2019 vice ATM Champion Hisashi Kitamura starts the 5th edition of Cameron Ultra as the top favourite on the 100 km points race this coming Saturday at 3:45 am. The KL-based Japanese UGLOW Asia ace is in excellent form during the first months of Season VII and underlined that with a strong victory in Japan at Echigo Country Trail just a month ago. Confidence runs high also because the Karate Kit was already 2nd in Cultra in 2019, the last time the event was organised, albeit not part of the ATM series back then.

Cameron Ultra is one the most popular trail events in Malaysia alongside Borneo TMBT Ultra and MMTF. The route is essentially an out-and-back through pristine scenery and various types of terrain. Elevation gain is not to be underestimated for the 100k: over 3900 hm. The route includes Mount Berembun and Mount Perdah. Given the Cameron Highlands are generally located between 800m and 1600m above sea level, the climate is not all that bad for trail runners with cooler temperatures than in other Malaysian races. The Cameron Highlands are of course also famous for the tea plantations.

The main challengers for Kitamura are expected to come from Sabah in East Malaysia. Wilsen Singgin was not happy with his performance at BUTM earlier this year in March and is hoping to reconnect with the kind of running form that brought him victory at last year’s MMTF in December, ahead of Kitamura and Daved Simpat, his fellow Sabahan who also features on the start list this weekend. Other podium contenders are likely to be Jeffery Budin, Bernardo Linus Sanchez, Seiji Morofuji and Derrick Lau. Of course, there’s always a possibility for unknown runners to come to the foreground. Noteworthy is also that the Indonesian and Singaporean leaders in the country rankings are also on the start list: Abdul Rahman Muhammad Ishak (Indonesia) and Cao Wei (Singapore). The country rankings are important to determine who will qualify for their national country team at the ATM Championship Final on 17 December.

The women’s 100k race is expected to turn into a dual between 2021 Malaysia Trail Master Champion Izzah Hazirah and BUTM 100 winner Sally Yap. Izzah will launch her 2022 campaign in our series at Cameron Ultra. Highly experienced, also on technical trails, Izzah will be keen to add this race to her collection of victories. For newbie Sally Yap, from Sarawak, this weekend could be the definite breakthrough of a new trail talent.

Asia Trail Master will be reporting live from the 100k race throughout the weekend, via our usual channels on facebook and instagram, as well as on our new DTA-based interface.

Hisashi Kitamura: top favourite to score another race victory this weekend

Wilsen Singgin could be the biggest challenger for Kitamura together with fellow Sabahan Daved Simpat

Izzah Hazirah: the Malaysia Trail Master Champion 2021 will have her first ATM race of the season

Sally Yap from Sarawak was the impressive winner of BUTM 100. Can she repeat this weekend?

We know him as one of the top contenders in the Asia Trail Master Championship, but this weekend Hisashi Kitamura can also enter the record books as the first trail runner to obtain the Grandmaster **** four stars label. The Malaysia-based Japanese runner from Team UGLOW Asia will be competing at Cameron Ultra 100 this weekend.

Kitamura began his Grandmaster Quest in early 2018 with the 9 Dragons in Hong Kong and already completed the first level in the same year in Bali at the Plataran X Trail. He continued piling up the results and race finishes of over 70km in the following year - when he stubbornly challenged John Ellis for the ATM Championship title - even to the extent many felt he was outrunning himself. The covid crisis of course also stopped him in his tracks, which in that sense might have been not the worst thing. In this current season VII, Kitamura is in any case very much back in action and he is probably at his highest competitive level yet. Cameron Ultra 100 this coming Saturday will be his 20th Grandmaster distance in the ATM series, and many will bet on him to win the race. But even if he does not, finishing Cultra will earn him the top Grandmaster recognition.

Another three-star Grandmaster***, Masafumi Yamamoto will be aiming for his 19th race finish at Cameron Ultra as well. It is interesting that the first two runners about to score four stars are both from the same country, Japan. A country, of course, that loves distance running.

It is a pleasure to announce a second South Korean event for the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship calendar. Already an established event, Seoul 100K around the country’s capital city joins on the weekend of 15/16 October with a 100k and a 50k race on the programme that are both valid for ATM Championship ranking points. Organised by the Korea Alpine Federation, the races will be directed by JSceno, the company that does Ulju Trail 9 Peaks near Busan two weeks afterwards at the end of October. Korean trail runners will therefore have a great chance to feature in the ATM Championship again, as they can complete the mandatory two ATM race finishes inside their home country, too.

The races will start at Seoul Plaza at 5 am and have a fixed participation limit of 200 for the 100k and 300 for the 50k. The cut-off time for the 100k has been set at 27 hours,. Registrants should be aware of the mandatory gear items, and if you run the longest distance, please bring a doctor’s certificate stating you are fit for the task. A sample certificate can be downloaded from the event website (link below).

Logistics are obviously quite simple for this event. Seoul is one of Asia’s biggest capital cities, well-connected by air, and you could stay anywhere and even bring the family along for a shopping or tourism weekend.

Registration is going quicky so it is strongly advised to decide soon on your trip to Korea. Any questions can be directed to KAF (fluent English spoken) or to info@asiatrailmaster.com

You can now watch Asia Trail Master’s Tale of the Trail, the Race Recap of last weekend’s Mantra Summits Challenge in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. The video in HD is available on our YouTube channel, Facebook Page or just here embedded below. Enjoy.

We are happy to announce the latest ATM Candidate Race that will in fact take place very soon at the end of this month. The Kadamaian Ultra in Kota Belud in Sabah, Malaysia, is part of a bigger adventure race festival and is a new addition to the calendar in the home area of renowned trail runners such as Milton Amat, Wilsen Singgin, Daved Simpat and the Lintanga sisters. Officially called the High 5 KAR Ultra, the main race is 70 km in length and has an elevation gain estimated at 3250 hm. As you can see in the course map below, it’s quite an organic loop with the highest peak coming in the middle. Start and finish is at Kg. Malangkap Baru, Kadamaian in Kota Belud, roughly one hour north of Kota Kinabalu. The race start is planned for 6 am. Shuttle busses will take runners from Kota Kinabalu, but be aware you need to sign up for the bus via a google form on the website (see button)

As the event takes place in 3 weeks, race registration is already closed, but ATM can make two runners happy with a free race entry still now! Stay tuned for details on how to win the entry later today.

Mantra Summits Challenge in Malang, East Java, once more confirmed its reputation as the toughest event on the Asia Trail Master Championship calendar. Heavy rainfall on Saturday night plagued runners even more and turned the 116k and 75k marquee races across Mount Welirang, Arjuno and Mahapena into a brutal adventure resulting in a long list of DNFs. Up front, however, we saw some fantastic performances, too. The Vietnamese duo of Quang Tran and Nguyen Si Hieu - in their first race in Indonesia - controlled the 116k race together from the ascent of Arjuno (3300m) onwards, even though Yusuf Aprian was keeping them wide awake throughout the night. On the 75k race, 2015 Asia Trail Master Champion Arief Wismoyono showed incredible speed reminiscent of his most successful years and at the mature age of 38 is clearly back at his best level.

After the start at Kaliandra Eco Resort at 5am, participants on the 116k immediately had to climb up Gunung Welirang with the summit above 3000m altitude. It was the surprising Hadi Mustofa who reached the summit first in 2h59’23”, followed by Yusuf Aprian and Rachmat Septiyanto. Quang Tran, Nguyen Si Hieu and Fuminoro Kondo were not far behind. Local dark horse Fauzi Imdadur unfortunately sprained his ankle and decided to quit the race after Welirang already. Also the Jakarta-based Japanese runner Kondo was compelled to slow down, having entered the race with a swollen foot already. Vietnam’s Trung Nguyen was going to play the long game, but the rain on Saturday night turned his Mahapena ascent and descent into a nightmare and he never managed to feature among the frontrunners. His countrymen Quang Tran and Nguyen Si Hieu on the other hand shifted to a higher gear on the alternative climb up Welirang and onto the highest summit of Arjuno. It’s essentially where they won the race. At the summit, they had nearly 30 minutes on Yusuf Aprian and an hour on Hadi Mustofa and Rachmat Septiyanto. Still, their victory was not yet in the bag because Bandung’s Yusuf Aprian, winner of the 75k in 2019 and the 55k in 2018, was not letting them get away any further and was matching their running pace for the next several hours. On Mahapena at night, Aprian made a brave and big effort to try and catch the Vietnamese. Quang Tran and Nguyen Si Hieu saw that while leaving the checkpoint at the summit and going back down Mahapena (it’s an out-and-back section). Their acceleration ended the hopes of Yusuf Aprian to take the victory. Just after sunrise on Sunday morning, the duo arrived back at Kaliandra Resort and crossed the finish line together. When Heru Prabowo, event director, asked them who had earned the ‘gold medal’ most, Nguyen Si Hieu insisted that Quang Tran did. Their finishing time of approx 25 hours is very impressive, yet Sabah’s Milton Amat was one-and-a-half hours quicker in 2019. Nguyen Si Hieu collects another 450 ATM Championship points to add to his 425 from Dalat in March: he is the new points leader in Vietnam. Yusuf Aprian took third place about an hour later, a great and robust run by the runner from La Sportiva Indonesia. Rachmat Septiyanto took fourth. Grandmaster and local hero Shindy Patricia was the only woman on the 116k this year, so all she had to do was finish the race to take the win and the ATM Championship points that come with it. Shindy did that in style and certainly did not hold herself back. She returned to the resort in just over 31 hours.

The 75k race essentially saw the return of Arief Wismoyono to peak form. The 2015 ATM Champion, now age 38, stormed to victory as he boomed down Welirang and Arjuno with incredible speed and skill. Nobody could or dared to follow him. Only Taofik Hidayat, also from Bandung, was able to limit the gap somewhat by checking in 30 minutes behind Wismoyono at Wenerejo before going up Mahapena. However, the leader was on a mission to make a big performance statement and was just flying on the last of the three major ascents of this race. Hidayat was able to retain his second place and steadily increase the gap to the rest of the podium candidates led by Thimo Kilberth, Nhon Trong, Pablo Diago Gonzales and Hammam Aulia. The Mahapena climb proved too much for Nhon Trong, first at Welirang summit earlier in the race. The fast Vietnamese runner had made quite a few tumbles in the descents and with his poles broken as well felt the energy was leaving his body. Halfway up Mahapena, he took a scooter back down. No extra points for the ATM ranking after his second spot in Dalat last March. Surprisingly, Mahapena was also the end station for Pablo Diago Gonzales, 3rd in 2017, 2nd in 2018. The Singapore-based Spaniard did not have an ideal preparation this season, and the 75k of Mantra turned out to be still a bridge too far. As he was struggling while coming back down from the summit to the Wenerejo checkpoint Pablo decided to DNF. Despite the strong effort of new name Hammam Aulia, Bali-based German Thimo Kilberth was quite safe and collected his second ATM third-place podium finish of the season after BTR Challenge in May. Visibly marked by his effort, Thimo was happy to strengthen his position as leader in the ATM Championship ranking in Indonesia.

The women’s 75k race was won by Siti Nairuni, who led the majority of the race. Sianti Candra and the highly experienced Novita Wulandari were keeping some pressure on, and Candra actually managed to come closer to Nairuni in the late stages of the race. Great to see two new Indonesian names on the podium.

Only 17 finishers on the 75k from 75 starters showed how tough the day had been. The finisher rate was higher on the 116k, with 23 out of 46. 2018 ATM Champion Ruth Theresia continued her comeback to peak form by winning the non-ATM 55k race category on Sunday.

Lots of multimedia material is available on our Instagram and Facebook channels.

Quang Tran ran his first race in Indonesia

Quang Tran and Nguyen Si Hieu stayed together and cruised to victory on the brutal 116k course

Grandmaster Shindy Patricia was the only woman on the 116k, but was not holding herself back at all

Fantastic scenery above 3000m altitude

The women’s 75k podium with Siti Nuraini in the middle

2015 ATM Champion Arief Wismoyono is clearly back in his best form since years

We are delighted to announce our latest premium partnership, as SUUNTO becomes the Official Sportswatch of the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship series. Suunto, global leader in sports watches, dive computers and precision instruments.

Suunto GPS watches are designed and made in Finland in northern Europe with 100% renewable energy.

Inspired by the award-winning SUUNTO 9 Baro, the SUUNTO 9 Peak is designed for adventures and peak experiences, in a sleek form factor that fits seamlessly on the wrist for ultimate comfort.

Tested in the harshest conditions, the SUUNTO 9 Peak boasts up to 170 hours of GPS recording capacity in Tour mode, blood oxygen measurement, a full battery charge in one hour and built to match users’ high expectations for a sports wearable companion, training tool and adventure partner. The SUUNTO 9 Peak, the thinnest, most powerful and uncompromisingly durable watch in brand history.

The SUUNTO 9 Peak comes with all of the industry leading features the SUUNTO 9 family is known for: 80-plus sport modes like running, hiking, mountain biking, skiing and swimming, customizable screens to show the most relevant data for your exercise, an intelligent battery management system, accurate wrist-based heart rate monitoring, in-depth weather insights and expansive on-watch navigation capabilities.

Building on the success of the recently released Suunto 9 Peak, Suunto today released its sibling, the Suunto 5 Peak GPS sport watch, designed for outdoor fitness lovers looking for a light, compact, durable, and long-lasting partner to guide them towards reaching their fitness goals, but one that requires less financial investment to buy. The Suunto 5 Peak is an evolution of the older Suunto 5 model. The new watch is 41% lighter than its forbear, is sleeker due to the absence of the older model’s GPS nose, offers up to 100 hours of battery life, handy music controls on the watch, automatic, over the air software updates and features Suunto’s new design language, and a selection of easily changeable accessory straps to suit individual style.

The SUUNTO App integrates with the SUUNTO 9 and Suunto 5 Peak, enabling users to effectively plan routes with sport-specific heatmaps and popular starting points, which can be built and transferred to the watch for offline navigation. The mobile app allows user to discover new locations, create points of interest and a look back on previous adventures with personal heatmaps.

Syncing routes to your watch is quick and hassle-free. With built-in GPS and turn-by-turn navigation on your watch you are never lost and know exactly where to go. If you need to find your way back, the breadcrumb feature will quickly show you the way.

Now featuring SuuntoPlus™ and SuuntoPlus™ Guides to enhance your experience even more! Train or race with features that will provide you with invaluable information like weather insights and safe GPS coordinates, and on top you can now get personalized real-time guidance during your activity.

About SUUNTO: We stand for adventure. Pioneering exploration has been in our DNA since 1936, when Finnish orienteer Tuomas Vohlonen set out to create a more accurate compass, and subsequently invented a new method for manufacturing liquid‐filled compasses. Today SUUNTO is at the forefront of design and innovation for sports watches, dive computers and instruments used by adventurers all over the globe.

Eighty-five years from our founding, we are proud that SUUNTO products can take a beating, but are also designed with an everyday aesthetic that reflects our Nordic identity. SUUNTO’s headquarters and factory are still in Finland.

SUUNTO will be supporting a number of targeted ATM events in the busy second half of this season VII with booths and prizes, and the Top 5 in the male and female Asia Trail Master Championship in December will win a genuine SUUNTO Sports watch as well.

This weekend arguably the toughest mountain trail race of the Asia Trail Master Championship season takes place in East Java, Indonesia: it’s the 4th edition of Mantra Summits Challenge in Malang with start and finish at the Kaliandra Eco Resort. The two longest race distance categories, the 116k and 75k, are both points races with equal status for the ATM rankings, which naturally implies some of the top runners favour to start one or the other. As it happens, both retain a strong field of competitors - especially in the men’s races.

That is largely due to the important participation of six elite trail runners from Vietnam, indicating once again that the country is becoming a powerhouse on Asia’s trail scene. Leading the pack is Quang Tran, who has been the benchmark in Vietnam since the advent of competitive trail running over there. He is tackling the 116k and its gruelling 8500m of elevation gain. If you wonder just how tough and technical this 116k race is, just look at the finishing times of the 2019 edition - the last one before covid. Milton Amat won it by nearly four hours (!) over… Hisashi Kitamura in 23 hours and 23 minutes. It sounds like it is 200 km, but it is really “just” 116 kilometres.

Let’s hope for their sake that the Vietnamese runners, and the other internationals and Indonesians of course, know what awaits them. Perhaps the videos of previous race winners that we have been posting all week on our social media channels may give them some inspiration, or indeed, warning.

Former winner of the Vietnam Mountain Marathon in Sapa, Quang Tran will be flanked by his compatriots Dang Hieu Nguyen and his, perhaps, better-known brother Trung, Van Da Bui and Hieu Nguyen Si - this year already third in Dalat Ultra Trail. They will compete against some of the most reputed Indonesian trail runners such as 2019 winner on the 75K and 2018 winner on the 55k, Yusuf Aprian. His teammate at La Sportiva Indonesia, Rachmat Septiyanto finished just outside the podium three years ago and will be looking to make that up - also being more experienced running mountain ultras now. A dangerous veteran of Indonesian trails and former winner of Ijen Trail, Dzaki Wardana, proved he is in very good shape again just about three weeks ago by winning a 70k race against the likes of Thimo Kilberth and Fauzi Imdadur. The latter is also on the start list of the 116k and on this kind of highly technical entreprises for sure a podium candidate. Last but not least, what can Japanese runner Fuminori Kondo do at Mantra? Two Japanese women already won here, can Kondo be the first Japanese man to do so?

Asuka Nakajima won the women’s 116k race in 2019, the year she ended being third in the Asia Trail Master Championship. Nakajima will be succeeded by Shindy Patricia… if the local hero manages to finish, of course. Shindy is the only woman on the start list this year. Another sign of the trend that sees trail runners prefer shorter distances nowadays? In 2019 we still had Nakajima, Siokhar Lim and Surabaya’s Sri Wahyuni on a complete women’s podium. For the in-form Shindy Patricia, it is therefore just about finishing this weekend and collect not only the victory, but also the 500 ATM Championship points that will already bring her a good way forward towards being part of Team Indonesia in this year’s ATM Championship Final on 17 December.

Over to the 75k race, where we will find another Vietnamese top runner, Nhon Trong. Nhon Trong was second in Dalat Ultra Trail last March and has continued to be active since. A smart runner with regional trail experience, Nhon Trong could be the most dangerous favourite for the race victory given his fast running pace. He will be joined by his compatriot Duc Pham. They will be up against Singapore-based Spaniard Pablo Diago Gonzales, a regular at Mantra. On the podium twice but never as winner, and a DNF in 2019. Pablo Diago Gonzales plays down his chances, but he has seen the scenery of Mt Welirang and Arjuno already… It’s a brutal course, even the 75k, and when Pablo feels good they will need to pass him to win. There’s plenty of strong Indonesian runners as well. 2015 ATM Champion Arief Wismoyono is going well this season and long and high mountain climbs are his territory. Also from Bandung is Taofik Hidayat. Still relatively unknown outside Indonesia, but locally he has turned into a ‘one-to-beat’. Alan Maulana is a quick runner, always capable of a surprise. Thimo Kilberth, German but living in Bali for a long time already, has been prepping for this race and could be the dark horse. Kilberth is fast on the flat, but has improved a lot in the long mountains and … the 3000m altitude temperatures will probably please him more than most of the other podium candidates. Kilberth was third in Batur Trail Running Challenge in May already this Championship season.

Furtunately, there’s quite a few women on the start list of the 75k. There does not seem to be an outspoken favourite, but Novita Wulandari is a name of a very experienced trail runner always good for a podium. Singapore-based Malaysian Nicole Ng is another candidate. As always in trail running, maybe we will be surprised to see a new face emerging as well this weekend.

Asia Trail Master is in Malang and will be providing live race coverage as usual via our ATM social media pages on facebook and instagram in particular. The 116k race starts on Saturday morning at 5 am local time, the 75k runners are let go one hour afterwards.

Will Vietnam’s trail hero Quang Tran beat the local Indonesian armada this weekend?

Third in 2017, second in 2018, DNF in 2019. Pablo Diago Gonzales probably has a goal this season

Thimo Kilberth: highly motivated for a stellar performance this weekend

Taofik Hidayat: could this be his weekend to step out of the shadow of Arief Wismoyono in ATM?

Nhon Trong will be trying to score his first ATM race victory on the 75k this weekend

Not a crew member this year! Local hero Shindy Patricia is the only female starter on the 116k this weekend

The first Indian event on the Asia Trail Master Championship calendar opens the registration books this Friday, 1 July. Malnad Ultra welcomes runners from across the continent to run in the heartland of Indian coffee at elevations ranging from 800m to 1500m above sea level.

The 6th edition of this event, one of the country’s biggest trail events -if not the biggest -, is scheduled for the last weekend of November on the 26th and 27th. Taking place in the Western Ghats region of southern India, the routes on offer will be 100 km, 50 km and 30 km, whereby the two longest categories offer ATM Championship points.

The origin of the name Malnad is attributed to Male meaning Hill and Nadu meaning Land. So, Malnad is the land of the hills. The organisation is in the capable hands of the Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management (GIREM), and further driven by a large team of enthusiastic volunteers. The races are challenging and across various types of terrain with accumulated elevation gain of approx 3400 hm for the 100 km and 1700 hm for the 50 km. In fact, it’s a 50km loop that 100k runners do twice. The courses take runners through the Mudigere area in the State of Karnataka, which has Bengaluru (previously known as Bengalore) as its capital. That big city is also the international gateway to the event. From there, busses will take runners to Attigundi, roughly 6 hours away, where the event is held. Please note Malnad Ultra is a real trail adventure and takes place in a remote area so allow for enough time to reach the final destination. International runners are recommended to email the event organisation or Asia Trail Master directly for details about transportation options to the event site. Accommodation is mostly homestays and are plentiful in the area. Detailed information about travel, accommodation and touristic options are available on the official website of Malnad Ultra now.

Alongside the three Vietnamese classics in the Asia Trail Master Championship series, we have a new points race this year that takes place in a stunning landscape as well: Mu Cang Chai Trail Ultra. The event, which will be organised for the 2nd time, is scheduled for 24 September and has a 50k as the main race category.

Mu Cang Chai is located in the Northwest of Vietnam, albeit somewhat lower than Sapa, the famous trekking and tourism town that functions as host of the Vietnam Mountain Marathon every year. This is hilly, if not mountainous, terrain and so one does need to spend some time on a motorised vehicle to reach it. Furtunately, the event organisation is having shuttle busses from Hanoi, and one package option also includes already the local homestay in Mu Cang Chai. The logistical details can be checked below and via the official event registration page.

ATM Championship contenders need to sign up for the 50k race to score points in their attempt to enter Team Vietnam for the ATM Final in December. Less ambitious runners can also opt for the 25k or 15k options. Great to see is also that the 50k main race will start at 5am, meaning participants actually get to see the breathtaking landscape of Mu Cang Chai. The precise route will be made public in due course. Registration is already open.

The rice terraces of Mu Cang Chai at their most stunning

Good news coming from Japan also after last weekend’s Echigo Country Trail: the iconic Izu Trail Journey is confirmed as a points race for the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship series. ‘ITJ’ is scheduled for the second Sunday of December as usual, i.e. 11 December. The route takes runners across the Izu Peninsula south of Tokyo, and goes from A to B on an old pilgrimage route of 72 km in length. While many sections are runable, there’s typically over 4000 metres of elevation gain to be conquered here often in cold conditions. A few editions even had snow, making it a special race for South East Asians especially. Unforgettable are the majestic views of Mount Fuji and the Bay along the famous Nishina Pass.

The precise route of the 2022 edition will be made available in due course, and registrations are expected to open next month in the middle of July.

With Hakuba Trails still unconfirmed for this season’s ATM Championship series, Izu Trail Journey could be an important race for Japanese elites aiming to get a spot on their national country team at the ATM Final a week later.

Alessandro Sherpa and Salva Rambla had a good time in Tokyo before their dual to determine the outcome of the 2018 ATM Championship in the ITJ race

Hisashi Kitamura and Pablo Diago Gonzales had a good scrap at Izu in 2018

The Izu Peninsula is the home territory of Tomohiro Mizukoshi

2019 vice-ATM Champion Hisashi Kitamura proved to everyone last Sunday he may be better than ever this season by winning the Echigo Country Trail in Nagaoka, Niigata. It was the Kuala Lumpur-based Japanese runner’s first race victory in his native country. Kitamura had to work hard for it, however, as he was challenged by renowned ultra road running specialist Kiyotaka Imai. After 63 km in hot conditions, he was able to do his trademark karate kick into the finish, with Imai four minutes back in second place. Earlier this season, Hisashi Kitamura also crossed the finish line first at BUTM in Sabah, beating Milton Amat, but he got relegated to third place in that race due to a time penalty for missing a checkpoint and a mandatory gear item. Victory tasted sweet at Echigo, however, and the UGLOW Asia leader made no mistake about his ambition to win the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship in December, three years after coming so close in the battle against John Ellis.

Another ATM protagonist of the pre-pandemic era made a highly remarkable comeback to trail racing: Tomohiro Mizukoshi came in third and scored the podium! A result that probably he himself had never aspired before the weekend, given over two years of hardship due to severe respiratory illness in 2020 and injuries afterwards as he was trying to get back in running shape. Echigo was his kind of trail race with its longer runable sections, and ideal to try a comeback. Tomohiro grabbed the opportunity with both hands and banked his first 425 ATM Championship points of the year.

The women’s race was won by Asami Komio, ahead of Motoko Ugajin and Mizue Ashida.

The 2022 Echigo Country Trail was held with Japanese and Japan-based runners only, still as a result of the covid 19 measures in the country. The event has been a points race in ATM since 2016 and we highly recommend it to everyone keen on having a Japanese trail experience next year.

It was Hisashi Kitamura’s first race victory in his native Japan