Great names at the Santa Ines Adventure Run

This weekend we have the first of two new ATM Candidate Races in the Rizal mountains east of Manila. The Santa Ines Mountain Adventure Run takes place in Tanay Rizal and has virtually no overlap with next month’s Sierra Madre Trail Ultra. This Saturday starting at 4 pm, runners will tackle 80 km or 30 km and it promises to be tough: the 80 km will not only be mainly a night race , there’s also 4300 metres of elevation gain to be conquered. No wonder some of the better known Filipino mountain trail runners feature on the Sta Ines start list. Among the contenders for the victory and the podium, perhaps Elmer Retolado is the top favourite. Retolado was the winner of Pilipinas Akyathlon 50k in 2019… but meanwhile that is indeed already three years ago. Noy Gentoleo will be a challenger for the win, and let’s not discount Grandmaster Aleksis Capili, arguably the most experienced in the men’s field when it comes to competitive ultra trail racing. But after such a long time without real races, who knows we get to see some real surprises.

In the women’s 80k field, Ces Wael is probably the top favourite for the race win. She has been very active over the past months and proper mountain trails suit her. It will be interesting to see if Sherlyn Fugaban can keep up with Ces Wael. Always podium candidates when it’s long and tough, Grandmaster Cheryl Bihag and Ann Jilian Pulanco will certainly be in the mix as well.

Stay tuned on our social media channels for updates from Santa Ines starting Saturday late afternoon!

Elmer Retolado won the 2019 points race Pilipinas Akyathlon. This Saturday, he’ll be at Santa Ines

Welcome to Ultramarathon de Sai Kung

We are happy to announce a new entry in Hong Kong on our 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship calendar: Ultramarathon de Sai Kung on the weekend of 22/23 October. Organised by the experienced team of XTE events, which also has HK 168 in its portfolio, the second edition of UM de Sai Kung features two race distance categories that both offer points for the ATM Championship rankings. Runners can choose between 105 km with 5200 hm, or 53 km with 2900 hm.

Hong Kong has had a rough battle with covid-19, as everyone knows, and the situation remains highly sensitive today. It is a good sign, however, that trail events are formally returning to the calendar. Vaccination certificates and a negative PCR test result are still a must-have, and other measures and restrictions to prevent spreading the virus are logically mentioned on the UM de Sai Kung website. Only time will tell if these will all still be strictly necessary come mid-October. Together with Lantau 70, scheduled one weekend later on 29 October, Hong Kong-based runners at least now have two local races to score points and qualify themselves for the ATM Championship Final on 17 December.

Ultramarathon de Sai Kung, takes place on the eastern side of Hong Kong, the so-called backyard of Hong Kong. With 75% of the course on trails and covering two country parks - Ma On Shan and Sai Kung Country Parks, it covers some of the most beautiful scenery in Hong Kong, including unspoilt beaches, remote villages, nature trails, reservoirs, undulating and steep hills. The course maps and details are added below.

The 2019 edition of the 105km race was won by Thomas Robertshaw in the men’s and Lora Chau Ying Wong in the women’s. The half distance saw Ngan Li victorious ahead of early years’ ATM protagonist Isaac Yuen Wan Ho and Wing Yan Lau in the women’s.

All details and registration for the UM de Sai Kung can be found on the official website below.

ATM Championship Final on 17 December!

The Asia Trail Master season traditionally ends in the middle of December with the ‘Final’, the event that typically crowns the new champions. This year the date has been confirmed for the same weekend since 2019, and more specifically on Saturday, 17 December. The venue is different and will be formally announced in May, and we promise it will be a cracker!

The Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival hosted the ATM Championship Final in 2019 and the Malaysia Trail Master Championship last year in fantastic style, but has been compelled to move its event date forward to November from this year onwards. That left the door open for new applicants and new destinations to invite the best points scorers of the season to compete directly against each other in the ATM Final.

A new venue for the ATM Championship ‘new style’. As previously announced, runners will no longer be crowned champion on the basis of their points total at the end of the season, but by winning the final race. Winner-takes-all. Of course, points accumulated during the year remain very important, because runners need to qualify to be allowed entry into the ATM Final. To qualify, they need to be ranked in the top 3, 4 or 5 of their country before the final event. Those elite few will constitute their country’s ‘national’ team for the final race. Indeed, as of 2022, we will not only have individual ATM Champions, but also a country team champion! The number of runners in each country team depends on the number of ATM-promoted events in that country. The minimum is six (3 men, 3 women), the maximum is ten (5 men, 5 women). For non-Asians living and working in Asia, there will be a Team Asia Expat. More details can be found on http://www.asiatrailmaster.com/2022-atm-points-system

Four events have already taken place, two of which even had two points races, so quite a few runners have already made it into the ATM Championship ranking. Follow the progress and filter by nationality on this website: https://m.racetimingsolutions.com/rankings/2022

It is going to be another big party to celebrate what now looks to become the first full trail running season since the covid crisis. A celebration of Asian trail runners and trail running in Asia in general!

Stay tuned for all details coming in May!

La Sportiva the new official mountain running® shoe partner of ATM

We are very pleased to announce a new premium partnership between La Sportiva and the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship series. The internationally respected brand, founded almost 100 years ago (1928) by Narciso Delladio in the majestic Dolomites mountains in Northern Italy, is the new official trail footwear partner of Asia Trail Master as part of its ongoing marketing push in the region.

La Sportiva has a long history of growth and success in climbing, mountaineering, and alpine trekking cross country skiing, and increased its engagement in the blossoming sport of trail mountain running® about two decades ago. At first primarily in Italy and neighbouring European nations, but today La Sportiva’s footwear can be found in no fewer than 70 countries across several continents. Nevertheless, the company is still largely family-run and headquartered in Ziano di Fiemme with Lorenzo Delladio at the helm. In recent years, La Sportiva has received plenty of awards for its technical innovations, but also for its commitments in the environmental field and its development of sustainable products and processes. “Our driving force is passion, our passion is the mountains” is the slogan. A good number of global elite trail runners have taken up the brand and brought it to the foreground of the sport’s footwear and apparel industry. The new partnership with Asia Trail Master aims to increase its market share in Asia in the coming years as well.

Trail running shoes of La Sportiva come in a number of distinct models, each designed for specific requirements, and offer several colour options as well. The most popular model sold in Asia is the Akasha II. Designed for long-distance routes, UltraMarathons and prolonged use during training, the three key words are protection, comfort and cushioning. The wearing comfort is given by the cushioning, thanks to the Cushion Platform ™ footbed insert and the large internal volumes as well as the soft, breathable and enveloping upper with Slip-on construction that avoids compression points during the race. The Akasha II comes in various colour designs, so anyone can find his or her favourite match. Other models to check out are the Jackal (lightweight and medium distances) and the Ultra Raptor II (robust and for technical long mountain ultras).

La Sportiva also has a wide range of apparel and accessories in store, which you can find in detail on the comprehensive website https://www.lasportiva.com/en .

Stay tuned for news updates on La Sportiva throughout the year, and win prizes at selected ATM events!

Dalat Ultra Trail celebrates new ATM race winners

The 2022 edition of Dalat Ultra Trail confirmed the emergence of two new trail stars based in Vietnam. Frenchman Gaetan Morizur was too strong for Nhon Trong and Nguyen Si Hieu in the men’s, and Ha Ti Hau dominated the women’s race in highly impressive manner, proving that all the rumours about her were true. DLUT was the first major trail running event in the country after the relaxation of anti-covid measures in Vietnam some weeks ago. Despite the short notice, more than 4000 runners took part in the event across the various race distance categories. About 280 signed up for the longest one: the 70 km, on a new course that was significantly different from 2019 and featured the technical late-race ascent and descent of Lang Biang mountain, the highest peak in the Central Highlands at over 2100 metres above sea level.

From the start at 4 am, roughly an hour-and-a-half before sunrise, three runners distinguished themselves already by the km 10 mark (CP1). Gaetan Morizur, Nguyen Si Hieu and Nhon Trong, the trio that would stay ahead and battling for the podium places for the whole day. Behind them already then was Ha Ti Hau, first woman, who put distance between her and a small group of ther women led by Vu Thi Lan Huong at this point but also including Julia Nguyen Thi Duong , the highest ranked female in the 2020/21 ATM series before it got cancelled due to the covid pandemic.

Approaching the halfway point at CP5 and following a long uphill section in a magnificent pine forest with great vistas, Morizur dropped Nhon Trong, who was fighting hard to keep the gap to a minimum. Nguyen Si Hieu lost about ten minutes. Ha Ti Hau looked strong and safe, as the gap to the next women had increased to over 40 minutes already. Julia Nguyen Thi Duong and Vu Thi Lan Huong were still together and eventually also rank in that order at the finish line in the afternoon. And so did the men in fact. Morizur did not wait for anyone after the midway climb and pressed on. Nhon Trong could not bridge the gap and on Lang Biang mountain felt Nguyen Si Hieu creeping closer to him again.

Morizur took his first ever victory in an ATM race, visibly tired from the effort but excited nonetheless. He had a 39-minute advantage over Nhon Trong, who struggled towards the end and managed to keep Nguyen Si Hieu behind by 7 minutes. Nhon Trong said he had just recovered from illness and still felt it, while Nguyen Si Hieu looked relatively fresh after scoring his fourth podium place in an ATM points race (he won once, VMM 70k in 2018).

On our ATM facebook page you can find several video clips shot during the 70km race, including the race finish of Gaetan Morizur, Nhon Trong, Nguyen Si Hieu and Ha Ti Hau.

EcoTrail AlUla: wins for Mickael Gasc and Ivana Kolaric

The 2nd edition of EcoTrail AlUla in Saudi Arabia confirmed its status as a pioneering trail event for the country and region. The participation field doubled compared to the first pre-pandemic edition in February 2020 and local and regional trail runners flocked to Saudi’s premium tourist destination now that country immigration procedures have relaxed. The 80K route had been significantly fine-tuned to increase runability, important given the necessary 12h30’ cut-off time that had to be adhered to. In addition, the finish was now located at Hegra, the impressive UNESCO World Heritage Site and icon of AlUla, a town roughly 7 hours’ drive north of Jeddah.

Local 80k runners showed their enthusiasm after the flag off by setting a fast pace. Known runners such as Japan’s Yuta Matsuyama, winner of Ultra Trail Chiang Mai in 2019, and Pierre Breuer (2nd in 2020) let them take an advantage on the first flat 15 km. It was to be expected that the locals would be overpacing themselves and when the frontrunners came out of the 12km long ‘canyon section’, the most technical of the race with several rock climbs to negotiate, the more experienced international runners came to the fore. Abdulaziz Alghamdi made it over halfway in the lead position, but shortly afterwards faded away and even retired around km 60. Mickael Gasc, from southern France but based in Saudi Arabia, took over the command with Pierre Breuer chasing him initially. Meanwhile, temperatures in Al Ula were rising above 30 degrees, adding to the difficulty of the race. A few days prior to the race the max afternoon temperature was hardly 16, so it was a bad stroke of luck for those struggling with heat. Yuta Matsuyama was among the latter. The Japanese Uglow runner got a knock of the hammer and would even drop out of the top 10. Energy management and pacing was key in the 80k race to score a result and Mickael Gasc did that very impressively. The gap to second place kept on increasing and would measure 50 minutes at the finish in Hegra. Gasc concluded the course in 7h38. Second place went to a trio of friends and teammates based in Dubai: Gareth Gallagher, Marcus Smith and Robert Jones.

In the women’s race the victory was mainly contested between Ivana Kolaric, originally from Serbia but now residing in Dubai, and India’s leading female trail running ambassador Nupur SIngh. Kolaric, who also competes in triathlon, was always ahead but Nupur SIngh for a long time kept her within range. SIngh, supported by our nutrition partner Unived, has very fast PBs on the half and full marathon, even though the covid 19 situation kept her out of action for basically two years. It was the Indian’s first appearance on the ATM circuit and she certainly left an impression. While Kolaric did go on to win, Nupur took time to take photos and videos and still kept a solid pace all the way to the finish in Hegra and take second place. If she were to decide to focus on it, she could be a dark horse for this year’s ATM Championship title in December. What a breakthrough that would be for India’s blossoming trail running community!

Robert Jones and his Dubai teammates ran together and scored a joint second place

Mickael Gasc was an impressive and smart race winner

EcoTrail AlUla offers a mixture between sandy and rocky trails

Nupur Singh is one of India’s prominent trail running ambassadors. In AlUla she came back from a long period of inactivity to score a great second place

Team Uglow’s Yuta Matsuyama started well but the afternoon heat got to him and he had to shift down a few gears to finish the 80k race

BUTM: Kitamura penalised, Milton Amat scores first blood!

What an event we had in Malaysia again last weekend! The Borneo Ultra Trail Marathon (BUTM) in Kiulu, Sabah, made its debut on the Asia Trail Master Championship calendar with a big bang, and offered drama, spectacular finishes, new faces and turbulent weather that made especially the 100 km a very tough challenge for all runners. During that 100 km, it became clear pretty quickly that Sabah’s new star Wilsen Singgin did not have the same legs as he did at MMTF last December. Blisters would make matters even more complicated and he never really featured for the podium. Fourth was the best he could hope for, but he would finish three hours behind the eventual winner. That winner was not the runner who crossed the line first. After an amazing dual reminiscent of pre-pandemic TMBT 2019, Hisashi Kitamura managed to come back and drop home favourite Milton Amat in the final kilometres. His excitement was short-lived, however, as the mandatory gear check - which is always conducted after the finish at BUTM and TMBT - revealed the Karate Kit missed his blinker, which cost him a time penalty of 1 hour. Moreover, a 30-minute time penalty was already looming for him ever since he missed - not deliberately - checkpoint 3 during the early stages of the race. The race jury therefore awarded the victory to Milton Amat and relegated Kitamura to third place, even behind good old Daved SImpat, who managed to stay within one hour of the leading duo. Despite the disappointment of missing out on a big victory in Sabah, Team Uglow’s Hisashi KItamura took the penalty with dignity. “I must have lost my blinker when I had a big fall halfway in the race, and I did not realise it,” he said. “Nevertheless I m very happy with my performance today on a very technical course and with Milton as a fantastic competitor!” Milton Amat returned the compliment on his facebook page by stating that Hisashi “beat him on the course today”. Milton officially completed the 106 km in 13 hours and 16 minutes. The number 5 in the result list, Aqmal Adzmi, not exactly a snail himself, finished over five hours later….

We knew from his strava exploits that Milton Amat, although no longer the youngest elite runner in the field, was in superb shape. Kitamura did not look the part at MMTF three months ago, but has managed to get back to his best form now the ATM season has gotten underway. We look forward to many more spectacular duals between the numbers 2 and 3 of the 2019 ATM Championship behind John Ellis.

The first woman of BUTM 100 was an interesting new face on the ATM scene in the person of Sally Yap. Hailing from Kuching in Sarawak, south of Brunei and Sabah, Sally Yap was in the lead for most of the race and arrived in just under 23 hours in the company of Japan’s Seiji Morofuji, who is more than a decent benchmark performance-wise. Yap was indeed three-and-a-half hours ahead of number 2, Aslin Sarawi. Siti Hajar Razali completed the women’s podium shortly afterwards. Pre-race favourite Adelinah Lintanga was a DNF around half distance.

The 50 km race category was also a points race for the ATM Championship, as we usually have in the early season. The specialists of the medium distance grabbed the opportunity to deliver a spectacle that was pure promotion for the sport. Local star Safrey Sumping could not shake off the tough Mohamed Affindi - winner of Tahura Trail in Indonesia in 2019 - during the race and both ended up sprinting full gaz and side-by-side to the finish! That does not happen very often in trail running and unsurprisingly there was no line on the ground to mark the actual finish. Deciding who came first was next to impossible and so both runners got announced as joint winners of the race. The fight for the third spot on the podium was equally tense. Moo Sat narrowly held off Marius Mousin to claim it. Amir Zaki was fifth and Jeffery Budin sixth. All big names in Malaysian trail running.

The women’s 50km was a very tight affair as well. Britain’s Amy Bartlett arrived first with just a minute advantage over SIngapore Deborah Lim. Halimatun Saadiah took third just over ten minutes later. Jess Lintanga settled for 21st place. Prior to the start she told our reporter that her training has only just begun again after nearly two years of focus on developing her now successful ethnic bracelet business.

Watch our facebook page for numerous video clips of the BUTM event, including interviews with the protagonists, courtesy of our ATM reporter on-site Mark Jinmin.

100k podium: Milton Amat (middle), Daved Simpat and Hisashi Kitamura

Women’s 100k podium with Sally Yap as winner, flanked by Aslin Sarawi and Siti Hajar Razali

50k podium men: Mohamed Affindi and Safrey Sumping joint first

50k podium women with Amy Bartley in the middle, flanked by Deborah Lim and Halimatun Saadiah

BUTM - The Sabahan Trio vs the Karate Kit

The first Malaysian event on the 2022 ATM Championship calendar is taking place in Sabah on the large island of Borneo, and it promises to be a cracker! BUTM, or the Borneo Ultra Trail Marathon, has a fantastic start list that will see great racing on both the 100 km and the 50 km, distance categories that both count for Championship points. BUTM is often called the little sister of TMBT, but in the mean time it has grown to be a popular highlight in itself. The races take place around Kiulu, an adventure playground where the famous Sabahan runners feel at home. Milton Amat, Wilsen Singgin and Daved Simpat, they will all be there on the 100 km. It would not be a major surprise if the trio takes the complete podium, but the competition will be fierce. Hisashi KItamura was no match for Wilsen Singgin last December at MMTF, but the KL-based Japanese has been working hard since then to get back to his best form. Also peninsular Malaysian runner Aqmal Adzmi has ambition to at least score another podium in an ATM race. In the women’s 100km, there’s Adelinah Lintanga, another local Grandmaster, who will have a good shot at another ATM race victory. Her sister Jess will be tackling the 50 km this weekend, a distance where she has booked her biggest competitive successes. Both women are of course favourites to be among the five Malaysian women to qualify for the ATM Championship Final in December. In the men’s 50km , we can expect a nice battle between local Saffrey Sumping and Mohammed Affindi.

Sierra Madre Trail Ultra 75 a new ATM Candidate!

Trail running in the Rizal mountains east of Manila is taking off very seriously again and it seems written in the stars that very soon runners from across Asia can once again score coveted ATM Championship and Grandmaster Quest points in the Rizal. Another new event sees the limelight on 28 May: the Sierra Madre Trail Ultra 75 in Rodriguez and Antipolo.

The organisation is in the hands of experienced trail runners and headed by Arven Alcantara, a national team athlete in the Philippines. Interesting and eye catching is the fact that the Sierra Madre Trail Ultra will only feature a one-and-only race category: 75 kilometres! Competition-wise it is always good if all participants in an event are going head-to-head instead of being spread out over several categories. The 75K is scheduled to have 4600 metres of elevation gain, so that ‘s a tough course. It will take you to the southern peaks of Sierra Madre Mountain range in Rodriguez and Antipolo including Mt. Parawagan, Mt. Purro, Mt. Mapatad, Mt. Kawa-Kawa, Mt. Malemod, Mt. Ayaas and Mt. Kapananan. This is serious business and it is therefore no suprise that the organisation requires participants to have some degree of experience. Namely, proof of having completed a road or trail race of minimum 42 KM (marathon) before. The cut-off time for the Sierra Madre is 19 hours and the starting time is set at 2 am. The course map can be consulted below.

This event will be the second ATM Candidate Race in the Rizal area this spring, four weeks after the Santa Ines Mountain Adventure Run. Both events have completely different race courses, however, and except a 3 km road section have no overlap.

UTKC: New winners in opening races

Thailand-based Briton George Burkin is a strong new winner of UTKC 100 in a time of 13:13:15. Narin Kongsiri finished in second place 43 minutes later and Arnon Srimat was in third, one hour and twenty minutes back. UTKC 100 was the opener of the new ATM Championship season. The event on Koh Chang island in the south of Thailand saw an incredible number of 3500 registrants. Due to ongoing covid mitigation efforts, certainly not everyone turned up at the starting line but it was a great feast nonetheless! In the absence of Jay Jantaraboon and Sanya Khancai, both on the start list provided by the event organiser but not in the race, the trio of runners that scored the podium was actually in the leading positions all night and day. For George Burkin it’s his first ATM podium and victory.

Chonlada Kappiyanond was another newcomer on the ATM scene and a great winner of the women’s race. She managed her race beautifully as a few others faded in the second half. At the finish, Chonlada Kappiyanond turned up fifth overall and one hour and 28 minutes (!!!) ahead of experienced Grandmaster Montha Suntornwit of The T8 Team! Here I am! Montha Suntornwit ran a smart race herself and moved up the leaderboard as the race went on, as is often the case with the established ultra runner. She came into the finish together wth Sawangjit Saengow of Thailand’s Team Instinct. . Chanchaya naphawanroed scored 4th and UTCR 230 winner Kanlaya Thongfachailai of Team La Sportiva Thailand was in 5th place.

On the 70km there’s a Thai race winner with Danon Rattanatumrong. He was 27 minutes faster than Norwegian Eirik Knudsen and Somjai Pesri of Thailand. As the 100k and 70k were evenly rated in terms of ATM Championship points, that implies Danon Rattanatumrong tops the Thai national ranking with 500 points ahead of Narin Kongsiri with 450.

In the women’s race victory went to Areerat Kareeklin ahead of Suphalak Kotapae and Payungjit Kosopa, all three from the home country.

The next ATM points race in Thailand is scheduled to be Ultra Trail Chiang Mai at the end of August.

photo credit: UTKC official

George Burkin wins the men’s 100 km

An impressive introduction to Chonlada Kappiyanond, winner of the women’s 100 km

UTKC in Thailand opens Season VII

At last, we have arrived. The first trail race weekend of what currently promises to be an exciting new season of the Asia Trail Master Championship series - the first after 2019. UTKC, Ultra Trail Koh Chang, is the event and venue for the opener in Thailand tomorrow. An event with 100k and 70k race categories relevant for points, and one that brought us several fantastic runs in the past. While the big majority of participants will still be residents of Thailand, there are international athletes who have taken the step to travel and face the remaining covid-19 mitigation measures. It’s the start of a new season and one is quick - perhaps despite knowing better - to call it ‘post-pandemic’ , but unfortunately many people are still in no position to cross country borders or even take part in running events at all. Consider, for instance, Hong Kong, home city of our last two and actually still reigning ATM Champions John Ellis and Veronika Vadovicova. Nevertheless, UTKC inspires growing confidence that ‘real’ trail running events are on the return in Asia. In fact, there’s three more events on the calendar for the next two weekends, too. Borneo Ultra Trail Marathon in Malaysia, EcoTrail AlUla in Saudi Arabia and last but not least Dalat Ultra Trail in Vietnam. It may be later than usual, but safe to say that the 2022 ATM Championship is flagging off with a bang!

The road to the ATM Championship conclusion will see over 25 points races throughout the continent between now and 17 December, date of the final event at a location soon to be officially announced. In between, we will have several Candidate Races as well. New events that have applied for a spot on our championship calendar next year or after. It will certainly be busy and we are looking forward to loads of exciting stories, stellar achievements and the Big Reconnection!

This weekend’s men’s 100k at UTKC could see the second installment of a battle that took place in 2018. Local trail heroes Jay Jantaraboon and Sanya Khancai are both featuring as favourites on the start list. Four years ago, the slightly older Sanya pushed Jay forward nearly all the way without ever really relenting. Let’s see if the Thai veteran can repeat that level of performance again on a course that is less technical as back then. We know Jay has not spent his time lying on the sofa during the covid-19 crisis and by all means he is the man to beat. Outsiders and podium candidates could be Nikom Tongjai, Narin Kongsiri and probably several others. After over two years it would be logical to see the appearance of many new faces at the forefront of the competitions.

In the women’s 100km we will follow Kanlaya Thongfachailai carefully. She won the Ultimate 130 at UT Chiang Rai in 2020. And in the 70km race category, we will have Canadian Carrie Jane Stander, 9th in the 2019 ATM Championship series.

As a clear sign that things are also not yet so straightforward in Thailand, event organiser Nop Suksawat and his team have had to make amendments to the race courses up to the last couple of days. Koh Chang is a relatively small island with a small community and not everyone is already keen to see runners returning en masse for the event. A couple of reroutes is likely to reduce the total distance to some 95 km and bring the elevation gain closer to 3000 hm instead of the advertised 4300+ hm. These changes could affect the outcome of the races, as fast-paced runners will have the best chance ever for a great result at this event. The strongmen and strongwomen who prefer the more technical, dense and steeper hilly jungle trails , something UTKC is renowned for, will have fewer opportunities this year to leave a mark.

Ryan Whelan of the Gone Running team in Hong Kong won the 70k race two years ago

Milestone remains our preferred lighting gear partner

Also this year we let Milestone light our way through the Asia Trail Master Championship series. The head lamps have become a trendy asset for every ultra runner in Japan and meanwhile also in other parts of Asia. Milestone is a lighting company based in Osaka, Japan. The founder, Shuhei Nishioka, was born in a family that has specialised in lighting business since as far back as 1920. Milestone has mainly focused on headlamps using a Warm White LED (natural warm color) to get better visibility when snowing or getting foggy. Its uniqueness distinguishes Milestone from other brands in the sector.

A top hit in the line of head lamps is the Trailmaster. A very fitting name! The company spent 3 years to produce Trailmaster and is strictly made for serious trail runners. It also matches with a running cap, especially designed to go along with the headlamp and its strap. Milestone proudly produces the Trailmaster in Japan. Every single piece is tested by their professional engineers before packaging.

On the official website of Milestone you can look through all the different styles of head lights suitable for trail runners. In Asia, you can also get the products, amongst others via MMTF Consultant and via Red Dot Running Company in Singapore.