It has been a while since the last points race in our 2022 ATM Championship season given two planned races in April got postponed, but this weekend action returns! In a wonderful arena, no less: Mount Batur in Bali. The Batur Trail Running Challenge is the shortest points race with “just” 30 km, but it’s a spicy one. Runners and podium contenders, especially, will have to dig deep in this one, as the climb up Gunung Batur will test their resilience after a flattish beginning. The downhill is spectacular and fast for the technically-skilled, but coming out of the black lava field is approx 2 kilometres of uphill road to the finish. For runners who have already run out of fuel, those final couple of kilometres will be endless.

The BTR Challenge in Bali is the first Indonesian points race for the 2022 ATM Championship rankings, and will open the points accounts for many people. Unfortunately, several of Indonesia’s better-known pre-pandemic trail runners do not feature on the start list, but that leaves opportunity for new faces. On the other hand, the defending champions of this race return to Batur this Sunday: Bali-based expats Thimo Kilberth (Germany) and Emma Payne (UK) are looking forward to compete against some strong runners from, mainly, SIngapore and Malaysia.

Thimo Kilberth can nearly call Batur his second home. For months he has been training rigorously for Sunday’s race, as his strava account testifies. Looking fitter than ever, Thimo just relishes the challenge. Anyone who wants to win will need to pass him on Sunday morning. There are runners who should be able to keep up with him, at least until the ascent of Gunung Batur. Malaysia’s Mohamed Affindi is arguably the most-celebrated runner on the start list, and a proven race winner on this type of trails and medium race distances. Winner of Tahura Trail in Bandung 2018, Affindi also started the 2022 post-pandemic season with a lot of motivation to perform well. Kilberth has the home advantage, but Affindi can be trusted to have the necessary technical skills to follow him in the fast descent of the volcano mountain. If he succeeds, Affindi has a tremendous kick to the finish line, too, as he showed us just two months ago in that incredible sprint finish against Safrey Sumping at BUTM 50k in Sabah (watch the video clip on our ATM facebook page). 37-year-old Affindi already bagged 500 ATM points in that race, and a second strong result this weekend will help him already a long way in securing a spot in Team Malaysia for the ATM Championship Final in Philippines on 17 December.

Kilbert and Affindi will need to look over their shoulders, though, as there’s more contenders for the race victory. The Singapore Shufflers are in Bali, and that includes some super fast road runners. Vincent Casanova (2:34 on the marathon less than two months ago) and Malachy Irwan, for example. They certainly have the speed to compete, but do they have the trail experience and technical skills - especially for that descent of Batur? Will they attack early in the flattish lava fields to gain a time advantage on the likes of Kilbert and Affindi before going up the mountain? It’s one of the big questions that makes Sunday’s competition very intriguing!

The Singapore team also includes Vanja Cnops, winner of MMTF 50 in 2019 and bronze medalist in the Belgian Championships half marathon two months ago in a new PB of 1:15:46 ! It goes without saying that Cnops is therefore the top favourite in the women’s race this weekend. Some even wonder if she can win the race overall. Also predominately a road runner, Cnops has proven already to be just as strong on short and medium distance trails. Let’s see how long Emma Payne - who of course has home advantage - can make Vanja Cnops nervous.

ATM will be reporting live from the event from start to finish via our social media channels (Facebook, Instagram).

The arena this Sunday: Gunung Batur and its immediate surroundings!

2021 men’s winner Thimo Kilberth

2021 women’s winner Emma Payne

2018 Tahura Trail winner Mohamed Affindi: one of the big contenders this Sunday

Vanja Cnops: Singapore-based Belgian bronze medalist on the national half marathon championships a few weeks ago

Brought to you by the team that has been doing Ijen Trail since 2015 is the new Jember Ultra in East Java, which is part of a grand running festival on 20/21 August. The 70 km long trail race will be a points race for the Asia Trail Master Championship ranking, the third Indonesian one this season. Jember is an important university town in East Java, and the surrounding region is characterised by a beautiful beach area and the typical hilly and volcanic scenery when you go further inland. The event, highly supported by local authorities, has big ambitions: alongside the 70km trail race there will also be a road marathon, half marathon and 10k fun run. Something for everybody in other words!

Those familiar with Ijen Trail, which is one of the most runable mountain ultras on our calendar and remains tentatively scheduled for late October, should be aware that Jember Ultra is tougher on paper, offering a great mixture of runable sections with quite seriously techical bits. Total elevation gain does not exceed 2700 hm for the 70km , but gradients are often short and steep. Do not be fooled by the numbers and prepare yourself for a challenging trail.

Details and the confirmed course map and elevation profile will be released in due course following last week’s final route inspection. The start of the race will be in the hills, at the very popular hotel retreat in Rembangan. Runners will also be able to stay there. The finish line will be at the central square in Jember City. The last 4 km of the race will therefore be on tarmac, but the good news is this stretch goes slightly downhill.

The start will be at the Hotel Rembangan in the hills, the finish smack in the city centre of Jember

We are delighted to announce that both Luang Prabang Ultra Trail and V Trail in Laos have been confirmed as points races on the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship series calendar. Both events return after a two-year break due to the covid crisis, and are receiving a fresh look as illustrated by the new event logos.

Vang Vieng’s 85km long V Trail has already obtained a reputation on the ATM circuit as being one of the toughest races around, and was the original Laotian trail event on the calendar. In 2019, Milton Amat - the Sabahan jungle mountain runner par-excellence - required 15 hours and 40 minutes to complete the course. A year earlier, Alessandro Sherpa and Salva Rambla even needed over 17 hours for the 85k distance! The event retains its November slot on the calendar, and more precisely the weekend of 12/13 November.

Green Step, the team that organises V Trail, is adding more mass participation events to its company portfolio and Luang Prabang Ultra Trail is the second major trail event that will feature in ATM this season. This event, scheduled for 24/25 September, will offer runners a choice between 100 km and 50 km (but Grandmaster Quest challengers should of course focus on the 100k only). Luang Prabang, a city in north central Laos and former capital, is also a major tourist attaction due to the UNESO World Heritage label it holds since 1995.

More details and registration for both events will be coming soon.

Women’s podium of 2019 with winner Montha Suntornwit (left), and 2nd placed Rhea Batac (right)

ATM CANDIDATE - The longest race of the Santa Ines Mountain Adventure Run event history did not disappoint in its degree of difficulty. The 80km race, for most runners predominantly run at nighttime, was one of Philippines’ tougher trail races of the moment. Winner Elmer Retolado needed nearly 15 hours (14h46) to cover the distance and its 4200 metres of elevation gain. Retolado was in command of the race throughout, but it got very close in the end nonetheless! New name John Ivan Zonio came within two minutes of the last Akyathlon winner at the finish line just before dawn. Maynard Encornal, also a new face, was a solid third in 15h58. A great podium with runners we may hear a lot more of this year when it’s about the ATM Championship points..

Sherlyn Fugaban was the fastest female and fourth overall, which was a bit of a surprise as Sherlyn is quite new to trail and especially long distance trail. Jinky Acejedo was similarly impressive in second and even leading at the first checkpoint. Fugaban kept the pace going, however, for the full race distance and was happy all her hard training during the covid crisis paid off. Fourth overall is an impressive long distance debut, especially considering she stayed ahead of some established male runners such as Roy Gentoleo and Aleksis Capili, even if those were not going all-in during this race. Pre-race favourite Cecile Wael struggled with stomach cramps and was never really in contention for the victory. Wael, who has been winning races left and right in the Philippines in the past couple of months, had to settle for third last Sunday.

When all was said and done, the general consensus was that the Santa Ines 80 has potential to grow into a significant Rizal mountain race. Rhea Batac of the organising team “Pace Republic” was happy and said all feedback is being taken into account to produce an even better edition next season. Who knows as an ATM Championship points race?

With special thanks to Richard Akol and Tin Salazar of LBRY Sports.

The men’s podium

The women’s podium

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

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.

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!

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!

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.

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

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

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.