If you thought that trail running in Sabah is only TMBT and BUTM, think again. This weekend the next ATM Candidate Race will take place in Kota Belud, approx one hour north of Kota Kinabalu: the Kadamaian Ultra, also known as KAR Ultra 70. This race developed under the wings of the Kadamaian Adventure Race that has been organised already for a number of years. KAR Ultra 70 will see nearly all the top runners from Sabah on the start list. It’s almost a Sabahan Championship race!

The main race of 70km has 3250 hm of elevation gain and has a course that goes up and down with one significant peak in the middle. It’s hard to tell if everyone will go flat out this weekend, but it will be very interesting to follow Milton Amat’s performance. Amat was one of the big ATM Championship challengers in 2019 and became the benchmark in Sabah that year. After the covid break, Amat showed at BUTM last March that he has lost none of his ability despite now also being 40 years old. It has again been quiet around him since, however, which is perhaps not unusual, but it does make trail observers wonder how well he will perform this weekend. Daved Simpat, who scored 2nd in Cameron Ultra just a fortnight ago and Wilsen Singgin, the 2021 Malaysia Trail Master Champion, are always strong competitors, and at KAR Ultra we are delighted to see also the two Sumping brothers on the same start list: Saffrey and Sampirin! This really does not happen a lot to get all the top dogs in the same race, and it is what gives Saturday’s KAR Ultra a lot of spice!

In the women’s 70k race, the Lintanga sisters naturally assume a lot of attention. Adelinah, winner of Penang Eco 100 miles in 2019 and 2nd at MMTF last December, will be making her first major appearance of the season after the postponement of her Everest climbing plans. Jassica Lintanga - Jess - is hoping to return to her podium-scoring form of before the covid crisis.

Milton Amat was in superb form at BUTM last March.

Adelinah Lintanga saw her Everest plans evaporate earlier this year and returns to her home trails tomorrow

You can now watch the latest Tale of the Trail race recap video on last weekend’s MUSPO Ultra 100, the first points race of the 2022 Asia Trail Master season. The event had a lot of drama. Two hours into the 100k race, the skies opened and rain was pouring down on the runners for over four hours straight. The usually very runable trails turned into a mudpool, and the whole race suddenly became a lot more technical than anybody had thought. Early race leaders Larry Apolinario and Arnie Macaneras missed a marker at a critical junction and went off course on two separate occasions for a very long time. For Macaneras it was a reason to throw in the towel, for Apolinario, apparently, a motivation to get back to the race lead as soon as possible and win the thing. His first ATM points race victory after a second place in Akyathlon 2019 behind Elmer Retolado, the man he beat last May in the ATM Candidate Race in Sierra Madre… Apolinario could become a dangerman for this year’s ATM Championship battle that will unfold in his home country the Philippines on 17 December and the Mount Apo Sky Race.

Aggy Sabanal returned to the ATM Championship series after maternity leave and won the women’s race convincingly ahead of Ces Wael. The women’s race -and the event in general- was overshadowed by a nasty fall suffered by co-race favourite Sherlyn Fugaban - this year winner of the two ATM Candidate Races Santa Ines and Sierra Madre. Fugaban had to be evacuated and hospitalised with a right thigh fracture that will take many months to heal.

Pahang Eco in Kuantan on Malaysia’ east coast proved once more that trail races do not need to be 100k to be extremely tough. The 50k race challenged even the most experienced of participants due to the technicality of the trails and the suffocating heat of the day. Sua Yih Huan was a convincing race winner in the men’s, and in the women’s it was Singapore-based Chinese Wei Xinshuang who took top honours. The winners’ finishing times says it all: 9h23 for Sua Yih Huan, 11h30 for Wei Xinshuang. This was just a 50k race…

The race venue was near the beach of Teluk Cempedak in Kuantan. Runners had to cross a few bukits such as Bukit Tokki and Bukit Pelindung, whereby the Tokki Hills turned out to be incredibly raw and tough. Another more relaxing feature is the section along the shoreline beach.

Achmad Aqwa Othman was an early leader in the race, which was interesting given that a week ago he still ran Cameron Ultra. Sua Yih Huan, however, would catch up with him and take command of the race to finish 30 minutes ahead of Aqwa Othman. Another half hour back was Syahmim Bin Nazmy in third place.

Chong Mei Tze was going well in the women’s race, but the high technical level of the trails was probably not in her favour. Grandmaster Siokhar Lim, on the other hand, is always very high up the leaderboard when things get really tough and rough. No surprise she came in ahead of Chong Mei Tze in second place. But the winner came from Singapore: Wei Xinshuang managed to put 19 minutes between herself and Siokhar Lim, and scored a great victory in the same way as her friend Vincere Zeng a week ago at Cultra.

The top 3 men & women of 2022 Pahang Eco

A very nasty fall at night by women’s top favourite Sherlyn Fugaban cast a shadow over some otherwise fantastic performances by filipino runners at the MUSPO Ultra 100 in Valencia, Bukidnon, on the island of Mindanao. Just before midnight, Fugaban - winner this season of, a.o, the ATM Candidate Races Santa Ines Adventure Run and Sierra Madre Ultra in the Rizal mountains - slid on a wet and muddy downhill trail and tripped over a large tree root. Her coming down could not be worse and resulted in an upper leg fracture. Fugaban had to be evacuated from the scene, which turned out to be complicated, and was hospitalised where she is now waiting for surgery. All things considered, Fugaban was in a positive mood on Sunday afternoon, even though she realises this will take many many months, if not longer, to recover from. A surgery procedure such as this also requires a substantial amount of money, unfortunately. Her team is therefore kindly asking for donations. You can find details here below or on our facebook page.

It was almost six hours into the race when the freak accident happened, and Fugaban was in the lead together with Aggy Sabanal. The latter would run on to win the race in over 21 hours, which indicated how extremely tough the heavy rainfall made the trail course after the start at 6pm in the evening. Ces Wael was pushing Sabanal for most of the race, but had to settle for second just four minutes ahead of Julie Ann Morales.

The men’s race was dominated by Arnie Macaneras and Larry Apolinario until sunrise, when the duo missed a critical marker and went off course for a very long time. When after an hour they finally got back on the right trail, runners such as Sean Anying and Yoyong Sacayle had already passed. Larry Apolinario decided to chase them down and did so in remarkably fast fashion. For Macaneras it was a bit too much, and he decided to take it easy. He would later DNF and score no important ATM Championship points…

Larry Apolinario steamed to victory in 17h29 and raises his profile as an ATM protagonist. It was his first ever ATM points race victory after a second place in Akyathlon 2019. This year, Apolinario had already won the Sierra Made Trail Ultra 75 in May. Many runners showed great form in this race. Sean Anying had his best ATM result ever with a second place, just ahead of Freddie Blanco.

Sherlyn Fugaban: her ATM Championship ambitions will unfortunately need to be postponed.

Larry Apolinario proved he is a class act by winning MUSPO 100 even after losing an hour by going off-course

Aggy Sabanal is back to the scene and scores her first ATM race win since 2018!

Sean Anying, Freddie Blanco, Ryan Estreras and Yojong Sacayle were runners 2-5 in the ranking

This weekend we have the first Filipino points race in the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship series, and it’s a newcomer as well: MUSPO Ultra in Bukidnon, Mindanao. On the programme of the event’s 3rd edition - the first since covid - are several race categories but ATM contenders and Grandmaster Quest seekers will focus on the 100 kilometres race that starts at 6 p.m. on Saturday. That essentially means it’s going to be predominantly a night race for most runners. Among the favourites we wind Arnie Macaneras and Sherlyn Fugaban in the women’s.

Bukidnon is the region between Cagayan de Oro and Davao on the large southern island of the Philippines. The area around Valencia City may not be as mountainous as the others, but the steep gradients of the hills and treacherous ground conditions (could be really muddy if there’s some heavy rain) will make this 100k challenging. Among the highlights are the touristic attractions Lake Apo and Musuan Peak, along with Sagumata Falls.

Arnie Macaneras was the coming man in southern Philippines before covid-19 halted everything. Macaneras was a surprise 2nd behind Kitamura but before John Ellis in the 2019 The Punisher race, and backed that up with another 2nd place at UTKC in Thailand - ahead of Kitamura - in February 2020. On paper, he will thus be the man to beat in Valencia this weekend, but how much has the corona crisis affected his performance level? We already know that Larry Apolinario from Antique is back at his best, courtesy of his great race victory in the ATM Candidate Sierra Madre Trail Ultra at the end of May. Apolinario could be Macaneras’ main challenger. Also on the start list is former Mt Apo race winner Ronie Torlao. Slightly older than the other two, but reportedly still going fast - also on less technical terrain. Other podium hopefuls will be Grandmaster 2 stars Aleksis Capili, Joeffery Camara, Al Telias and Hover Luis. And who knows we get suprised by a new face.

In the women’s we can expect a battle between three well-known ATM protagonists. Sherlyn Fugaban is the new lady on the block, having won both ATM Candidate Races in the Rizal this spring. Less experienced over 100k, Fugaban will need to watch out for the very experienced Cecile Wael and the 2018 ATM Championship runner-up Aggy Sabanal. The latter returned to trail action earlier in the year after giving birth. Fresh Grandmaster Rhea Baltac is also on the start list, along with Janet Halcon.

We will be covering the race live on our usual channels, and we have live tracking of the lead runners again, too. Link is below.

Arnie Macaneras

Cecile Wael

You can now watch our race recap of last weekend’s Cameron Ultra 100 in Malaysia, the eight points race in Season VII of the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship series. The video is available below and also on our ATM YouTube channel and ATM Facebook Page. The 100k race was won by Hisashi Kitamura, who ran away from the opposition just over halfway on the out-and-back route. The women’s race was a lot tighter with an ever-changing leaderboard and, eventually, a Singaporean across the finish line first in what was her debut on the ATM circuit: Zeng Xiaoyun, also known as Vincere Zeng. ‘Vincere’ means ‘winning’ in Italian, by the way…

Special thanks to Mark Jinmin and Amy Khor for their great contributions, and to the event organising team at BOLT for their assistance.

Hisashi Kitamura has won Cameron Ultra 2022 and is now the first ever four-star ATM Grandmaster. Crossing the finish line with his trademark 'karate kick' jump, Kitamura also scored his 5th career ATM race victory, and his second of this season. He ran away from his main rival today, Daved Simpat, just over halfway and extended his advantage progressively. His race time was 12h01 minute.

54 minutes later, Sabah's Daved Simpat entered the event arena in second place and scored another important 450 ATM Championship points after those at BUTM 100 in March. Important, because Team Malaysia is not the easiest team to qualify for with a view to the ATM Final in December at the Mount Apo Sky Race in Sta Cruz, Davao, Philippines. Simpat certainly still has what it takes on the other side of age 40. In third and completing the podium was France's Herve Huguenot. His first ever podium result in an ATM race. Wilsen Singgin again suffered from cramps and had to settle for fourth, just like in BUTM and seems still a bit away from his top form that brought him the Malaysia Trail Master title in MMTF at the end of last year. The men's top 5 was rounded up by Singaporean Deric Lau, who made his debut in an ATM race.

Singapore's Vincere Zeng was the best woman on the day, after a very exciting race with constantly changing positions at the front. Sally Yap got overtaken by Zeng in only the final 10k of the race. Halimatun Saadiah scored 3rd place in basically a spint in the final kilometers against Vietnam-based Japanese runner Tamae Harada. Izzah Hazirah was leading early on, but dropped down the leaderboard.

You can relive the action of the front runners via the replay function on our ATM/DTA interface

We are happy to announce that the Mount Apo Sky Race in Philippines will feature as the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship final on 17 December. The winner-takes-all Championship race, organised by Vertical To Sky with Doi Calbes as race director, will take place on the original 70k trail route used in 2015 and 2017, plus a 3k extension to the beach in Santa Cruz, one hour south of Davao City in MIndanao. Mount Apo is the highest mountain in Philippines with an elevation of 2954m above sea level. The ATM Championship race will thus run from the beach to the highest peak of the country and back.

As of this year, runners need to qualify to take part in the ATM Championship Final by ranking in the top 5 of their country. Points can be earned throughout the season in races on the ATM Championship calendar. The final race will be held in country teams format of maximum five men and five women per country. Qualified runners will start the Mt Apo Sky Race 75k in two separate waves: women at 5 am and men at 6 am. The winners, male and female, will be crowned as the 2022 ATM Champions, following in the footsteps of John Ellis and Veronika Vadovicova. The top 10 will be rewarded on the podium with significant prizes. In addition, the best performing country team will also be crowned as ATM Team Champion. The country result will be based on the accumulated finish times of the best three male runners and best three female runners in each team (= 6 finishing times in total). More details can be read here.

Please note that the event also has a mass-participation race of 100k, open to the general public, which will start earlier at night. The scene is set for an unforgettable weekend in Davao!

Stay tuned for more details to come out in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, book your diaries for a fantastic weekend in Davao on 16/17/18 December.

This is the course map of the 70K race in 2017, which will be used for the ATM Final. The only difference will be start & finish on the beach, adding almost 6km tot the total distance

Mount Apo, highest peak of the Philippines at nearly 3000m above sea level. Also the turning point of the race.

Click on the image to read the story of the four men’s winners of the Mt Apo Sky Race so far

Click on the image to read the story of the four women’s winners of the Mt Apo Sky Race so far

 

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.