We are delighted that the 2022 season VII took place without major hiccups in the aftermath of the covid-19 pandemic. A few events still could not take place, and may in fact never return. It was a difficult year for many organisers, also under ATM, but it all concluded with two new wonderful champions, Arnie Macaneras (Philippines) and Hau Ha (Vietnam), with Team Malaysia scoring the inaugural team championship win.

We changed the ATM Championship regulations for the 2022 season and have a winner-takes-all race with qualified runners in national country teams, which turned out to be a big success on the basis of feedback received from all parties: runners, organisers, fans and sponsors. In 2023 we will continue down this chosen path.

So, in 2023, runners will again score the usual points in designated races at each event on our ATM calendar. The best performing runners will be invited to join their national country team for the Asia Trail Master Championship Final in December 2023. Per country maximum five male and five female runners will get the honour.

The key points

• The way in which runners score ATM Championship points does not change, except that just the top 25 men and top 25 finishers in an official ATM points race collect 100 ‘finisher’ points, plus x number of ‘performance’ points according to the usual points table). In essence, male and female race winners go home with 500 points in their bags. Second place gets 450, third place 425 and so on until rank 25.

• In trail running events there’s typically several race distance categories. Normally, the longest race is the one to focus on as the A-race for the ATM Championship. However, this is not always the case! It can be that there are two A-races at the same event. Therefore, always check our race overview to find out which race offers how many Championship points.

• One stubborn misconception is still that you must do long ultras to become ATM champion. Not true: you can select medium distance races of 40 to 70k and get just as many points as for a long ultra of 100k or more. The best example of this is Veronika Vadovicova, who became ATM champion in 2019 although her longest race was “only” 84 km. Runners choose the race distance that fits their qualities best. The ATM Final race aims to compromise between medium and long ultra, with a race distance of approx 75 km.

• In 2023, again due to the ongoing pandemic, we will work with a “four-best-count” system. Only a runner’s best four race results will count for his or her points total before the ATM Championship Final in December. In other words: even if you run 10 ATM races in 2023, only your best 4 results will be retained in the points ranking.

• The bonus points system remains unchanged. The Abroad Bonus (50 points for finishing at least 1 race outside of one’s resident country) and the 100 Miles+ Bonus (25 points) remain.

• Penalty points. Organising the ATM Championship Final is a big effort and is projected to be in the interest of everyone in the Asian trail running scene. Runners who do not turn up despite being qualified to be part of their country’s national team will be penalised by a symbolic 100 points in the final ATM points ranking of 2023 (except proven illness/injury).

• Joint finishers: An important distinction will be made as of the second quarter of each season, i.e. 1 April (now as of 1 April 2023): If runners cross the finish line together hand-in-hand, their ranking relative to each other at the last timing checkpoint before the race finish will be consulted to determine who scores the most performance points. 
If no distinction can be made, both runners will receive the points linked to the lowest of the two positions. E.g. joint winners will not get 500 points, but 450 points equivalent to 2nd place.

We also like camaraderie and people enjoying successes together, yet the ATM Championship is a sporting competition and we must avoid a situation whereby, late in the season, a joint finish of two or more championship contenders could be done deliberately for tactical reasons.

The ATM Championship Final

The 2023 Asia Trail Master Championship Final will be a winner-takes-the-title race as in 2022. The male and female finalists who cross the finish line first will be the new ATM Champions.

However, you do need to qualify to be able to take part in that last race, the ATM Final. In each country, maximum five male and five female runners who score most ATM points during the year will qualify and be invited to enter their country’s National Team for the Asia Trail Master Championship Final.

The Final is therefore projected to be a race with selected elites-only, who are members of National Teams. Maximum five male runners and five females. Apart from the Individual Championship there will also be a Team Championship. The latter 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)

The number of runners per team is subject to there being an ATM points race in the country.

• Minimum 1 ATM points race —> 5 male runners, 5 female runners

• no ATM points race —> 4 male, 4 female

Runners who are ranked 6th to 8th in their country are the eligible reserves in case anyone in the top 5 cannot take part in the Final.

ATM Championship Final Event: The venue of the 2023 ATM Championship Final will be announced soon. The projected weekend date is 2/3 December 2023.

Expats working and residing in Asia: if the expat is an Asian passport holder, he will represent his native country and not his resident country. If the expat has a European or American passport, or any other non-Asian passport, he will be eligible to join Team Asia Expat. Exception: expats who have resided in one and the same Asian country for 8 years or more can join their resident country team.

Minimum requirement of 2 ATM race finishes: runners in the top 5 of their country ranking must have completed minimum 2 ATM races to be eligible to join the ATM Championship Final and represent their country.

Wild cards: former ATM Champions get a wild card to take part in the 2023 Final, provided they have scored points in minimum two ATM points races during 2023. Also, the team of the host country can at any times be represented by 5 male and 5 female runners, provided these have scored points in minimum two ATM points races during 2023.

Equal points: if two runners have the same points total in the country ranking, a distinction will first be made on the basis of highest ranking obtained in a race (e.g. a 3rd place race result is better than a 5th place race result). If that still does not divide them, the number of kilometres run in the relevant races will determine who receives the highest place in the country ranking.

A new entry on our 2023 Asia Trail Master Championship calendar is Cuc Phuong Jungle Paths in Vietnam on 1/2 April. An event organised by Race Jungle who previously brought us the Cau Dat Farm Ultra in early 2020 won by Alessandro Sherpa, and Tam Dao Mountain Trail in Hanoi in 2017 - won by Steven Ong during his amazing season back then. Cuc Phuong Jungle Paths is in its second edition this year and brings runners to the popular national park, on the trekking and hiking itinerary of many since over two decades. Accessible via Ninh Binh in the north of the country - not too far from Hanoi - CPJP offers a 100km and 42km as points race categories for the ATM Championship ranking. For Grandmaster Quest runners, there is also a 70k option to choose.

Cuc Phuong National Park (or Cuc Phuong forest) is a nature reserve, a special-use forest located on the boundary of three provinces: Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh and Thanh Hoa. This national park has a diverse flora and fauna system featuring tropical rainforests and was also introduced as the first national park in Vietnam.

The race courses are generally quite runable, which explains the rather tight cut offs. The 100 km needs to be covered in 22 hours, for instance. Start of all catgeories is at the Ho Mac Area. Long distance runners need to be aware that the start time of the 100km is on Saturday night , 10 pm. Many will thus run mainly at night. The 42 km race starts at 7 am on Sunday morning with a cut off of 13 hours. If you arrive in Vietnam early, there will be an option to collect your race kit already on Thursday in Hanoi city.

Accommodation and transportation options are available, please check the link to the official website below.

 

Bali Ultra Trail on and around Mount Batur in the beautiful Kintamani region is confirmed for the weekend of 19/20 August this year. After a successful edition as a Candidate Race last year, we are pleased to announce that both the 100km and 50km race categories are new points races for the 2023 ATM Championship ranking. Registration opens soon.

Popular tourist attraction Batur is rapidly gaining a reputation as a prime trail running destination as well. The old volcano is not the highest and also not the most technical to climb, but it is a challenge nonetheless and the views from the mountain are astonishing. Bali Ultra Trail has Grandmaster Dendi Dwitiandi as race director and the second edition will build further on the experience of 2022. The 80km becomes 100km and will retain the mentally tough out-and-back section towards the beach in North Bali. The 50km wil stick to the Batur area itself. Precise course details for the upcoming edition will be revealed in due course.

Meanwhile, book your weekend for Bali in August and prepare for another exciting race weekend!

Last year Arief Wismoyono won the 50k race at Bali Ultra Trail

We are happy to announce our latest media and communications platform that is now officially introduced for the upcoming 2023 ATM Championship season: Telegram! Most of you are certainly already aware of the growing mobile messaging app, often seen as an alternative to whatsapp, and may have already installed it on your smartphones, but note it can also be used via laptop/desktop.

You can easily find the Asia Trail Master channel on Telegram via the shown QR code ,or just via the link on the button below.

The ATM Channel will feature all the latest news updates and videos concerning ATM, easily accessible via your phone. Please note it is an Info Channel and not a messaging channel. So if you like to stay up-to-date on all the main ATM news, subscribe for free to our ATM Telegram Channel now.

Dalat Ultra Trail is an early season classic in our Asia Trail Master Championship series, taking place on 4 March this year. The longest distance of the Vietnamese event is the traditional points earner, and for 2023 the organising team offers a 85 km course. Dalat typically has quite runable terrain in pine forests and across a number of hilltops. What makes the event so loved is the cool temperatures of the Central Highlands and the impressive organisation.

Many of ATM’s top performers have run Dalat over the past years, such as John Ellis, Hisashi KItamura, Mohammad Affindi, Kim Matthews, Tahira Najmunisaa and last year the event gave us a first hint of the incredible trail talent that is Hau Ha, now of course also the reigning Asia Trail Master champion. The race venue is not far from the city of Dalat, a tourism hub in the south of the country as well.

Registration is open and you can find all details via the website , also in English.

We are delighted to announce a new Japanese entry in our Asia Trail Master Championship series for this year: Deep Japan Ultra is the latest event by Hiroaki Matsunaga, the original race director of ATM classic Echigo Country Trail and a long-time elite trail runner himself. The 2nd edition of the event in Niigata region on 23-25 June is food for ultra distance runners as the focus is on the 100 miles category. From a purely Asia Trail Master perspective, there is an enticing option for travelling runners of combining Echigo 63k with Deep Japan Ultra 100 miles as both races are expected to take place back-to-back. 

The event’s name already says it: runners will venture deep into Japan’s countryside during the race, far away from the famous megacities and all their glitter. Niigata Prefecture lies to the northwest of Tokyo and north of the Japan Alps. It is premium trail running territory. The 100 miles course has a lot of climbs and descents as you run in a big national park, known for heavy snowfall in winter. No snow in summer, however, as the race takes place at the end of June. Elevation gain is serious: estimated at 10,000 hm! The cut-off time has been set at 46 hours to complete the course. Important: the race start is at 11 am on Friday!

The event venue is the Mountain Inn in Asakusa-Sanso, located in Uonuma City, two hours from Niigata aiport. You can also travel from Tokyo by shinkansen (bullet train), approx 2 hours as well. 

Deep Japan Ultra has a long-term strategy to make the event an internationally renowned event to support the local economy and demographics, needed in Niigata due to the population ageing factor. The team around Hiroaki Matsunaga is also actively engaged in school classroom activities teaching local children and teenages about the virtues of making your living doing things that you love, and how to lead a meaningful life in the mountain countryside of Japan. 

All details and registration can be consulted on the comprehensive website of Deep Japan Ultra, also in English.

 

Fervent followers of our ATM channels may have already noticed a new entry on our 2023 Championship calendar called ‘The Borneo Miler’. A lot of speculation has been going around, and we are happy to confirm that the new event is indeed scheduled on the long weekend of 3 to 5 June and features a proper 100 miles race in Sabah, East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. In fact, The Borner Miler is not entirely new and is roughly based on the 100 miles race of the BUTM event in March 2020, just before the lockdowns. Rather than include it again under the BUTM event programme in March, event organiser Claus Pedersen from Borneo Ultra Trails decided to turn the 100 miles into a stand-alone event in early June. A real and dedicated feast for the ultra long distance trail runner, in other words. There won’t be any 100km, 70km or 50km that weekend. At ATM, we support the idea and have included the Borneo Miler as a points race for the Asia Trail Master Championship ranking, replacing BUTM.

According to the event director, planning for the Borneo 100-Miler is progressing well. An indicative course profile is provided below, ranging from almost sea level up to 600 m with spectacular views over the surrounding hills and river valleys as well as to the sea and Mt. Kinabalu. The course is mostly on runnable dirt tracks and gravel roads with some sections on smaller trails. The course passes through a variety of terrain ranging from paddy fields and wetlands to open ridgelines with spectacular views.

Stay tuned for more details and the opening of registration in due course. Meanwhile, if you like 100 miles races, mark this one hot red in your race calendar for 2023.

Traditionally, most of the Malaysian trail events take place in the second half of the year but we have a great teaser on 19 March already, with the SIlabur Ultra Trail in Sarawak, a new ATM Candidate Race. Organised by Alpha Sports Events and hosted by Kampung Lobang Batu Tebedu, Silabur offers four different race categories of which 60km is the longest. Key feature of the event are the impressive cave complexes, such as the magnificent Silabur Cave aka Jade Cave.

Nature lovers and adventure seekers have long traveled to Sarawak in East Malaysia, Borneo Island, to explore the many caves the state has to offer. The Jade Cave is located roughly 100km away from Kuching - your gateway by air. The 60k race may have modest elevation gain of 1400 hm, but do not be fooled - there’s technical single trail sections with thick jungle included. Accommodation is via hotel or local homestay and arrangements can be made from Kuching to the race venue as well.

Registration is open. Follow the event’s facebook page linked below to stay up-to-date with the latest developments.

For the first time ever this year, the Asia Trail Master Championship was decided in a winner-takes-the-title race between qualified runners in national country teams of maximum five men and five women. Those runners qualified by scoring the most ATM points throughout the 2022 season: an easy, transparent, fair and non-arbitrary system. Arnie Maceneras from Team Philippines and Hau Ha from Team Vietnam were the strongest runners in the ATM Championship Final and were crowned as the new champions accordingly. Nevertheless, it’s nice to take a look at the final points scoring table of 2022 as well. With our 50-point ‘abroad bonus’ added, for running at least one race outside your country of residence, Hau Ha is also clearly the number one in the women’s ranking as she remained unbeaten in four ATM races. Her masterpiece was of course winning the 100km of Vietnam Mountain Marathon overall. During the ATM Final on Mt Apo, Hau Ha showed mental resilience, too, after a difficult start and finding herself chasing another woman for the first time: Vanja Cnops, who herself scored 3 ATM wins in 2022 and is a great second in the final ranking. Ultimately, however, Hau Ha still put a lot of distance between herself and the others with an incredible descent of Mt Apo, and it went to show that the exciting Vietnamese newcomer on the scene is ready to go global next year. Cnops is second in the ATM points ranking, ahead of another great Southeast Asian newbie, Sally Yap from Sarawak in Malaysia.

In the men’s ranking, however, it is Japan’s Hisashi Kitamura who finds himself on the number 1 spot. The ‘Karate Kit’ collected 2000 ATM points in 2022, with three race victories (Echigo Country Trail, Cameron Ultra and The Punisher) and a 2nd place in Borneo TMBT 100. Those were his best four results that counted for the ranking. He also was 3rd in Vietnam Jungle Marathon and BUTM 100, 18th in Izu Trail Journey and 5th in the Mt Apo Sky Race. All in all, it was Kitamura’s best season ever, even though a performance dip in the autumn and a bad spell of covid before the Final made most people forget that. Kitamura was happy with fifth in the final race, on a course that was not his. Heading the ATM’s final ranking is a nice price of comfort for him, ahead of a year that may see some changes in his professional career that could also impact his running ambitions. Yet, Kitamura will play a role again in 2023, no doubt. Sabah’s Milton Amat also had his best season ever, to the point a lot of people feared he would run totally out of gas by the ATM Final. He came just five minutes short of catching Macaneras in the Championship-deciding race, after the Filipino had dropped him earlier in the last section of the Mt Apo summit attack. Amat is second in the ATM points ranking, ahead of Macaneras.

Looking at the Top 10 below, there’s a great mixture between race winners, multiple podium placers and consistent points-scorers.

Congratulations to everyone, have a smooth rest and a great end-of-year party before reloading the batteries for Season VIII of the Asia Trail Master Championship series starting at UTKC in Thailand on 21 January. Everyone’s points tally goes back to zero and a whole new story begins!

ATM Final Points Ranking 2022 - Men

1. Hisashi Kitamura (JPN) 2000 pts

2. Milton Amat (MAS) 1950 pts

3. Arnie Macaneras (PHI) 1875 pts

4. Mohammad Affindi (MAS) 1830 pts

5. Wilsen Singgin (MAS) 1700 pts

6. Thimo Kilberth (GER/INA) 1665 pts

7. Jeffery Budin (MAS) 1530 pts

8. Amir Zaki (MAS) 1505 pts

9. Gaetan Morizur (FRA/VIE) 1450 pts

10. Thang Hoang Huu (VIE) 1445 pts

ATM Final Points Ranking 2022 - Women

1. Hau Ha (VIE) 2050 pts

2. Vanja Cnops (BEL/SIN) 1975 pts

3. Sally Yap (MAS) 1900 pts

4. Cecille Wael (PHI) 1800 pts

5. Halimatun Sa’adiah (MAS) 1670 pts

6. Thi Lan Huong Vu (VIE) 1645 pts

7. Julie Ann Morales (PHI) 1640 pts

8. Irish Glorioso (PHI) 1600 pts

9. Emily Raga (PHI) 1570 pts

10. Izzah Hazirah (MAS) 1500 pts

Season VIII of the Asia Trail Master Championship series begins in Thailand, just like last year with Ultra Trail Koh Chang, one of the classic events in the southern part of the country. A colourful event offering a 100k and a 70k option for both ATM Championship points and a Grandmaster Quest point. UTKC is the first of three early season events that will all require a basic level of fitness and endurance. Our popular and traditional season opener before the covid-19 crisis in Indonesia, Bandung’s 42k Tahura Trail, has been postponed to 11 March in 2023. While Tahura was a rather fast and easy-going race going into the new season, UTKC can be a hot struggle for many participants. The great atmosphere around the event makes up for that, however. Two weeks later, the ATM circuit moves to Laos for the V Trail in Vang Vieng. What used to be a late-season event is now one of the first on 4/5 February. It’s still the premier trail running event in the country, and we are happy the event is back on the calendar. V Trail will offer two points race categories: the 85km and the 55km.

One week later we are back in the Philippines, albeit the northern island of Luzon. The Santa Ines Mountain Adventure was a successful Candidate Race last year and the 80km race will now be a Championship points race on 11 February. Organised by The Pace Republic including 2-star Grandmaster Rhea Batac, the event is held to the east of capital city Manila in the Rizal mountains.

After this trio, there will be a two-week gap to the new Candidate Race in Brunei, Simpur Ultra. Another week later, we move to Vietnam for the first time in 2023. The Dalat Ultra Trail will be held on 4 March and it’s a 85km race that matters there. A week later should be the aforementioned Tahura Trail in Bandung, Indonesia. On 25 March we have another event that used to be later in the season. Hong Kong’s classic Lantau 70 will be a points race for the Asia Trail Master Championship for the first time. One week later we return to another part of Vietnam, Ninh Binh, for the Cuc Phuong Jungle Paths 100k race - organised by the team of Cau Dat Farm Ultra in 2020 - a very strong Candidate Race at the time, which unfortunately cannot be held at the moment due to change in land ownership.

As you can read, the first quarter of 2023 will be filled with exciting trail action straightaway!

You can now watch the ultimate Tale of the Trail episode of 2022, with the race recap of last weekend’s ATM Final in Davao, Philippines. The 75 km Mt Apo Sky Race was won by local hero Arnie Macaneras and Vietnam’s Hau Ha. They are the new Asia Trail Master Champions, following in the footsteps of John Ellis and Veronika Vadovicova who both won the title before covid in 2019.

The new format ATM Final was held in national country teams, composed of maximum five male and five female runners - those who scored most ATM points during the season, which began in March.

The Mt Apo Sky Race was held for the 6th time since 2015 and is organised by Vertical To Sky Events, in cooperation with the Ministries of Tourism in Davao and Santa Cruz.

2022’s Season VII is a wrap, and considering the major post-covid difficulties many of us in the event industry still have had to face, it was definitely a successful relaunch of the Asia Trail Master Championship series. Our elite participation rate, Grandmaster Quest uptake, but especially our live race coverage viewership and followers have jumped to the sky in 2022, and we would like to thank all of you for your appreciation and trust in our work during the many events we reported on this season. 

Last weekend’s new format of the ATM Final, with the “race winner-takes-the-championship”  as most significant change compared to 2015-2019, was deemed by a big majority as very exciting and stimulating for competitive elites, and definitely a step forward. We hereby confirm that ATM will retain the same format in 2023. Runners score points in ATM races throughout the season and the best five men and best five women in each country will be invited to join the final race for the title. 

The 2023 ATM Championship Final is projected to take place on the weekend of 2/3 December 2023. 

That’s right: two weeks earlier than in 2022 and 2019. We aim to increase the gap between the end of a season and the beginning of a new season. Runners, but also the ATM crew, needs appropriate resting and battery recharging time :-) 

Talks with potential event organisers and locations have been ongoing since a few months. Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia are in the mix. Asia Trail Master is still accepting applications for hosting next year's ATM Championship Final until 15 January 2023.

Any organiser or destination with sufficient budget and government support is welcome to apply to us via kris@asiatrailmaster.com .