FLASH NEWS - The 2022 Asia Trail Master Champions are Arnie Macaneras from Philippines and Hau Hau from Vietnam! Both class acts won the Mount Apo Sky Race 75km race in Santa Cruz, Davao, on Saturday aftervery competitive and exciting races. For the first time ever in her running career, Hau Ha was put under pressure early on by another female runner, Vanja Cnops, but ultimately once again smashed everyone. Local hero Arnie Macaneras executed his game plan and knowledge of the terrain to perfection, and was able to hold off Malaysia’ s Milton Amat by a sheer five minutes at the finish in the Playa de Oboza beach resort. Team Malaysia won the inaugural ATM Team Championship ahead of the home team Pilipinas and Team Vietnam. More news coming soon, meanwhile watch the videos from our live race coverage yesterday (more published on facebook and youtube).
The 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship will reach its conclusion this Saturday at the Mount Apo Sky Race in Davao, Philippines with a 75km sea-to-summit-return race. For the first time in ATM history, the Championship will be decided in a winner-takes-it final race with qualified runners, who scored enough points in ATM promoted races throughout the year to be in the top 5 of their country in our points ranking. It’s a new approach that has been applauded by as good as everyone in the competitive Asian trail community, and we are looking forward to see how it all pans out this weekend.
The list of favourites is long and it’s anyone’s guess who can clinch the first Asia Trail Master champion title since 2019, before covid interrupted everything. While reigning female champion Veronika Vadovicova has family priorities at the moment, 2019 male champion John Ellis did everything to get qualified for this year’s Final and will sell his skin and title at a very high price this Saturday. The race distance of 75km probably doesn’t seem long enough for him, but Mt Apo is not an ordinary 75km race. Pablo Diago Gonzales, a very decent reference, won the 70k race in 2017 in 12 hours, and that opens perspectives for an ultra specialist like John Ellis - now in his mid-forties but looking every bit as fit and stoked as three years ago. Kind reminder: nobody has ever won the ATM Championship twice. Two other former champions are also in the race tomorrow: 2018 hero Alessandro Sherpa, who qualified by finishing MMTF 50 and CMU 50 since he returned to Asia and is very much focused on this weekend, and 2015 inaugural champion Arief Wismoyono from Indonesia, who at Mantra Summits Challenge 75 was absolutely smashing it last July. Mind you, Mantra Summits 75 is the closest it can get to the Mount Apo Sky Race... It is truly hard to predict the outcome, which makes it so exciting and worthy of a championship race.
Jeff Campbell, Canadian residing in Hong Kong and running for Team Asia Expat, won Dark 45 and Vietnam Jungle Marathon 70 to qualify and is the most tipped potential champion. But isn’t 75km on a very technical mountain trail a bit too much for his very fast legs? The same can be said about Japan’s Hisashi Kitamura. Super fast on road marathon, and increasingly resilient on technical trails, but this is Mt Apo... Enter the pure mountain goats like aforementioned Arief Wismoyono, Malaysia’s Milton Amat and Wilsen Singgin and last but not least Quang Tran from Vietnam. Of all the highest ranked runners, Quang Tran is the least mentioned as a potential winner tomorrow, primarily because he is relatively unknown outside Vietnam still. He can change all that as we understand he is highly motivated to prove himself this weekend. We remember his easy victory in the Mantra Summits Challenge 116km race last July. Again, that race is the closest reference to what runners will get tomorrow. Malaysia arguably has the strongest team of all in the ATM Final, men and women, and are the top favourites to clinch the new ATM Team Championship. The finish times of the best 3 men and best 3 women of each team will be accumulated to produce the team result. Until a month or two ago, Sabah’s Milton Amat was arguably the man-to-beat in the Mt Apo Sky Race. Milton this season was better than ever. Maybe he still is, but the fact is that he has done a lot of racing over the past weeks so questions have been raised about his physical and mental state going into this last race of the year. If Milton Amat were to win tomorrow, a lot of training books would need to be rewritten, and we would certainly love that. Malaysia has more irons in the fire, however. Mohammad Affindi has also been exceptionally strong this year with wins in BUTM and Bali Trail Challenge. He could cause the upset if he has a good day, just like teammate Wilsen Singgin. You never really know with Singgin, who can be either superbly strong or remarkably below-par. In any case, Mount Apo is the kind of terrain Singgin, winner of MMTF 2021 and UT Chiang Rai 230 in 2019, likes a lot. Amir Zaki and Jeffery Budin - both race winners themselves this ATM season - are excellent backups and potential ‘helpers’ for Team Malaysia. Helping your teammates is allowed in the ATM Final, including carrying extra water or food for the captains - as long as every single runner respects the mandatory gear requirements. Mt Apo Sky Race is an out-and-back course, so the faster runners will come across the more slower ones at some point.
We have not even mentioned Team Pilipinas, the home favourites, and their star runner Arnie Macaneras, who will be running really in his own backyard. Nobody knows Mount Apo better than Macaneras and Sean Aying. Two weeks ago at Cordillera Mountain Ultra, Macaneras proved to be reaching his top level again at the right time. Many co-favourites fear him, and they have every reason to. Sadly, Philippines will be missing Larry Apolinario, who has been advised not to run by his physioterapist as an injury he sustained while winning MUSPO 100 in July is still not properly healed and recent race results suggest that it is doing Apolinario more damage than good. His
place in the team is taken last-minute by Rhys Pawid. Angelito Vertudazo is the fourth runner in the team. Poy Brillantes qualified by right as well, but a professional emergency prevented him from taking the flight from Manila to Davao yesterday.
The women’s home team will also miss CMU winner Cecille Wael, who unfortunately opted out just a few days ago. For the potential replacements Aggy Sabanal and Angelie Blanco it was too late to still make the trip to Davao.
The women’s race tomorrow is excepted to be an exciting first-time battle between Vietnam’s new star Hau Ha and Singapore-based Belgian Vanja Cnops. Both are unbeaten in ATM this season and actually looked unbeatable, too. Hong Kong-based Hungarian Ezster Csillag was also qualified for the ATM Final and keen to compete, but her busy racing schedule over the past weeks resulted into too much fatigue. The dual between Hau Ha and Vanja Cnops will be mouthwatering, though. For Hau Ha, on paper, it will be the first race she will normally be genuinely tested by another female competitor, who on top has faster road running times than herself, and credentials as a national cross-country and trail athlete. Vanja Cnops has been in Santa Cruz for a week and loved it. She has never run longer than 70km, however. Similar with Jeff Campbell, that is her alleged handicap, given Hau Ha has proven she can handle even 100km very well by comfortably winning Vietnam Mountain Marathon 100 overall, i.e. beating all the men in the process. The Vietnamese ace, who only started competing for real last March, is still prone to nutritional issues, however, and that could cost her against a seasoned runner like Cnops, who has been in several running ‘wars’ already.
Everyone expects those two ladies to fight for the victory and the ATM title, but behind them the battle for third place is also wide open. Julie Ann Morales and Irish Glorioso from Philippines will be keen to get a strong result, Malaysia has Sally Yap and Izzah Hazirah as arguable likeliest podium candidates, Vietnam also has Ngoc Lien Trinh and Lan Huong Vu, and Indonesia has its technical mountain ultra specialist Shindy Patricia in the race, too. From Japan, we can also expect Moeko Yasugahira to fight for third place.
The 75km race will be covered live on our usual ATM media channels, and there will be live GPS tracking of all the runners via: https://live.asiatrailmaster.com/mtaposkyrace22/
The traditional end-of-season event in Japan’s Izu peninsula south of Tokyo is once again open for international competitors this weekend. For many who have run Izu Trail Journey it is an absolute highlight on our ATM calendar, but this year the late reopening of the country and the still high cost of travel have led to rather modest number of foreign names on the start list. Global trail star Dylan Bowman from the USA will be running, though, and also Hisashi KItamura.
Kitamura is returning from a long spell of illness, which began at Vietnam Jungle Marathon mid-October, where he still placed third but was never really himself. In fact, after showing his best trail form ever from March to July, his performances had already been going downhill. Even at Borneo TMBT 100, where he finally wanted to defeat local hero Milton Amat he was basically no match for the Sabahan. It would appear the Karate Kit was hit harder by a covid infection than most elite athletes. However, he showed optimism again after he ran MMTF 25km two weeks ago. And this weekend at Izu, he hopes to get the feeling back to run well over 70km without seeking a top result. The ultimate goal has always been the ATM Championship Final on Mount Apo, a course that partially suits him well, but also partially not-so well. Kitamura knows he will need to be strong and sharp to handle the summit attack and descent to have a chance against pure mountain runners such as Milton Amat and Alessandro Sherpa to get the ATM title next week.
One of the dark horses in next week’s female ATM title race will be Moeko Yasugahira from Sapporo. She was a great winner of Seoul 50K last month and has shown great motivation to be part of Team Japan at Mt Apo. Yasugahira will be fine-tuning her form also at Izu Trail this Sunday.
Hisashi Kitamura aims to build up his form again for next week’s ATM Final after a long spell of illness
You can now watch our race recap of the Cordillera Mountail Ultra in Tinongdan, near Baguio, Philippines on 4 December. The 50km points race was won by Kristian Joergensen and Cecille Wael.
The video is available on our YouTube channel and Facebook page, or you can just watch it on our Tale of the Trail webpage.
As previously announced, UTKC will open the 2023 Season VIII of the Asia Trail Master Championship series on the 21/22 January weekend, just as it did this year. Ultra-Trail Koh Chang is a classic on Thailand’s trail calendar and it certainly is a great event to begin a new story, a new year of exciting racing for ATM Championship and Grandmaster points across the continent.
Koh Chang is one of the southern islands of Thailand, reachable by ferry from Trat, which in turn is connected to Bangkok by highway or a short domestic flight. The island is in fact the home base of teelakow CEO Peeradon Suksawat, and he of course spares no effort to ensure ‘his’ event will leave nothing but great memories to the 2000 or more runners that every year take part in the event. ATM-wise, the focus has always been on the two Grandmaster distances of 100km and 70km and 2023 is no different. Ultra and medium distance specialists both can start their ATM season with a bang.
Registration has been going very well, as expected, and anyone keen on joining UTKC on 21 January should book very soon.
This year in March, the races were won by Britain’s George Burkin and Chonlada Kappiyanond in the 100km, and Danon Rattanatumrong and Areerat Kareeklin in the 70km.
This is what the 100km course looks like on Koh Chang island
Running back in time
The home team is known! Team Pilipinas for the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship Final will consist of Arnie Macaneras, Larry Apolinario, Sean Aying, Angelito Vertudazo and Poy Brillantes in the men’s, and Cecille Wael, Irish Glorioso, Emily Raga, Rhea Batac and Julie Ann Morales in the women’s. Last weekend’s Cordillera Mountain Ultra concluded the Filipino ranking for this ATM season, as nobody of the potential contenders is lining up at Izu Trail Journey in Japan this coming Sunday.
Some of the qualified runners were already guaranteed of their team spot before CMU, and underlined why they may also play a very prominent role in the Mount Apo Sky Race on 17 December. Arnie Macaneras has shown increasing form over the past weeks, and Cecille Wael found speed and resilience we had not come to expect from her so late in a season, in which she was accumulating podiums once again without an ATM race win. Both of them have experience on Mount Apo, too. Macaneras lives in Davao and it’s basically his home terrain. Nobody of the ATM Finalists knows the mountain trail better than him. Ces Wael, she ran the 2019 edition of the Mt Apo Sky Race. She came fourth. Post-covid, however, Wael has reached a higher competitive level.
Team Pilipinas is strong overall and will be a great challenger for Team Malaysia and Vietnam, and others, for the ATM Team Title (ranking will be based on race result of best 3 men and best 3 women of the teams). Larry Apolinario may have struggled with his stomach and nutrition in races abroad the past few months, but let’s not forget his dominating display at MUSPO 100 in July and the Sierra Madre Trail (ATM Candidate Race) in May. As it goes in elite sports, today, nobody may be thinking of Apolinario as a potential championship winner…. but wait and he might just as well upset the whole order. Macaneras and Apolinario are in theory the fastest men, and they will be backed up by two more Mindanao talents - Sean Aying and Angelito Vertudazo, and Luzon’s mountain trail expert Poy Brillantes. Brilliantes had a late surge in the rankings thanks to his performances in South Korea at the Ulju Trail 9 Peaks and CMU. Just outside the top 5 we find Koy Grey, who scored very well in both his two comeback races, and Yojong Sacayle, who unfortunately was not in a position to fly to CMU and saw himself being overtaken on points as a result. They are the two reserves in case one of the top 5 cannot make it.
Behind Ces Wael, we find Irish Glorioso - who kind of quietly collected bags of points in four races this season. She never finished outside the top 6 and was 2nd in UTOP in Penang early October. Emily Raga was already qualified before the weekend, too, and decided to take a rest after what was a very busy period for her in the middle of the season. Emily will be well-rested in two weeks, normally, and we are curious to see if she can carry the fast speed she often has shown in the early parts of races towards a longer distance, in this case the 75km of Mt Apo Sky Race. Rhea Batac is always a solid finisher, and when she decides to push can actually challenge for a podium place. Second place in Jember Hills Classic in Indonesia this year was evidence of that. Julie Ann Morales is new to trail running and entered the scene with some impressive results, including a win at The Punisher and third place, just behind Ces Wael, at MUSPO 100. Morales is highly motivated to give it her best at her home race in the outfit of Team Pilipinas by OTSO. On the reserve list for women, we actually have two very strong runners: Aggy Sabanal and Angelie Cabalo. Sabanal did not make the team despite one victory and one second place, because the others had three or more races this season (remember it’s a four-best-count system). Cabalo is the exciting newcomer, who burst onto the ATM scene just ten days ago by winning MMTF 100 as an unknown. Cabalo was still tired from that performance at CMU last Sunday, but nevertheless still got third place. Even if both are not at the start line this year, both Cabalo and Sabanal - back from maternity leave after finishing 2nd in the 2018 ATM Championship - will certainly be Filipino protagonists in ATM next year.
After 7 podium places in ATM points races since the 2018, Cecille Wael delivered an impressively quick performance at last weekend’s Cordillera Mountain Ultra to claim her first major victory in her trail journey. The UGLOW runner was on fire from the start at 3am, showing remarkable speed despite still being ‘in recovery’ from the previous weekend’s MMTF 90km ultra race. Motivation and determination is key to win trail races, and Wael probably wanted to make a statement. She was nearly 20 minutes ahead of 2018 vice-ATM champion Aggy Sabanal, who had prepared well for CMU in a final attempt to get into the top 5 of the Filipino ATM ranking, and almost 50 minutes ahead of Angelie Cabalo! Cabalo, yes, the winner of MMTF a week ago who on that day beat Wael by nearly 50 minutes. All things considered, competitively-speaking, this was Ces Wael’s masterpiece run to date.
South Korea’s Boyoung Jang secured fourth place in the race, not too long after Cabalo. Boyoung is also qualified as part of Team Korea for the ATM Final on Mount Apo, together with her husband Kim Jisub, amongst others. Irish Glorioso did a great run to protect her qualification for Team Pilipinas by coming in 6th and ahead of Julie Ann Morales in seventh. Their respective results meant Aggy Sabanal and Angelie Cabalo are now in the waiting room as first and second reserves for the ATM Finals, in case either Emily Raga, Ces Wael, Rhea Batac, Irish Glorioso or Jullie Ann Morales cannot make it to the Mt Apo Sky Race in 2 weeks time. Let’s also note the surprising and interesting result of newbie Myra Montiveros in 5th place at CMU, right behind Boyoung Jang. One to follow in 2023!
The men’s race was won by Kristian Joergensen, which was no surprise and yet Arnie Macaneras was able to challenge and push the Philippines-based Dane forward all race. Macaneras, like Wael, is still searching that breakthrough victory in an ATM race after several impressive podium places. Could Mount Apo be that moment on 17 December? Macaneras’s competitive form has been rising since a number of weeks and nobody of any qualifyer for the ATM Championship knows the mountain as well as him - being a Davao resident who climbs Apo for training on a regular basis. He is part of a strong men’s team that also includes Larry Apolinario, Sean Aying and thanks to their great runs at CMU, also Poy Brilliantes and Angelito Vertudazo. The latter duo managed to jump Yojong Sacayle in the rankings. Sacayle, unfortunately, could not make it to CMU last weekend. Behind Joergensen and Macaneras, 2018 ATM Champion Alessandro Sherpa continued his comeback in Asia and claimed the third spot on the podium. His focus is exclusively on Mt Apo and CMU for him was ‘training according to programme’. In fourth and fifth we had Koi Grey - proving he is really back - and Jeffery Zonio, in his first ATM points race. Zonio has been winning domestic races in Philippines throughout the year.
Below are the two finish videos of the top competitors. Check out all the ATM race videos on our facebook channel, as well as a great photo collection by Adventure III .
The 2022 podium placers of the Cordillera Mountain Ultra 50km
Kristian Joergensen was as expected the strongest man, but Macaneras kept him focused nonetheless
Arnie Macaneras’s form is growing steadily. The Davao’s top runner scored another ATM race podium
Koi Grey in his 2nd race of 2022, just a week after a great comeback at MMTF
ATM Grandmaster Shashwat Rao scored an impressive maiden victory in Malnad Ultra 100 last weekend, the first points race in India that counts for the Asia Trail Master championship. Rao dug very deep to achieve this feat on a runable yet hilly course through a major coffee plantation area six hours south of Bangalore in Karnataka State. Malnad Ultra is the most popular trail running event in India, but changed location for this year’s 6th edition. The new venue and course was liked by the 1000 runners at the event, offering great vistas of the mountainous area and a great feeling of remoteness. The weather on race weekend also played ball and made for an exciting weekend of trail running for the many newbies on the 30km as well. No doubt about it: India’s trail running scene is blossoming. And not only in quantity of numbers, but also in the quality of its top runners. We have known the high level of Shashwat Rao since 2018, but consider the Malnad 50k race winner Sannat Sachdev. 50k trail with 1700m of elevation gain in 4 hours and 38 minutes! In a clear statement after the finish, Sachdev proclaimed he is ready to experience the Asia Trail Master Championship in 2023. We are looking forward, indeed! Sachdev was not alone, he was pushed forward for a long time by another Asian top class act Opendro Singh Thoudam. In third was Ganesh Kumar. The women’s race was won by Unived talent Lipi Kalita.
Shashwat and Ashis did the full 100k course in well under 13 hours. The podium was completed by Raman Kumar. The women’s 100k race was won by Anuradha Bhat in 17h52. Anita Shivanna and Talisangla Jamir joined her on the podium. Jamir actually led the race halfway, but dropped back in the second part. It was her first 100k.
Lipi Kalita (middle) won the women’s 50k race in 6h32
For the first time in over 3,5 years runners will flock to Baguio and the smaller mountain village of Tinongdan for the Cordillera Mountain Ultra, a classic on the Filipino trail calendar that has also acquired a very positive reputation in the rest of Asia and even beyond. Event organiser JP Alipio has indeed managed to put together a unique ‘boutique-style’ trail weekend in the splendid scenery the area has to offer, including homestay accommodation and local culture. The main race, the 50km, features the ascent and descent of Mount Ugo, and is natural loop without any unnecessary or artifical switchbacks to add distance. CMU, as the event is now commonly called, is living proof that 50k trail races can be very attractive, fun and challenging, too.
Normally taking place in March, the covid-19 situation early this year made that impossible and so CMU is a late-season race for the first time. While tricky for many international trail runners, the local Filipino runners do not seem to bother as the start list looks filled with the nation’s top runners, especially those with ambition to be part of Team Pilipinas at the ATM Championship Final in two weeks’s time in…. Philippines, albeit on the other side in Mindanao: the Mount Apo Sky Race. Indeed, the male and female teams, consisting of maxium five each, is not yet fully confirmed today. In the men’s Larry Apolinario and Sean Aying performed well-enough at MMTF last weekend to be safe, but the remaining three spots are still quite open for a number of runners - even John Ray Onifa. The latter does not feature on the CMU start list, however, the race he won back in 2019 ahead of Kristian Joergensen (!) and Koi Grey. Joergensen is back this weekend, following-up after his joint victory with Milton Amat last week on the 90km of MMTF. Reportedly not in a position to race Mt Apo, Joergensen might influence the others’ chances by taking points away from them this weekend. But when all is said and done, we might find Davao’s Arnie Macaneras on the #1 spot after the weekend. After a difficult start of his ATM season with the DNF at MUSPO 100, Macaneras rebounded with second place behind Kitamura at The Punisher, and a solid 3rd place at MMTF 50 last week. He is doing CMU as well now, to make sure he can don the Team Pilipinas shirt for the Final at his home in Davao. Of all the ATM finalists in the men’s race, nobody will know the terrain better than Arnie Macaneras. That makes him a very dangerous outsider and certainly a podium contender.
In the women’s race, we can expect a battle between Angelie Cabalo and Aggy Sabanal, both of them keen to get into the Top 5 of the ranking as well. Mathematically difficult given Emily Raga, Ces Wael, Irish Glorioso and Rhea Batac are safe already. Remains Julie Ann Morales, but she is running CMU to make sure she stays in, being from Davao also. Morales, by the way, could challenge for the CMU victory outright, having shown competitive improvement all season. Sabanal has been selective in her races and might be the freshest of all contenders, especially as Caballo just won MMTF a week ago. Or will eternal podium placer Ces Wael finally get that big victory that has escaped her for so long?
The ATM team will be present at CMU and reporting live on the usual channels, connectivity permitting.
Always one of the most stunning vistas every ATM season
one of the suspension bridges on the 50k course
Following MMTF last weekend, the hard-fought battle to get into Team Malaysia for the Asia Trail Master Championship Final has come to a conclusion with some dramatic last-minute changes. There’s no Malaysian contenders signed up for the Cordillera Mountain Ultra and Izu Trail Journey in the next two weekends, so the ranking is basically final. In the end, the ten Malaysian men and women will be the top favourites to win the team championship, and some of them can also challenge for the individual ATM Championship title and the podium. In particular, Milton Amat will find Mount Apo in Davao, Philippines, very much to his liking.
Several runners such as Wilsen Singgin, Muhamad Affindi, Jeffery Budin, Sally Yap, Halimatun Sa’adiah and Norlela Ismail were already guaranteed of their team spot before MMTF last weekend, but for the remaining spots it was very tight between a number of athletes. The biggest ‘losers’, if we can use that term, are Beng Siong Lee and Trisha Yuen, who both dropped out of the top five and are not even first reserve. Beng Siong Lee suffered from illness going into the 90k race at MMTF and was basically already beaten before the start. He fought bravely, but got ranked outside the top 50 for which there are no more championship points. Also Amir Zaki was sick and struggled a lot. The winner of Doi Nhok 50k in Thailand three weeks ago finished as 25th last Saturday, which gave him 160 championship points and that proved to be just enough to stay ahead of Daved Simpat (2nd on the 50km at MMTF) and Aqmal Adzmi (joint 3rd on the 90km at MMTF). The difference between Zaki and the other two: he finished 4 ATM races compared to 3 for the other two, and ATM 2022 has a ‘best-four-count’ system. That is also the story in the women’s category: the combination of having finished 4 ATM points races with a great result is what you gets you in the top five. Especially in Malaysia where the men’s number five, Amir Zaki, collected no fewer than 1415 points and the women’s number five, Izzah Hazirah, 1150 points. You don’t even get there with two race wins.
The six reserves for Team Malaysia, in case someone in the top five cannot make it to the Mount Apo Sky Race on 17 December, are Daved Simpat, Aqmal Adzmi, Beng Siong Lee in the men’s, and Sum Mei Soh, Trisha Yuen and Wan Azzizah Wan Achmad in the women’s.
It should be noted that Muhamad Affindi is 2nd overall behind Japan’s Hisashi Kitamura in the 2022 ATM points ranking and Sally Yap is even the overall leader in the ATM women’s ranking today with two more points races to go. Both competed in four ATM races this season.
All details on the ATM Championship Final can be read here.
As a pure mountain runner and in the shape of his life in 2022, Milton Amat ranks among the top favourites to win the ATM Championship this year
Mountain runner Izzah Hazirah secured her spot for Team Malaysia at MMTF last weekend
There were quite a few Asian star runners at MMTF, but arguably John Ray Onifa was the one who stood out and impressed the most with his dominating performance in the 50k race. He was of course the top favourite, but to beat Daved Simpat by over 32 minutes, Arnie Macaneras by 1 hour and 10 minutes (!), Koi Grey by 1h 23 and Muhamad Affindi by 1h40 on essentially a 47 km course, was a true masterclass. It’s Onifa’s 4th career ATM race victory, scoring one every year since 2017. The Filipino runs mainly on the global stage, otherwise he would still be a serious contender for the Asia Trail Master Championship title.
Behind him, Simpat showed once more that 2022 has been a good year for him. The ‘original’ Sabahan trail star, now well in his forties, even earned his spot in Team Malaysia for the ATM Finals (to be confirmed once the MMTF 100k results are official). For Davao’s Macaneras, qualification for his country’s team is not yet guaranteed but 3rd was a great step in that direction. He is running this coming weekend’s Cordillera Mountain Ultra next to ensure his spot for the Finals in his home area. It was very nice to see Koi Grey back in action last weekend, and he did not miss his comeback. Fourth place and 12 minutes behind Macaneras is truly solid. Alessandro Sherpa also made his comeback in Asia, but reportedly just followed his training and preparation plan for the ATM Finals. Sherpa ran with fellow-T8 ambassador Ezster Csillag as they crossed the finish line behind Koi Grey. That shows you how fast Csillag is, of course. She is one of the three top favourites for the women’s ATM Championship title alongside Vanja Cnops and Hau Ha.
Kristian Joergensen and Milton Amat ruled on the 100km race category, which turned out to be ‘just’ 90 km in fact. While many were hoping to see a great battle between them for the prestigious race victory, they decided to cross the line together. The same happened almost two hours later with the very strong Aqmal Adzmi, who always does well at MMTF, and last year’s winner Wilsen Singgin. Singapore-based Chris Timms was next, just 12 minutes behind them. Remarkable performance by Timms. Milton Amat secured his spot on Team Malaysia, where he will be joined by Wilsen Singgin - who was already qualified before MMTF, just like Muhamad Affindi. For Adzmi, he will just come short on points as Daved Simpat, Amir Zaki and Beng Siong Lee also collected again in their fourth race of the season. Adzmi will be one of the reserves, however, in case one of the qualifiers cannot make it.
It has no major impact on the ATM rankings this time, but our regulations state that joint finishes will not be considered and a distinction must be made when awarding points. Because no clear distinction could be made at the last checkpoint of the race neither, Joergensen and Amat’s points will be rounded down to 450 (=2nd place) instead of 500 (winners), and the same applies for Adzmi and Singgin (400 points = 4th place, instead of 425 = 3rd place). The ATM Championship has had this rule for ‘joint finishes’ since the beginning (see ‘general notes’ on our ATM points system page).
The women’s 100k saw a surprising winner in Angelie Cabalo from the Philippines. Her country delivered a great string of results all weekend and it was obvious also in this race category with 4 Filipinos in the top 6, 3 in the top 4. Majo Liao returned to the ATM scene for the first time since many years and managed to stay just ahead of Malaysia’s Sally Yap for second place. The gap to Cabalo was 25 minutes. Cecille Wael was fourth, well ahead of last year’s winner Izzah Hazirah.
The MMTF races were stopped for safety reasons on late Saturday afternoon following a very heavy downpour. The big majority of 100k runners were still out on the course, and therefore only 7 women reached the finish line. Irish Glorioso and Thailand’s Siriporn Leumathong were the last ones. The MMTF race director decided the others will be marked as finishers. Official results are pending.
Ezster Csillag was unbeatable in the women’s 50k
No sprint to see who’s best: Kristian Joergensen and Milton Amat cross the finish together
Philippines’ Angelie Cabalo was the surprise winner of the women’s 100km
India is growing as a trail running destination and Malnad Ultra illustrates that fact as the first official points race in the Asia Trail Master Championship series. The 6th edition of the very popular event in the heartland of Indian coffee in Karnataka, Western Ghats, has two traditional race categories that provide points: 100km and 50km. The terrain, through hilly coffee plantations, is quite runable and explains the tight cut-off times given the distances.
More than 1200 people signed up for the event, which is taking place in a very remote area northwest of Bengaluru (formerly known as Bangalore). As the RD told ATM, do not expect to be able to perform any video livestreaming. It is part of the charm of Malnad Ultra to be away from every-day mobile connectivity for a few days.
ATM Grandmaster Shashwat Rao will be among the competitors on the 100km, having just returned from a strong run in South Korea at the Ulju Trail 9 Peaks. Shashwat has been all over Asia in the years 2018-19 and it is great to see him back post-covid. With a good result this weekend, he can qualify himself for the ATM Championship Final in Philippines on 17 December. Another Indian running star who can achieve that is Nupur SIngh in the women’s category. Earlier this year, Nupur traveled to Saudi Arabia just after she resumed training and scored a very solid second place. She has had global running goals this year, such as the world championship ultra road running, which is why we haven’t seen more of her afterwards. Dengue fever also hampered her progress. Dengue is pretty serious, so Malnad Ultra will be a test case for Nupur to see how well she has recovered.
ATM will be on-site during the event and will be reporting as much as the mobile connectivity allows.
