This weekend we have an unanticipated doubleheader in the Asia Trail Master Championship series. Malnad Ultra in Karnatika is the first points race event in India, and TNF Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping is arguably the most competitive 100k race and 50k race of the season so far. Originally scheduled for last weekend, MMTF had to postpone by one week due to Malaysia’s General Elections, which caused quite a stir in the community. While many people, such as global elite runner Pau Capell, could not change their travel plans so last-minute, plenty of others found a way to still be there this Saturday. For many competitive Asians, MMTF is seen as the second-to-last opportunity to score enough points to get into their national country team at the ATM Final in Philippines next month.

This may be the case for 2019 MMTF race winner Kristian Joergensen also. Joergensen has had a solid year on the global scene, and now added both MMTF and Cordillera Mountain Ultra to his programme in order to try and qualify for the Mount Apo Sky Race in Davao on 17 December. Joergensen would immediately be a top contender for the ATM title, too. Another expat, and former ATM Champion in 2018, Alessandro Sherpa, is also back in Asia and keen to get his name on the board this weekend. Sherpa has been running in Italy and Europe for two years, and it will be interesting to see how he fares back in the hot and humid conditions of Southeast Asia. As a former champion, Sherpa only needs to finish two ATM races to get qualified for the Final, and reportedly that race on Mt Apo is also the only thing on his mind - competitively speaking. At MMTF, Sherpa will run the 50k to get the machine rolling.

Joergensen will have some challengers to repeat his victory from meanwhile three years ago, a megaperformance that turned him into the top trail performer he is now known as. Not in the least from Sabah’s Milton Amat, arguably the one-to-beat in Malaysia’s ultras this year. Amat needs the MMTF race to secure his spot in Team Malaysia, ironically enough. He has run often, but only two ATM points races (BUTM and TMBT), which is leaving him vulnerable against the many other Malaysians who are battling to get inside the country’s top 5 in the ATM rankings - based on a ‘best-four-count’ system. Wilsen Singgin, Muhamad Affindi and Jeffery Budin have already secured their team spot. Amat will be competing with mainly Amir Zaki, Ben Siong Lee, Daved Simpat and Akmal Adzmi for the two remaining spots. Amir Zaki is in great shape these days, having just won Doi Nhok Trail in Thailand, and Akmal Adzmi has always run very well at MMTF. Nevertheless, if Milton Amat can duplicate his performance from, say TMBT, he will be safe and in fact a top favourite to win the ATM Championship, too. Mount Apo is the kind of technical mountain terrain that will suit pure mountain runners.

Two more serious victory contenders on the 100k this weekend come from the Philippines: Larry Apolinario and Arnie Macaneras. Also in the Philippines, it’s a tight fight to get inside the country’s Top 5. Current points leader and MUSPO 100 winner Apolinario seems safe, as long as he finishes the race this weekend. It will only be his second race outside his home country. His first was VMM 100k last September, where he ran together with Hau Ha and Gaetan Morizur until halfway his stomach let him down. He did well to keep going and finish the race, which gave him the additional ATM points to now be leading the ranking. Macaneras on the other hand finds himself on the back foot after a DNF in MUSPO 100. The Davao ace returned with a second place behind Hisashi Kitamura in The Punisher 80 in August, but those 450 points of just 1 race are currently insufficient and places him behind Sean Aying (also at MMTF), Yojong Sacayle, Angelito Vertudazo and Poy Brillantes. Macaneras is a brilliant performer on technical trails, though, and expect a strong challenge from him to win MMTF 100 and lift himself into Team Pilipinas for his home race on Mount Apo.

We mentioned Hisashi Kitamura just now, but unfortunately the Karate Kit will not be competing this weekend in either the 100k or 50k race. Kitamura got badly sick during VJM last month - covid - and has seen his training schedule completely gone up in smoke. Already qualified a while ago for Team Japan, he does not want to risk anything and try to recover in time to be at his best at the ATM Championship Final - his main goal this season from the beginning.

A serious dark horse is Indonesia’s Arief Wismoyono, the 2015 ATM Champion who this season returned to peak form and showed that with a highly impressive win at Mantra Summits Challenge. This is Wismoyono’s first international in a long time, and it will be interesting to see how he fares. Similar with Milton Amat, Wismoyono will be a serious contender on the Mount Apo course next month. Akmad Nizar is another talented Indonesian who can cause an upset this weekend.

Other podium contenders on the 100k this weekend will be Singapore’s Deric Lau, Japan’s Seiji Morofuji and Sabah’s Safrey Sumping.

Looking at the 50k race, double ATM race winner this year Muhamad Affindi will be up against Daved Simpat and John Ray Onifa - the latter probably the man-to-beat. Onifa does not run a lot of races under ATM, but when he does he either wins or is very close to winning. One of his Filipino countrymen, Koy Grey, will return to trail racing for the first time since covid and his excellent 2019 season, in which he was one of the greatest stars. Let’s also watch out for Frenchman Herve Huguenot, a revelation at Cameron Ultra. Another great run could potentially even push him into Team Asia Expat for the ATM Final.

In the women’s races we will especially be looking at the performance of Hong Kong-based Hungarian Ezster Csillag, who recently scored 4th in the World Championships and who has her eyes set on the ATM title next month. Csillag won Ultramarathon de Sai Kung in October and MMTF 50k will be her second ATM race of the season.

On the women’s 100km we will see the best of Malaysia competing in the same race. Sally Yap, Halimatun Saaidah and Norlela Ismail are already guaranteed of their ATM Final qualification, and at MMTF they will face stern competiton from the likes of Adelinah Lintanga -back from Nepal- and 2021 MMTF race winner Izzah Hazirah, and also some strong runners from Philippines and Singapore. Cecile Wael will be at the start, along with Majo Liao - back from a long absence on the ATM scene - Irish Glorioso and Janet Halcon. Vincere Zeng is Singapore’s female number one at the moment, following her victory at Cameron Ultra. Can she repeat that feat in Taiping? It will certainly be interesting to see how she fares this weekend, also with a view to Mount Apo, which should suit her mountain skills very well. Let’s also keep an eye out on Thailand’s Siriporn Leumathing, who was a podium placer at UTOP, too, just a good month ago.

Alessandro Sherpa returns to Asia and the ATM scene for the first time since winning the ATM Candidate in Vietnam in early February 2020

Milton Amat has been dominant in Malaysia in the last months. Can he challenge Joergensen and co this weekend as well?

Second international outing for Filipino coming-man Larry Apolinario this weekend

Akmal Adzmi has always gone well in Taiping. What can he do this time?

Sally Yap became the woman-to-beat in Malaysian ultras this season

Ezster Csillag came back to Asia with a bang a couple of months ago and targets the ATM title

Norlela Ismail proves that consistency can get you a long way in the ATM Championship series

La Sportiva, official mountain running shoe partner of the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship series, has a wide range of trail models available again in its key stores in Malaysia and Indonesia. Popular models such as the Akasha II, but also the lightweight Jackal - favourite race shoe of Alessandro Sherpa - and Bushido. Check them out via the links below to Corezone Malaysia and Technical Outdoor Indonesia.

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.

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 the Ultra Raptor II (robust and for technical long mountain ultras).

We are one month away from the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship conclusion, and the national country teams are beginning to take shape. Throughout the year, runners have been able to collect ATM points in all races on our calendar and many of them are, today, already guaranteed of a place in the top 5 of their country in the ATM rankings. For some other Asian top runners, there’s still work to be done if they want to be part of the Mount Apo Sky Race in Davao, Phlippines on 17 December, location of this year’s championship decider. The Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival and the Cordillera Mountain Ultra, Malnad Ultra and Izu Trail Journey, are the last chances to score points. Especially for a spot in the home team, Team Pilipinas, these last few races will have quite some significance. But even on the similarly competitive Malaysian trail scene, arguably the top guy is not yet guaranteed of his spot in the team for the ATM Final.

Let’s do a round-up for some of the leading country teams going into the final weeks of Season VII.

Philippines

The battle for the five spots (five for men, five women) is a tight one in the home country. Due to the covid crisis, organising events and traveling was difficult for Filipinos so quite a few competitive runners are banking on MMTF and CMU in particular to get inside their country’s team for the Mount Apo Sky Race 75 in Davao in Mindanao. The current men’s ranking is led by Larry Apolinario (830 points) and Sean Aying (825 points), but nobody is already guaranteed of qualification. Davao’s own Arnie Macaneras, in particular, sits in 7th place at 450 points and needs a good result at MMTF or he risks being left outside. Kristian Joergensen is signed up for both MMTF and CMU, and could still enter the game being a long-term resident in the Philippines. John Ray Onifa is registered for the 50k at MMTF, but even winning that one race won’t be enough anymore for him to qualify. Remember: race winners score 500 points, 450 for 2nd, 425 for 3rd and so on. Each runner’s best four results of the year are taken into account for the final ranking.

In the women’s ranking, busy bees Emily Raga and Rhea Batac have basically both secured their places already. The question is who will join them on Mt Apo: Julie Ann Morales, Ces Wael and Irish Glorioso are holding the spots for now, but Aggy Sabanal and Janet Halcon will be trying to sneak one away in the coming races.

Malaysia

The top 3 in the men’s and women’s ranking are as good as safe already. Wilsen Singgin, Mohamad Affindi and the surprising UTOP winner Jeffery Budin all scored enough points already. It’s not quite the case yet for Amir Zaki and, especially, Milton Amat. The Sabahan lead runner currently has only 2 ATM results this season, and even though it’s two big victories, his countrymen like to run a lot and it’s four results over a season that are taken into account. Milton will be competing at MMTF and can be expected to safeguard his place in Team Malaysia, however. As a matter of fact, several people argue Mount Apo is the ideal territory for Milton Amat to become ATM Champion this year. It may indeed be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for him. Other Malaysians who will still compete for a spot in the men’s team are Ben Siong Lee, Daved Simpat and Bernardo Linus.

In the women’s, exciting newcomers Sally Yap and Halimatun Sa’adiah already secured their spots, together with La Sportiva’s Norlela Ismail, who proves that consistency across four ATM races can bring you a long way. The remaining two spots will be contested between Chong Mi Chin, Trisha Thow (currently dealing with an injury, though), Izzah Hazirah, Sum Mei Soh and Siti Hajar Razali.

Indonesia

A complicated season for Indonesian trail runners, also due to international travel issues in the aftermath of covid. As in the Philippines, only three instead of four points races in 2022, so the rankings have been modest. One exception: long-term Bali resident Thimo Kilberth has made the step forward to ATM’s top tier and could be an important alley for former ATM Champion and in-form Arief Wismoyono on Mount Apo. Expected to be in Team Indonesia is also the young and promising Akmad Nizar. Nizar is also scheduled to compete at MMTF next week.

Shindy Patricia has emerged as the leading mountain runner in Indonesia this year, as former ATM champion Ruth Theresia returned from a covid-induced running break and selected her races carefully. Ruth will be missed in the Philippines, but Shindy finds a mountain that will suit her skillset very much. She may be joined by newcomer and talented Mantra Summits 75 winner Siti Nuraini and Novita Wulandari.

Japan

Hisashi Kitamura has been looking forward to Mount Apo and the ATM Final in particular since 2019, when he narrowly lost out on the title against John Ellis. Kitamura this year has focused on ATM and guaranteed his qualification already very early in the season. While he was outstanding in the period March to July, his form has dropped since, however. Also caught by covid during VJM mid-October, Kitamura has not been able to follow his training programme and finds himself on the backfoot going into December. Some say the additional resting time will do him good, and we will see the best Karate Kit again on Mt Apo. Time will tell. In any case, he has a strong team by his side - in theory. Yuta Matsuyama, Tomohiro Mizukoshi, Seiji Morofuji and Fuminori Kondo are all experienced trail runners and very familiar with Southeast Asian conditions.

The women’s team from Japan could offer some surprises. Most runners scored points in the Korean and Japanese races this season, and are less known in Southeast Asia. Tamae Harada is leading the ranking, but is for sure a DNS in the Philippines due to visa update reasons for her resident country Vietnam. Let’s watch out for Asami Kimio, Moeko Yasugahira and others!

Vietnam

The country that has seen enormous growth in trail running over the past few years will have two of the top favourites for this year’s Asia Trail Master title: Quang Tran and Hau Ha. While the former has been around already for quite some years, the latter is brand new onto the scene. Both are already secured of their spot in Team Vietnam, and they will be flanked by runners who can play a great supporting role as well. Nguyen Si Hieu won’t be able to join them despite his qualification, though. Thang Hoang Huu, Nguyen Duc Tuan Anh, Pham Duc Tuan and Bui Van Da are expected to join Quang Tran on Mount Apo, with Nhon Trong as first reserve.

Hau Ha will have the support of Thi Lan Huong Vu, Phuong Nguyen and Ngoc Lien Trinh. Vy Le Phuong is in the best position right now to secure the fifth spot.

Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia

Kim Jisub from South Korea and reigning and defending ATM Champion John Ellis will definitely be ones to watch out for. Ellis, Australian but long-term resident of Hong Kong prefers to run in the colours of his resident country. That gives Team Hong Kong a big name and arguably the only reasonable podium candidate this season. Kim Jisub is a 50k specialist who has not yet raced very often in Southeast Asia, but having won Seoul 50k and UNTP 45k in October there is no doubt he is a potential ATM Champion this year. The Korean team could actually turn out to be surprisingly strong with also Junghyun Lim, Jang Dong Kuk, Jae-Duk Sim and Youngmin Yoon qualified at this stage. Boyoung Jan, Gyesook Lee, Jung Soon Park and Hyunja Kim are very solid women in the team, too. Korea could turn out to be the suprise team champion.

In Thailand, Arnon Srimat and Chonlada Kappiyanond are arguably heading the team. Danon Rattanatumrong is a potential podium candidate, but his qualification is not yet fully guaranteed. In Singapore, Deric Lau has been a great newcomer this season, as is female mountain runner Vincere Zeng. Also Lem Chee Ng, Steve Chia and Trung Nguyen are already qualified, as is Chin Chin Lee for the women’s. For Australia, David Longo is qualified and could be a dangerman for the podium on Mount Apo, too. Longo has proven to be in the best shape of his trail life last month in the two Hong Kong races.

Team Asia Expat

The elephant in the room. The best-scoring expats across Asia will be united under Team Asia Expat and it is bound to have some big names and race favourites. Gaetan Morizur, Frenchman based in Vietnam, is leading this ranking but won’t be able to travel, however, as his wife is due giving birth around the time of the event. Jeff Campbell, Malachy KIrwan and Eirik Knudsen are basically all qualified already. Campbell just won VJM 70k in impressive style and has been focusing on Mount Apo, so whoever wants to become champion this season will need to get by Campbell. One former champion who is currently unranked but set to compete in both MMTF and CMU is Alessandro Sherpa. As the 2018 ATM Champion, it is sufficient for Sherpa to finish two ATM races this year to qualify for the Final.

In the women’s expat team we have Singapore-based Belgian Vanja Cnops, who has won all her 3 ATM races this season so far. She is most likely going to be joined by none other than Hong Kong-based Hungarian Ezster Csillag, winner of UM Sai Kung 58 in October and about to race MMTF next week. Those two races should theoretically provide Csillag with enough points to hunt for the ATM Championship title alongside Cnops. Fascinating that will be! Especially with an exciting Vietnamese newbie who can’t wait to race against the two. Also in a good position to enter Team Asia Expat are Isabelle Bedard and Carly Balmforth.

Most likely we will still be welcoming qualified runners from Brunei Darussalam and India as well.

Apart from the individual championship, there is also a team championship. The race times of the fastest three men and women of each team will be added up to produce the team’s finish time.

All details on the Mount Apo Sky Race can be checked on our dedicated webpage. Runners are also advised to familiarise themselves with the race regulations and the mandatory gear requirements.

[This is an update of an earlier post published on 6 october]

Season VII of the Asia Trail Master Championship series is currently in full swing and the tension towards the winner-takes-all Final race between qualified runners in national country teams has been building up gradually. Nevertheless, the start of the new Season VIII is not that far away neither. As usual, there’s five weeks between the end and the beginning. The ATM event calendar for 2023 is taking shape, not as fast as we would like but it seems the nature of today’s world to have a shorter horizon to work with. In fact, several event organisers are still waiting for official permits by their local or regional authorities. In total, the ATM Championship calendar will again feature between 25 and maximum 30 points races in which runners can score points for the Championship qualification and/or for their Grandmaster Quest. The complete calendar is building up gradually, and we are happy to confirm two more points races in the earlier part of the season.

The new season will begin with four weekends-in-a-row. Thailand has the honour of having the opener with the classic Ultra Trail Koh Chang - UTKC - event in the south of the country and reachable via Bangkok, on the weekend of 21-22 January 2023. As usual, both the 100km and the 70km race categories will offer ATM points. One week later we move to Bandung in West Java, Indonesia, for Tahura Trail. Another classic and very popular for trail runners who prefer a shorter race distance (42 km) or for those wishing to prep themselves for longer races afterwards. Going into February, we find the V Trail in Laos on the schedule. A new date in the early season for the tough and technical race of 85km around Vang Vieng in the south of the country. From Laos we will head to Manila for the first Filipino race of the 2023 season and it’s a new entry on our Championship calendar: Santa Ines Mountain Adventure. A pretty spicy 80km in the Rizal mountains east of the Manila metropole, a successful Candidate Race last April.

After this quartet of events, we will have a break for two weeks until the new Candidate Race in Brunei, the Simpur Ultra Run on 25 February. Looking into early March, Dalat Ultra Trail will be the first Vietnamese event on the calendar on the first weekend of March. Dalat is a very popular destination for trail runners in the country, but also for South East Asians in general as the climatic conditions are favourable. After Dalat, we are rapidly approaching fasting month, which typically implies a more quiet period on the event calendar. A note on BUTM in Malaysia, the event will be announced in due course, and is set for a complete redesign AFTER the fasting month. A second Vietnamese event is set to enter the series in April. Confirmed for early May is the second Filipino races of the 2023 season: Sierra Madre Trail Ultra 75. A Candidate Race in 2022, this event caters for elite runners in particular and takes place in another area of the Rizal Mountains east of Manila. Later in May, we can also expect the first Malaysian points race of the season as well as the quite special Bukit Lawang Orang Utan Trail in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

Stay tuned for more updates on the 2023 ATM Calendar coming very soon.

Their race victories were anticipated, but the manner in which they did was still impressive. Quang Tran and Hau Ha made it look so easy the 70km Lam Dong Trail seemed nothing but and advanced training session for them. Both Vietnamese elite runners from the Mude Factory Team did run their own pace, however, resulting in Quang Train crossing the line first in 7h44 with Hau Ha second overall in 8h15. The Lam Dong Trail in Dalat was a Candidate Race for the 2023 ATM Championship calendar, and did leave a fine impression.

The 70 km race started at 4 am just outside the city centre of Dalat in Vietnam’s Central Highlands with a solid field of runners. Very quickly the Mude Factory Team Trio that also includes Nhon Trong, who returned from a complicated foot injury, set the pace up front. Others such as Hoang Huu Thang, Bui Van Da, Stephen Barkey and Thailand’s Guntawee Tiwapong already had to appreciate a gap of over 30 minutes at km 18. Interestingly the three teammates ran by themselves, following personal training plans with a view to their bigger objectives next month that include the ATM Championship Final in Philippines on 17 December.

Hau Ha gradually lost terrain vis-a-vis Quang Tran, also due to some stomach cramps halfway in the race. Nhon Trong in his first run for 26 days did remarkably well and at CP 5 was still just 5 minutes behind the female star from Sapa. The injury-caused lack of training and heavy rainfall around lunchtime would slow him down in the final 20 km, but his second place in the men’s was never in danger. Guntawee Tiwapong in fact had arguably the best ATM race of his season and scored third place on the podium, ahead of Hoang Huu Thang and Bui Van Da. The latter two are also qualified for Team Vietnam in the ATM Final next month.

Quang Tran admitted he felt very comfortable all race and showed that he is one of the men to beat on Mount Apo for the ATM title. One caveat, he has scheduled to run a 100 miles race the weekend before, too. Not so for Hau Ha, who is determined to test herself as a female trail runner for real on Philippines’ highest mountain, competing against co-favourites Ezster Csillag and Vanja Cnops. Until today, even coach Guim Valles admits we have not seen her real limits yet in competition. Even when she beat Gaetan Morizur, Nhon Trong, Tomohiro Mizukoshi and others at the Vietnam Mountain Marathon 100k race last September, she didn’t have to go into the pain cave. Both her and Quang Tran are THE faces of the incredible growth that trail running in Vietnam has witnessed over the last five years. It would be the first time a Vietnamese runner becomes Asia Trail Master Champion, in fact none has ever made it onto the season’s podium.

Lam Dong Trail and Dalat Ultra Trail (the ATM points race in March every year) share the same race venue at the Valley of Love, but the race courses are different. Participants were treated with a great arena setting and welcoming dinner, amongst other benefits. Most runners who did both argue that the older event has a long distance course that is arguably a touch more technical in nature, and agree there is a place for both events on the ATM Championship calendar.

This weekend we have the final ATM Candidate Race of the 2022 season in Dalat, Vietnam. Lam Dong Trail is hoping to secure a spot on next year’s Asia Trail Master Championship calendar and as a new trail event organiser keen to leave a great impression. What might help with that is the presence of Vietnam’s two greatest trail stars of the moment: Quang Tran and, of course, Hau Ha.

On the menu we find four genuine race categories with the 70k as the longest distance. Both Quang Tran and Hau Ha are signed up for this one. Most likely they will not get a lot of competition and will it be a solid training exercise for their bigger goals in December, including the ATM Championship Final on Mount Apo on 17 December.

The Lam Dong Trail has the same start/finish venue as the Dalat Ultra Trail, but the running course is different. Dalat being a wonderful place to run with its cooler climate, most runners won’t mind returning to the same place anyway. The biggest hillclimb comes right after the start at 4 am, and Asia Trail Master will be reporting live from the 70k race from start to finish. Just tune in to our usual channels.

As previously announced, Ultra Trail Koh Chang (UTKC) will open the 2023 ATM Championship season on 21 January. Now we are happy to also announce the other three points race events in Thailand for next year’s Season VIII.

The quartet contains two events that will be part of our ATM calendar for the first time. Trail of Man is taking place in Chiang Mai on 24 June , and we are talking the city of Chiang Mai itself. In fact, it is held predominantly on the course of the world championship a week ago. The main race for points will be the 60 km category. One month later, on 15 July, we are heading to the Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park for the Rock 100 Evil Trail. The main race there is the 100k, said to be one of the more runable courses in Thailand. Finally, in October, we are delighted to be heading back to Chiang Rai for Ultra Trail Chiang Rai, which returns to the trail calendar in 2023. On offer there will be the Ultimate 250 and a 130k - something for the ultra trail runners. The Chiang Rai race venue and race courses will change, too.

But first UTKC in the south of the country, the classic early season event with its beautiful beaches but also very tough and technical hilly forests inland. ATM points seekers need to focus on the 100k or the 70k distance categories there - as usual.

Stay tuned for more updates on the 2023 calendar as more events are getting their dates confirmed.

We are happy to announce a new ATM Candidate in Brunei Darussalam on the weekend of 25/26 February 2023: Simpur Ultra Run. It will be the first ATM promoted race in the country since 2018’s Beach Bunch Trail Challenge, and a great opportunity to put the spotlights on the traditionally strong Bruneian trail running community. Simpur Ultra Run will take place in the nation’s capital city Bandar Seri Begawan and has a 50k course as the main race category. Total elevation gain will be around the 3000 hm mark, which is not nothing for a 50k and those who remember Beach Bunch know that the hills in Brunei are of the short but steep kind.

Flag off time will be midnight on the 26th, meaning the competitive and faster runners will be mostly running in cooler temperatures at nighttime.

The event is organised by Passion Ku and the Simpur Ultra event manual can be consulted via their website. There you can also register for the 50k, or for the 18k if you’re less ambitious.

The draft course map of the 50 km Simpur Ultra Run

The final points race in Thailand of the 2022 Asia Trail Master season saw a number of great performances by emerging trail runners, as the local and regional trail elites were competing 60 km further south in the trail world championship. Doi Nhok Trail in Wang Nuea also stood out for its wonderful event management by a redesigned teelakow team, including the impressively stocked aid stations (pizza!) and start/finish arena set-up. The many hundreds of participating runners will also remember DNT for the tough race courses, providing a mixture of runable sections and extremely technical single trails that made running hardly feasible. The latter translated into a very long day for those people on the longer distance categories.

The 124 km and 58 km races were the chosen categories for the ATM Championship ranking. The male and female winners Arnon Srimat and Areerat Kareeklin ensured themselves of a spot on Team Thailand for the ATM Championship Final on Mount Apo next month. Srimat was third in UTKC earlier this year, and was in a league of his own last Saturday at Doi Nhok. His finish time of 29 hours 10 minutes nevertheless was an indication of the difficulty of the terrain. Second and third on the podium went to Phanlop Deechob and Somsak Jaejong. Areerat Kareeklin already won UTKC 70 in March, and thus scored her second ATM race win of 2022. On the podium with her were Sirinapa Phimklang and Srida Pheunghua.

On the 58 km we had a strong Malaysian winner who therefore managed to get into his national team for the ATM Finals. Amir Zaki shrugged off the disappointment of his DNF at UTOP last month by taking his first ATM race victory, more than one hour ahead of Chaisak Wangsnam and Nuttapong Sreedach. The fastest woman came next, fourth overall, and hailed from Ireland: Rachel Nolan. She proved too strong for the other women in the field, of whom Srinual Kanta and Prapaphan Thongsao completed the podium.

The 100 miles category, considered the most extreme miler in Thailand and beyond, was won by Germany’s Stefan Boeck in over 36 hours. Strongest woman was Thanussarinya Thaviphan in 53 hours.

A double ATM race winner in 2022: Areerat Kareeklin takes the 124 km race at Doi Nhok

Ireland’s Rachel Nolan was clearly the fastest woman on the 58 km despite severe stomach issues the day before the race

Chaisak Wangsnam and Nuttapong Sreedach were second and third behind Amir Zaki on the 58 km

It’s busy weeks on the ATM circuit and the trail racing continues this weekend with the final points race in Thailand for 2022, the Doi Nhok Trail near Chiang Mai. The second edition of this event unfortunately threatens to be overhadowed by the WMTRC event, which got rescheduled from last year to this weekend and which also takes place in the Chiang Mai area. Some of the biggest names in ATM and in Thailand, and other neighbouring countries and regions, e.g. John Ellis, Milton Amat, Jeff Campbell, Ezster Csillag, Sally Yap, Ruth Theresia, John Ray Onifa and Jay Jantaraboon have received the opportunity to measure themselves on a global stage. As a consequence, we expect instead to discover several new faces at Doi Nhok Trail. The start list of the event is in any case very long. The list of race distance categories is unfortunately also very long. ATM Championship points will be scored on the 125k and the 58 km races. But runners on the Grandmaster Quest can do 80km, 125km or even 100 miles.

Last weekend’s 9 Dragons in Langkawi, an ATM Candidate Race label event, saw a very nice victory by Andy Chong Chi Lee on the main 50/50 category, that is 50 miles on Saturday and 50 km on Sunday. Lee made the difference on Sunday, when he distanced Singapore’s Lem Chee Ng - with whom he had finished together a day earlier. Siokhar Lim was, as expected, the only female finisher of the 50/50. Francesco Floris ran with her quite a bit to be third in the men’s. The 50 miles single race was won by Ben Hails and Law Bee Chiao. The 50k single race went to Radzi Mokhtar and Gladys Ang.

The plagued Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping has now been forced to reschedule the event date as a consequence of Malaysia’s national elections taking place on the original weekend of 19/20 November. MMTF is now set for one week later. Both the 100km and 50km races have a very competitive field of entrants, hopefully most of them can still make it on the new date. Along with Malnad Ultra in India, Cordillera Mountain Ultra in Philippines and Izu Trail Journey in Japan, MMTF is one of the final points races for the 2022 ATM rankings, and thus opportunity for runners to get into their national country team for the ATM Championship Final on Mount Apo in Davao, Philippines, on 17 December.

A media conference on the Mount Apo Sky Race event was held in Davao City this week and can be watched here.

Runners who are currently in the Top of their country ranking will receive all details on the event in the coming days. As previously announced, all qualifiers will get free race entry for the 75k Final race, free 3-night accommodation, free country team t-shirts, and free airport shuttle services from/to Davao City.

Andy Chong Chi Lee scored a very nice victory in the 50/50 of the 9 Dragons Langkawi

While every finisher of the very tough 125 km long Ulju Trail 9 Peaks deserves an honourary mentioning, the winner of the 45 km and 2500 hm medium distance was nevertheless again the most eye-catching trail athlete of the weekend. Two weeks after storming to victory in Seoul, Kim Jisub smashed the opposition again in the Yeongnam Alps on Friday. Kim Jisub won in 5h19, half an hour ahead of Minchul Ko, and 45 minutes ahead of Jong Youl Kim. With two ATM race wins and 1000 points this season, Kim Jisub is already guaranteed of a spot in Team Korea for the ATM Championship Final race on Mount Apo in December. He would be one of the top favourites, even when - as with Jeff Campbell, for instance - 75km is a slightly longer distance than he is used to compete on. Also qualified for his country team already is Jaeduk Sim, who finished fourth in Ulju after a 3rd place in Seoul 100K two weeks ago.

The fastest three women on the 45km were Hyunja Kim, Narae Park and Eun Nam Kim.

The longest race distance lived up to its reputation as being one of the toughest mountain trails in the ATM series and Asia in general. The DNF rate was high, but nevertheless there were 52 finishers. The weather conditions were ideal to highlight the magnificent autumn colours of the mountain regions not too far from Busan in the southeastern corner of South Korea. Junghyun Lim was the strongest by one hour over Dong Kuk Jang in 23 hours 10 minutes . Youngmin Yoon completed the podium in fourth and was followed by India’s ATM Grandmaster Shashwat Rao - a pure mountain trail lover. Rao did have some bad luck along the way, as he missed a marker and therefore a potential podium finish. Gyesook Lee was first woman in the finish in a time of 28 hours 41 minutes. Ji Ho Hwang was second and Sun Yeon Lee third.

This weekend we have the next ATM Candidate Race event in Malaysia, and it’s a debut for the popular holiday island Langkawi. The 9 Dragons Malaysia mirrors the event concept introduced by RaceBase in Hong Kong, itself a points race in our Championship series in 2018 and 2019. The main focus is on the two-day competition with runners doing 50 miles on Saturday AND 50 km on Sunday. A tough task, physically and mentally, and arguably even more so in hot & humid Langkawi than in a relatively cool early February weekend in Hong Kong. It is perhaps not a surprise therefore that he start lists for the individual 50 miles and 50k races are longer than for the combo race. However, it is certainly no surprise to see Siokhar Lim on the start list. According to some, Siokhar Lim deserves the title of ‘toughest trail woman in Malaysia’ , by virtue of her impressive record in the most difficult ultra trail events in the region since 2019. As we have seen already this season, Siokhar Lim is also faster than ever and the question is whether she can podium overall this weekend in Langkawi. Puteri Norsharina Abdul Aziz, like Lim an ATM Grandmaster, is the second Malaysian woman on the 50/50 combo, and they are joined by Ireland’s Dawn O’Dowd. In the men’s start list we find a.o. Abdul Rahman and Lem Chee Ng, the Singapore-based Malaysian who finished together with Siokhar Lim at UTOP 105 three weeks ago.

Lots of runners signed up for the 50 miles and 50 km single races, and we will be keeping an eye out for a.o. Sally Yap and Halimatun Sa’adiah.

Siokhar Lim: the combo race at 9 Dragons is yet another challenge for her to conquer

Abdul Rahman

Halimatun Sa’adiah will be in action on the 50 km