promising young talent Godwin Mirar - age 19 - had a good final day as well. Interesting that the youngster Godwin Mirar took the lion’s share of the team with 170 km in 16 hours 11 minutes.

Team MRKC IV, based in Malaysia, nicknamed itself “the Undertrained” , but if they can finish 500 km in only four days we would like to know what happens when they are properly trained. Great job by Eddie Wong, James Willis, Reiko Yamashita and Nicolas Terrien. An extra applause for 71-year-old James Willis, who contributed 138km for his team!

Over in Singapore we had a surprise as the Good Vibes Runners made it home despite not being on the top leaderboard yet yesterday. A great push on day 4 by Cassandra Ansari Hie, Ana Robillard, Kevin Legris and Trung Nguyen. The latter is a special case, too, as he is currently in a compulsory quarantine centre in Vietnam, where he ran the corridors up and down to reach his minimum required mileage!

Cirque de Sore Legs is a contender for “best team name” later on, but they made it clear they did not take the ATM 500 jokingly, as they completed their 500k journey as well. Well done Elliott, David, Kerensa and Steve.

Run Free is the team built around Kent Wei, with Elle Wong, Appu Kops and Adli on the roster as well. A great effort on Thursday meant they also reached the finish.

Last but not least, the all-girls team “Girls Run The World” in Hong Kong followed into the footsteps of Veronika’s Trail Girls on Fire and completed their challenge. Big kuddos to Stephanie Pezot, Fang Wei, Sherlyn Fugaban and Syazana Alia Sabrudin!

The first Hong Kong-based Uglow team also arrived in a fast time on day 4.

A wonderful introduction to Cambodia’s trail runners: team Kim Kok is already in the finish on day 4

Team MKRC IV claims to be ‘undertrained’ but covering 500k in 4 days seems otherwise :-)

Singapore’s Good Vibe Runners had a big day today and crossed the 500k mark as well

Trung Nguyen had to run his share in the corridors of his mandatory quarantine residence in Vietnam!

An excellent day 4 for Team OD in Indonesia: they made it!

A strong Filipino team with Grandmasters Richard Akol and Tin Salazar, plus ultra specialist Rolando Espina and young talent Godwin Mirar. Bingo on day 4!

The Tokyo-based Nomad Team was topping the Speedster list yesterday, but on the fourth day they had to relinquish that spot again to Sherpa’s Angels. But they arrived at the 500k mark and we saw some outstanding running by this team during the week!