It has been a while since our latest formal news announcement, as basically all races under the ATM 2021 umbrella got cancelled in recent months due to the ongoing covid 19 pandemic that keeps a firm grip on the Asian continent. It has forced us to have a major rethink of the entire Asia Trail Master series’ set-up, given that, today, there still seems no end in sight to the extraordinary situation we all find ourselves in. This coming Friday, 1 October, we will be sharing initial decisions taken, and ideas developed for 2022. Please stay tuned.

Also in 2021 Vietnam seems to be the Asian country where most ‘real’ trail running events are and will be taking place. Vietnam Mountain Marathon and Vietnam Jungle Marathon are the classics on the Asia Trail Master Championship calendar in the mean time and already open for registration. Hopefully, by end of August and October some international runners will be able to enter the country by that time. That is currently still impossible, which is why Dalat Ultra Trail, which takes place this year early May, was not on our intended event calendar for 2021. This has opened an opportunity for another Vietnamese event to enter the ATM Championship and that honour has gone to last year’s Candidate Mu Cang Chai Trail in the northeast of the country. MCC, as it is often abbreviated, is scheduled for 18/19 September, which is the old date of VMM after the latter moved forward to end of August. As previously announced, Mu Cang Chai Trail offers a chance to the faster medium distance trail runners with the 50k race as the ATM Championship points race. The event organiser released a great teaser video - embedded below - to get you in the mood. Registrations open by the end of March.

Registrations are also open for the multiday boutique event Bali Volcano Race in December. This new event has the ATM Candidate Race label and has a lot of options on its programme. There’s the 3-day stage race, with limited numbers, and there’s two single day races around Mount Batur as well: Batur Extreme and Batur Adventure. Bali Volcano Race has Spanish roots and is one of several new events that were in the pipeline on the island of the gods last year. Hopefully, things can really get going in the coming months, indeed. More details on BVR via its website.

As mentioned above, Vietnam Mountain Marathon and Vietnam Jungle Marathon are open for registration as well , and you can do so via the website of the event organiser.

The ATM Final is set in Malaysia on 18 December, and if you were there or were following the 2019 race coverage you know you do not want to miss this: Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping is open for registration as well.

Another ATM Candidate Race has opened the books this week and confirmed its event date for 2021. Malnad Ultra in India is scheduled for 27/28 November. It will be the 5th edition of the event, which offers three ultra categories of 110km, 80km and 50km. The course takes runners through the beautiful Kadumane Estate, with stunning views in the Western Ghats of South India. A nice and comprehensive teaser video is embedded below.

VMM in Sapa has one of the most iconic finish lines in Asia

Not a lot of news over the past two weeks on the ATM circuit, as everyone keeps waiting for possibilities to make more formal and decisive plans. The good news, however, is that the registrations for the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival and the Vietnam Mountain Marathon have been going well, indicating again how hungry many runners are for real events. Ewegene Tan, event organiser of MMTF, even mentions a lot of international sign-ups, not in the least from the Philippines. MMTF is the last event on the ATM calendar this year on 18 December, making it the “ATM Final” once again after 2019.

How that Championship Final will be designed is a matter that is increasingly being discussed these weeks, as it appears unlikely the majority of Asian runners will be able to put in four of five results during the 2021 season. We will be updating you all on this in the coming weeks.

Registration for MMTF goes via the official event website.

In Vietnam, runners have had the most opportunities to keep up their racing spirit and so far it looks like that may remain the case in 2021. Both the Vietnam Mountain Marathon (end of August) and Vietnam Jungle Marathon (mid-October) are open for registration. These are popular events, so you may wish to sign up already and keep your participation chances alive. Go to the official website.

In Thailand, things have become more complicated in recent months but are expected to normalise again in May. Nevertheless, following meetings with local authorities on Koh Samui, organiser teelakow has decided to postpone Samui Monkey’s Trail from May to September at a weekend to be decided later. At the same time, it has been announced that the trail route will be completely redesigned for this year’s edition. For more info on Samui Monkey’s Trail, please consider the event’s facebook page.

Over in Japan, the Echigo Country Trail in Nagaoka, Niigata, remains one of the earliest events on the schedule for this year on 20 June. Registrations for the 60km points race are open via the official website.

Here’s our second brief news round-up as the global covid 19 pandemic continues to restrict travel and event organisation opportunities. It is now exactly one year since the last international points race for the Asia Trail Master Championship. That was UTKC, aka Ultra Trail Koh Chang, in Thailand. A year ago, Fredelyn Alberto looked stronger than ever in winning the women’s tough 100k race, and a weakened Hisashi Kitamura, due to sickness, had to content himself with third place behind the surprisingly strong Filipino Arnie Macaneras and last-minute winner Paul Dunn. Ryan Whelan won the 70K for men, and Elviemma Catabay completed the Filipino success in Thailand that day by taking victory in the women’s 70km. UTKC saw some unexpected and amazing runs by people who had been working hard for months to reach that level of performance. Hopefully, these runners have not given up during the pandemic and will harvest more fruit from their training labour as soon as competition resumes.

In the Philippines, sadly, this may take still several months. This week, Philip Anthony of the MUSPO event at Lake Apo on MIndanao informed us they have not received the permission from the authorities to hold the scheduled event this July. Rather than postponing by a few months and see what happens, the organisation has decided to shift focus immediately towards 2022. MUSPO is sponsored by HOKA ONE ONE and is an eagerly anticipated young event with a 100k that shows a good balance between runable and technical terrain.

A formal decision on the Negros Oriental event set in early June, Puncak Tanawan Mountain Run, is expected within the next two weeks. The other two Filipino events on the ATM Calendar, Cordillera Mountain Ultra and The Punisher are scheduled back-to-back at the end of this year.

In Malaysia, the new Candidate Race Jagoi Heritage Run in Sarawak has been postponed. Originally set for April, the 50k event will now take place on the first weekend of November. Another Candidate Race, the Bali Volcano Race - which offers a stage race and individual race categories - is back on the programme for the second weekend of December.

Theoretically speaking, the first points race event on the calendar remains Korea 50k on 22/23 May.

Paul Dunn, Arnie Macaneras and Hisashi Kitamura. A fantastic podium at UTKC 100 now one year ago

Elviemma and Fredelyn: Filipinos dominated the women’s 100k and 70k races at UTKC

Ryan Whelan scored his maiden ATM points race victory on the 70k at UTKC last year

Bix Hydration has launched its second flavour, Mixed Berry! Bix is your daily recovery supplement with 12 vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes to help you recover faster and keep you on top of your game.

Made in Germany with only natural colors and flavours, the formulation is designed to maintain optimal hydration and maximise recovery after any workout. Bix reduces muscle cramps, tension & stiffness, and improves energy levels, muscle endurance and cardiovascular health. Bix can be used during busy working days as it improves energy production and healthy red blood cell formation & brain function.

Bix Hydration was founded by Vlad Ixel, a professional trail and ultra runner who has won over 100 running races around the world ranging from 5k road races to 100km trail races. For many years Vlad has been using hydration tablets for recovery right after exercise. He would take 4-6 different tablets to give his body the right amounts of vitamins and minerals for the best recovery until he decided to create a recovery hydration tablet that had it all. After 2 years of research and development with a top sports laboratory in Germany, he finally launched the world's first hydration recovery tablet, Bix Recovery!

Find out more at www.bixvitamins.com , where you can also order online , or you can also do so via our preferred retail store Gone Running in Hong Kong (https://gone.run/collections/nutrition/cf-vendor-bix-recovery)

As Tahura Trail in Indonesia got cancelled at the very last moment, we are once again looking at a draught of real trail running events with for the foreseeable future. Our 2021 intended event calendar, released early December 2020, had already anticipated this renewed situation as the global covid 19 pandemic is still raging. The calendar has a clear focus on the second semester, and as such nothing much has been changing in the past couple of months. However, there’s always a bit of news and we will be posting a weekly or bi-weekly round-up going forward.

Korea 50K moves to 22/23 May 2021

With Tahura Trail called off at the last minute, the next real race on the ATM Calendar is Korea 50k. Normally taking place towards the end of April, the organisational team decided earlier this week to create a bit more breathing space and move it back by one month to 22 and 23 May. Still, the covid 19 situation is not over in South Korea neither, and a final decision whether the event can happen will be discussed again with the authorities of Dongducheon City at the end of this month. It goes almost without saying that in any case it will be an event with domestic residents-only, as there is no expectation of an open border by then.

MMTF in Malaysia opens registration

As in 2019, the last race in the Asia Trail Master Championship series this year will be the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping, Malaysia on 18 December. The ATM Final will have a new race venue in the city, Esplanade, and offers several race categories of which the 84 km is of course the main one for the Championship contenders. The event has opened regular registration this week, so if you want to be already certain of your spot in the participants’ list, you can sign up here.

Echigo opens registration and a new website

Yuta Matsuyama of Team Uglow Asia is the new race director of Echigo Country Trail and he has been freshening up and redesigning several aspects of the Japanese event, which has been part of the Asia Trail Master Championship series since 2016. The event takes place in Nagaoka in Niigata, roughly 2 hours northwest from Tokyo by shinkansen but there’s also a few international flights going there directly - in a normal world. The main race is 60 km long now with 2350 metres of elevation and if you are in Japan, you can sign up now. Have a look at the great new website as well.

Two A-races per event in Thailand

In Thailand there is a tendency to introduce mega ultra distance races to the trail event programmes, which creates the option for having more than 1 so-called A-race for ATM Championship points. As was already the case at Ultra Trail Chiang Rai in previous years, also at Doi Nhok Trail, Samui Monkeys Trail and Ultra Trail Chiang Mai, runners can choose between the 100 miles (or longer) or the medium distance category and earn a full haul of points for their performances. The only difference is that finishers on the 100 miles or longer get the traditional “100-Miles Bonus” of 25 points as well.

The Doi Nhok Trail event in Thailand on 6 November now offers two A-points races for the Asia Trail Master Championship. The longest distance, the 100 miles, was already labeled as such, but now also the medium distance of 58 km will be credited with 500 points for the winner.

The Doi Nhok Trail takes place in the north of the country in Wang Nuea in Lampang, roughly between the cities Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. The region is beloved by trail runners and certainly in Thailand it has become the playground for many events in the last few years. Doi Nhok Trail, in short DNT, is new on the ATM calendar this year. It will be the last of four scheduled events in the country, following Samui Monkeys’ Trail, Ultra Trail Chiang Mai and the classic Ultra Trail Chiang Rai - still the Thailand SuperTrail in ATM with 50 bonus points for all finishers.

We are nearly one week into 2021 and what everyone hopes to be a more pleasant year with - some months down the line - the resumption of (international) mass participation events. While we wait, we can get in shape. It is typical to gain a few kilos or pounds during the end-of-year festivities so here is your chance to motivate yourselves to get those running shoes back on and get out there on the trails or just on the roads. The 7 Missions team running challenge begins next week on Monday, and - in the spirit of ATM 500 - is going to be another pan-asian running community happening lasting for one week and with manageable requirements for all. Teams of four runners will be running a predetermined distance each day, with the goal of “completing the mission”. That requires three of the four team members to run the required distance (or 1 hour time on Wednesday). To add a bit of a competitive aspect, for those who like, the team that completes all 7 missions in the fastest time will be declared winner. The fastest runners and best climbers in each team will also be awarded via the Cheetah Cup and the Mountain Goat Trophy.

The 7 Missions is happy and grateful to be supported by T8, Uglow, OTSO and High Trail 9 Peaks Ulju. All sponsors will be handing out prizes to the best performing teams and to lucky draw winners as well.

We keep the registration open until Sunday night at midnight, so if you haven’t registered your team yet, you can still look for your team partners and do so in the next days via the link below on the Sportlicious Malaysia website.

Stay tuned for more news , and please also join our instagram and facebook pages to get the latest news and team presentations.

The 9th edition of Tahura Trail in Bandung will not be the same spectactular trail festival weekend as usual, but at least there will still be ‘real’ trail running on the original 42k marathon course, and ATM Championship points up for grabs on Saturday, 23 January. Good news for runners in Indonesia, who have a chance to score points in the same manner those in Vietnam, Thailand and Japan have been able to do in the past couple of months. It is a brilliant and laudible effort by the running division of IBA, technical event organisers, to make this happen in an area where the health crisis is currently far from over. Registration opens on Boxing Day, 26 December.

Under the tagline “The new normal” , the Tahura Trail event as a whole will actually last for two full weeks, as covid 19 prevention measures do not allow more than 150 people inside the park and on the trail course on the same day. The event protocol has been agreed with local authorities and will be strictly policed. Even though everyone has a fortnight from 16 to 31 January to run the course in the various race distance categories, it is important to emphasise that the elite runners aiming for ATM Championship points must sign up for the race on the 23rd, as all other days do not count. The main reason is to of course ensure everyone will be running in the same weather and trail conditions.

The Indonesian country borders remain closed for the time being, so the event will be held with domestic residents-only. Race packages, including timing chip, will be sent by post to successful registrants, who also need to hand in a valid rapid test result certificate from a hospital when they come to the Tahura park. Runners are required to download the race route onto their GPS watch or phone app, and follow the permanent marking signs along the route. Very important for result verification is also the requirement to take photos at the starting point, all checkpoints along the route and the finish point. The official starting time for the elite 42k race is between 6 and 8 am.

Last January the Tahura Trail race was won by Jeff Campbell, who had already won once back in 2018, and Charlotte Tacquet. In the upcoming edition, local and other Indonesian trail stars such as Ruth Theresia, Arief Wismoyono, Yusuf Aprian and Taofik Hidayat will have a great opportunity to boost their ATM Championship ranking before international events resume again.

What a podium in the men’s race last year. Jeff Campbell took his second win at Tahura

Max 150 runners permitted per day, but that should still provide for a great race on the 23rd when the ATM Championship points are on the line

At home in the Tahura Park: Ruth Theresia. She could move up to 2nd place in the 2020-21 ATM Championship ranking

Will Yusuf Aprian grab the chance to run himself into the international picture this time around?

Planning anything has become a game with an uncertain outcome in most sectors of public life during the covid 19 pandemic, and even more so when it concerns mass participation events and international country border crossings . Later than usual, but very happy to be able to do so, Asia Trail Master is now releasing the ‘intended’ 2021 event calendar for the merged 2020/2021 Asia Trail Master Championship and Grandmaster Quest. We felt that ‘intended’ describes the current calendar better than ‘provisional’, as it signals our dedication to make the below a reality, and give all runners a reliable guideline for what they can expect in the coming year. Nevertheless, more than ever this is a temperamental animal and we hope runners will understand and remain cautious when doing any planning.

Even though there are several positive sounds coming out in the media these weeks about the approval and availability of vaccinations soon, we must be realistic and accept that nothing much will change yet in the first quarter of 2021, and possibly even longer. We have therefore decided to focus very much on the second semester in the belief - or should it be ‘hope’ - that international trail running events will again become possible by then. Certainly, not every country will open its borders at the same time and we will remain flexible to make adjustments, if needed, and in agreement with the local event organisers.

In the mean time, following Thailand, Vietnam and Japan, Indonesia is one of the Asian countries that looks set to allow events to take place for domestic runners-only. Tahura Trail in Bandung, West Java, and the returning Coast to Coast Night Trail Ultra in Yogyakarta, Central Java, are scheduled for 23 January and 27 March, respectively. As we have approved in the other countries just mentioned, participants will be scoring points for the Asia Trail Master Championship but only their best of the two results will be retained if they run both events.

Tahura Trail will therefore once again be the official first race of the new season. More details will be coming out later this week.

The below event calendar is by no means complete. Some events originally scheduled for early in the year are postponed to an as yet undecided later date. These events, such as Cau Dat Farm Ultra in Vietnam and EcoTrail Al Ula in Saudi Arabia, have been left out of the calendar for the time being. Also UTKC in Thailand, one of the more popular early season events since several years, will be skipped in 2021 and substituted by a new Thai entry in our series in November: Doi Nhok Trail. Other new entries so far are High Trail 9 Peaks Ulju in South Korea and Mu Cang Chai Trail in Northwest Vietnam. The 9 Dragons in Hong Kong already announced the cancellation of the 2021 event a few weeks ago.

The Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival (MMTF) in Taiping will close the season on 18 December.

As we approach 2021 and draw a line under this difficult year, Asia Trail Master will keep providing updates to the calendar, as weil as launch a series of innovations to enter the new year full of optimism and energy. In this context, we also recommend everyone to get your friends together and team up for the 7 Missions virtual team challenge from 11 to 17 January!

Intended 2021 event calendar

• more events will still be added

• Championship chasers should check carefully which race(s) of an event offer points

• Grandmaster Quest challengers always score a point when a race is 70km or longer

• all is subject to pandemic development

2020/21 ATM Championship:

23/01/21 - Indonesia - Bandung - Tahura Trail - 42 km
27/03/21 - Indonesia - Yogyakarta - Coast To Coast Night Trail Ultra - 70 km (to be confirmed in due course)
24/04/21 - South Korea - Dongducheon - Korea 50K - 58 km (event date to be confirmed)
06/06/21 - Philippines - Negros Oriental - Puncak Tanawan Ultra 70 km (event will be confirmed before 1 April)
20/06/21 - Japan - Niigata - Echigo Country Trail - 60 km
26/06/21 - Thailand - Koh Samui - Monkeys Trail - 160 km & 1 medium distance to be confirmed (both A status)
10/07/21 - Indonesia - Malang - Mantra Summits Challenge - 116 km & 75 km (both A status)
17/07/21 - Philippines - Mindanao - MUSPO Ultra - 100 km
24/07/21 - Malaysia - Cameron Highlands - Cameron Ultra - 100 km
07/08/21 - Thailand - Chiang Mai - Ultra Trail Chiang Mai - 160 km & 65 km (both A status)
28/08/21 - Vietnam - Sapa - Vietnam Mountain Marathon - 160 km & 100 km (both A status), 70 km (B status)
11/09/21 - Malaysia - Sabah - Borneo TMBT Ultra - 100 km & 50 km (both A status)
18/09/21 - Vietnam - Yen Bai - Mu Cang Chai Trail - 50 km
25/09/21 - Malaysia - Kemensah - The Great Malaya Trail - 50 km
02/10/21 - Indonesia - Bondowoso - Ijen Race to the Blue Flre - 105 km (A status) & 75 km (B status)
09/10/21 - Malaysia - Penang - Ultimate Trails of Penang - 100 km
16/10/21 - Japan - Nagano - Hakuba Trails - 52 km (event to be confirmed)
16/10/21 - South Korea - Yeongnam Alp - High Trail 9 Peaks Ulju - 105 km (event date to be confirmed)
16/10/21 - Vietnam - Pu Luong - Vietnam Jungle Marathon - 70 km
23/10/21 - Thailand - Chiang Rai - Ultra Trail Chiang Rai - 250 km & 100 km (both A status)
30/10/21 - Hong Kong - Lantau Island - Lantau 70 - 70 km
06/11/21 - Thailand - Doi Nhok Trail - 110 km & 58 km (both A status)
20/11/21 - Laos - Vang Vien - V Trail - 85 km (event to be confirmed)
28/11/21 - Philippines - Luzon - Cordillera Mountain Ultra - 47 km
04/12/21 - Philippines - MIndanao - The Punisher - 80 km
12/12/21 - Japan - Izu Peninsula - Izu Trail Journey - 70 km (event date to be confirmed)
18/12/21 - Malaysia - Taiping - MMTF - 80 km (ATM Final, precise race distance to be confirmed)

ATM Candidate Races:

13/03/21 - Malaysia - Langkawi - The 9 Dragons
11/04/21 - Malaysia - Sarawak - Jagoi Heritage Run
Dates to be confirmed for: Alicia Ultra (PHI), Bali Ultra Trail (INA), Bali Volcano Race (INA), Malnad Ultra (IND) and more

The bridge to a better 2021?

Yuya Kawasaki was the big winner of a star-packed Izu Trail Journey 70 km race in 5:58:09, ahead of last year’s winner Hirokazu Nishimura in 6:06:22! Previously, Kawasaki already scored two second places in ATM points races: Izu 2017 and Hakuba 2018. This is his first victory on the ATM Championship circuit and as Izu is the Japan SuperTrail he collects 550 points that he will take into 2021.

Third place today went to Saturo Suga, followed by Tatsuya Yabe and Tomonori Onitsuka. Even more than usual, this season’s Izu Trail Journey was like a Japanese national championship race. Team Uglow's Yuta Matsuyama was 16th, ahead of Kazufumi Ose, another well-known runner in our series as past winner of the 9 Dragons in Hong Kong. Ryo Murata, who won Cameron Ultra 100 in 2019, finished 21st yesterday. Hiroaki Matsunaga, third at CMU a few years ago and 9th in Izu 2017, was 26th. Tomohiro Mizukoshi decided not to start to allow a knee injury to heal properly and be 100 % fit again for the 2021 season.

The women’s race also saw stellar performances. Honoka Akiyama turned out victorious in a very fast time of 6:59:41. She was 20th overall and ahead of e.g. Ryo Murata! Second-placed Yuri Yoshizumi was not even that far behind in 7:06:32 and Chihiro Aibara third in 7:22:52. Asuka Nakajima ran a great race herself to come home in sixth place in what was really her elite trail debut race in her native country Japan. Nakajima set a finishing time of 7:57:12. Tellingly, she was ahead of Yumiko Oishi - the woman who was second behind Veronika Vadovicova last year.

Comparing times year-on-year in trail running is in many ways a meaningless exercise, and this year’s Izu course was not even exactly the same as last year’s. Most elites who ran also last season, needed roughly between 10 and 30 minutes longer this year. In that perspective, the finishing times of top females Akiyama (6:59) and Yoshizumi (7:06) are outright stunning when you know Vadovicova took the 2019 win in 7:05…

Yuya Kawasaki already scored 2nd twice in ATM races, now he got a big win (photo archive Hakuba 2018)

Asuka Nakajima ran to an excellent 6th place in her domestic trail debut (photo archive SMFT 2019)

This weekend is the traditional Izu Trail Journey weekend, and the Japan SuperTrail in the Asia Trail Master Championship series is taking place in REAL and not just virtually! Obviously, the participant list exclusively features runners who live in Japan, but other than the many local elites there will be a number of athletes whom we have gotten to know well over the years in our ATM series. Perhaps more importantly, the simple fact that ITJ is permitted to be run is very hopeful for a return to a more normal trail season in Asia in 2021 - as well as a sign that the Olympic Games in Tokyo may happen next summer as well. The Izu peninsula south of Tokyo will host a number of sports disciplines of the Games, such as track cycling in its velodrome.

Last year the course of ITJ had to be shortened and modified due to the destruction of some trails caused by a massive typhoon a number of weeks prior to the event, but now runners will be more or less back on the original course for 70 km. Veronika Vadovicova was the first international winner of the women’s race , and despite a very busy race schedule Hisashi Kitamura made it into the top 10 of the men’s race. Purely competitively speaking, Izu Trail Journey arguably is the hardest race on the ATM calendar as most of Japan’s elite runners take part every year. For the local stars, ITJ is also a “Japanese Championship” , which may also determine who gets into the national team for international championship events.

Apart from the local stars, ATM Championship contenders such as Tomohiro Mizukoshi will be competing in ITJ on Sunday as he has been in the past seasons. It will be a bit of a comeback for him, too, as Tomohiro suffered from (non-covid) illness for quite a while in the middle of the year. Asuka Nakajima, third in the female ATM championship last year after winning several races in Indonesia and coming second in Borneo TMBT Ultra 100 in Malaysia. She will be running ITJ for the first time, after relocating from Jakarta back to Tokyo this year. It will be interesting to see where she ends up among the local elite. And we have another ATM race winner from 2019 on the start list in Team Uglow's Yuta Matsuyama. He was quickest in Ultra Trail Chiang Mai in Thailand a year ago, beating several top runners on the day. Matsuyama, by the way, is also the new race director of Echigo Country Trail, the traditional ATM points race in Niigata in June.

Follow tomorrow’s Izu Trail Journey live on YouTube! Starting at 5 am (Tokyo time) on Sunday, you can follow what happens on the iconic run throughout the day. Due to travel restrictions, our ATM media team cannot be present this season, but via our social media channels we will be keeping you all up-to-date as well about the big race. It’s the Japan SuperTrail, and the winner collects 550 ATM Championship points.

Veronika Vadovicova won ITJ 2019 as first non-Japanese woman to achieve that

Hisashi Kitamura saw John Ellis become ATM Champion in Thailand the day earlier, but converted that disappointment into energy to score a great 10th place in the highly competitive men’s race

Asuka Nakajima returned to Tokyo earlier this year and will be competing in her first ITJ race

Tomohiro Mizukoshi is returning to action after a difficult year.

Yuta Matsuyama won the very wet Ultra Trail Chiang Mai last year