Dalat in Southwest Vietnam and the Valley of Love are once again calling for trail runners to go back to nature at the 2nd edition of Lam Dong Trail on 11 November. It is the final points race event of the 2023 ATM Championship season in Vietnam with the 75km category as the key race. Lam Dong is the province name around Dalat and the event was a great candidate race in our series last year.

Registration is open for the 75km and other categories via the official website linked below.

The Mude Factory team had a blast at Lam Dong Trail 2022, with all its runners occupying podium spots including the highest ones. Quang Tran was fastest man ahead of Nhon Trong and in between was Hau Ha as fastest woman. Also Valentin Orange scored a win in a shorter category.

The race starts at 3 am on Saturday morning, when temperatures in Dalat can still be very much on the chilly side. Even during the day it rarely gets very hot in Dalat, as we are 1500m above sea level, which explains why the area has become so popular for trail runners. All registered runners can also enjoy a welcoming party on Friday evening at the race pack collection, same venue as the race finish, i.e. Valley of Love. Said valley is about 4km away from the city centre in Dalat and easy to reach via taxi or grab.

Last year Quang Tran won the 70km race ahead of Hau Ha

After five long years, Daved Simpat ran himself to the top step of the podium again in his most prestigious home race Borneo TMBT 100, which he had also won for the first time eight (!) years ago. Simpat was outstanding and did not give Hisashi Kitamura any chance on his way to a course record of 13h55 - 27 minutes faster than fellow-Sabahan Milton Amat in 2019. It is not always fair to compare finishing times between editions of the same trail running event as conditions are different and the course is hardly ever exactly the same (e.g. since 2019 TMBT 100 is actually 109km long), but last weekend’s winning time does indicate Simpat is relieved from all injuries that plagued him over the past. few years and that at 40+, competitive trail life is not over yet.

The longest race of the 11th TMBT event was held in hot but dry conditions throughout for the faster runners. Ireland’s Mark Steacy, fifth a year ago and confident he could do a bit better this time around, was clearly the most awake at the traditional sunrise start. After km 12 and the initial 500 metres of elevation gain, Steacy found himself in the lead by himself by a nice margin. Thoughts of a potential upset-in-the-making were quelled quite soon afterwards, though, as Daved Simpat upped his pace and followed his former teammate John Ray Onifa - who. was running the 50km race (see separate news) - all the way up to Kitamura and then Steacy by aid station 2. Already at that point, Kitamura did not look like he had an answer to Simpat’s pace - much like last year, when he trailed Milton Amat the whole race in vain. The Karate Kit pushed Amat to the very limit in 2019 and ever since has hoped to add TMBT to his victory collection. It was again not to be. His flight from Tokyo to Kota Kinabalu suffered a delay of 12 hours and destroyed his race preparation. However, mentally it must have been even more difficult seeing the energy and enthusiasm of a rejuvenated Daved Simpat, whom he had basically beaten comfortably in all races they ran together over the past five years. For a long while he managed to keep the gap limited to about 8 tot 10 minutes. But around km 75 he threw in the towel. At least for Kitamura there was a big void behind him as well, so his third consecutive second place in TMBT was never in doubt as long as he made it to the finish. Which he did, and immediately lay down to sleep afterwards. That was nearly two hours after quite an emotional Simpat started his victory celebration. This was a very popular win for the large trail running fanbase in Sabah.

In third place we found a very nice performance by a young newbie on the long ultra: Oswald Maikol . Another Sabahan and one who has scored several podiums before in local races on the medium distance. Maikol kept the very experienced Gustin Tiam behind in 16h27, and was still smiling and within his comfort zone at the finish. One to watch for the coming years. Busy bee Amierul Amin - second two weeks ago at Penang Eco 100 miles - never featured at the front, yet managed to end his race in sixth place behind Willy Wilson. Mark Steacy suffered in the second half of the race, hiking the majority of it to arrive in ninth. That was still better than many other prominent runners, such as Amir Zaki, Andrew Farmers and even Wilsen Singgin, who all DNFd before km 60. The same happened in the women’s race: Sally Yap and Lynda Marylyn to name two retired from the race. Evidence that the course of TMBT 100 may be a little underestimated?

Victory in the women’s race was actually only decided in the last kilometre. New local star Rejlen James and Indonesia’s in-form Shindy Patricia had been running together all day unthreatened by the rest of the field. James seemed to have the upper hand as Patricia was struggling with a painful knee. Two weeks ago the latter still won Bali Ultra 100, while James settled for the non-points 50km race at Penang Eco in order to be fully fit for TMBT. A strategy that paid off. James outsprinted Patricia to take a big victory that goes into the record books also: Rejlen James scored the Borneo Ultra’s Triple Crown: winning BUTM 100, Borneo MIler and TMBT 100 in the same year! She certainly also looks to be the new benchmark in Malaysia’s competitive women’s field. Shindy Patricia was happy with second nevertheless, after three consecutive ATM race wins this season. With the ATM Championship Final in her home country in December, she will now take a rest to be in peak condition at Siksorogo Lawu Ultra. But that will also be Rejlen James next goal…

Until halfway the race Team Kolumpa’s Lynda Marylyn was in the game for third place, but serious digestive issues and cramps forced her to withdraw from the race. The young Marylyn was third in Borneo Miler in June and needs to find another race or two to try and get into Team Malaysia for the abovementioned Final in December. That seems not the case for Celeste Teo, who took third place and already seems to have her spot secured after a great season so far. Celeste Teo is not the youngest in the field but often showing her younger competitors how long ultras are done. Georgy Mimi Chu and Heliana Hj Mohd Arshad were four and five. 2022 Team Malaysia member Halimatun Sa’adiah backed up her decent Bali result with eighth place and appears to be slowly coming back to the type of form that gave her a great 9th place in the ATM Championship last season.

Check also:

Race Report 50 km

John Ray Onifa continues to look very much the part these months with another impressive display of speed and technical skill at the 11th edition of Borneo TMBT in Malaysia last Saturday. The Filipino demolished the rest of the competitive field on the 50km and finished in a new course record of 5h27’46”. Singapore-based Vanja Cnops was equally outstanding in the women’s race, albeit slightly slower than her own winning time of last year. From sunrise, the race was held in entirely dry conditions with less cloud cover than desired for many runners, which added to the often underestimated difficulty of this event.

Having already collected wins at MUSPO 100 and Akha 80 in July and August, Onifa was keen to start his first ever TMBT and already quasi ensure his qualification for the ATM Championship Final in December. The 32-year-old was so confident in his own ability, he allowed the returning Bruneian star Sefli Ahar run ahead in the initial 12km. Ahar was one of the great protagonists in the early years of ATM, scoring six race wins between 2016 and 2018 before a combination of professional duties and covid restrictions left him out of the spotlights. No longer the youngest now, Ahar for a while still looked like a serious challenger for Onifa. However, soon after the first aid station, Onifa switched on this engine, left his friend and former teammate Daved Simpat - who was running the 100k (see other news) - and began the chase. First he collected Sabahan Yasbie Ismail who was going well in second, and soon after, by AS 3, he already caught and passed Ahar en route to what would still turn out to be a crushing victory. Onifa was 53 minutes ahead of Ahar at the finish! Both the Bruneian and Ismail were also in their own league, followed by a surprisingly sharp Benardo Linus arriving in fourth place - his best ATM race result ever! Linus was preceeded at the finish by the first woman, Vanja Cnops. The Belgian repeated her win from a year ago, but had a little struggle in the downhills of section two, which largely explained her somewhat slower time. Second ATM win of the season, and sixth in her trail journey. Cnops was third in last year’s ATM Final on Mt Apo, and is looking to do at least one better this time around. More than an hour behind her, we had Philippines’ Angelie Cabalo - the surprising winner of MMTF 100 last year. Initially, Cabalo was running just a few minutes behind Cnops - close enough to be featured in our livestreams including at aid station 2. However, she did have to reduce her pace somewhat while at the same time knowing there was nobody else coming from behind. There was quite a nice competition for third place, though, and it was ‘good old’ Jessica Lintanga who used her many years of racing experience to outrun youngster Shamiera Auther and Kona Laiu to snatch her 10th (!) ATM podium, her first in five years. One of those ten was a 65k race win at Mesastila in Indonesia in 2016. She also beat her younger sisters Adelinah (11th) and Lolita (14th). What happened to Siet Fah Lim? Last year’s winner of TMBT 100 and Penang Eco 100 just two weeks ago, unfortunately, had her day of the month and had to settle for 9th place.

Bernardo Linus has been competing for years. TMBT 2023 was his best competitive result ever in ATM races.

The Lintanga sisters!

The 11th edition of the Southeast Asia classic Borneo TMBT Ultra is upon us this weekend with the traditional 100k and 50k as points races for the ATM Championship. ‘Beautifully brutal, brutally beautiful’ is the new tagline with which the Malaysian event enters its second decade of existence and the start lists at least promise another very exciting competition to follow. Hisashi Kitamura aims for a ‘third-time-lucky’ , albeit in the absence of eternal rival and local hero Milton Amat - who is in Chamonix this weekend.

TMBT is a reputed event with an exquisite stage (stunning views of Mount Kinabalu on many parts of the course) that every year attracts runners from virtually all continents. Therefore, let’s not be surprised if we get some surprising performances this weekend from people we had not yet discovered before in our series. Yet, runners like Hisashi KItamura and John Ray Onifa (on the 50km) nowadays have it in them to beat all comers. Now living in Tokyo again, the Karate Kit is not racing as often as before, but that is likely to make him even more sharp for every race he does compete in. We saw that already in his comeback race two months ago in Hokkaido, when he beat a quality field despite only having trained a couple of weeks since his nasty fall and broken wrist in Korea in April. Whoever wants to win the 100km this weekend, will need to pass Kitamura. Plenty of candidates who will give it a try, though. Amir Zaki, for one, boosted his self-confidence for long distances when he beat Andrew Farmers for the victory in the Borneo Miler event in June. Zaki was a very busy bee in that period, but wisely took a breather in order to be fully recovered and fit to tackle TMBT 100. Incidentally, also Australian Andrew Farmers is on the start list - and he might certainly fancy another podium in Sabah, where he has been living for a while. From Sarawak, there’s Irishman Mark Steacy who can challenge for a top position, from the Philippines we have the young John Ivan Zonio - excellent second place in Sierra Madre 75 behind Jeff Campbell ! - and from Malaysia we have several big-hitters such as Daved SImpat, former double winner of TMBT 100, Gustin Tiam, in-form but very busy Amierul Amin and Dzul Izwan Siri Ee - another newcomer on the ATM scene who has put in some great competitive results over the past months.

The women’s 100km is going to be exciting as well, featuring new local star Rejlen James. Winner of the Borneo Miler in June, and of BUTM 100 in March, James has her eyes very much set on winning TMBT this weekend. That would be a fantastic triple with TMBT of course the jewel in the crown as the most renowned event. In order to win, James will again need to finish ahead of Sarawak’s Sally Yap, which she did at BUTM early in the year. Both competed at Penang Eco just two weeks ago, with James winning the 50k non-ATM race, and Yap winning her debut 100 miler. It can be argued that Yap did not have to push herself to the limit in those 100 miles - still, from a competitive point of view it certainly was a risk if the ambition were to win TMBT against James, and some other strong runners in the field. We know also, however, that Sally Yap can suddenly be ‘switched on’ and extraordinarily focused to produce a sterling result like her second place in the ATM Championship Final last year on Mount Apo. In any case, both Rejlen James and Sally Yap will need to be awake on Saturday, because there is a serious contender from Indonesia on the start list, too. A very experienced ultra runner who has proven to be in the best shape of her life this season: Shindy Patricia. Just like her two Malaysian competitors, Shindy ran and won Bali Ultra 100 two weeks ago, so what counts for Sally, certainly also counts for Shindy. Will James benefit in the final 10km of TMBT from the potential fatigue of her two main rivals?

Other podium contenders on paper are Roan Biguasen, Celeste Teo, Aurora Santiago and Lynda Marylyn.

The 50km race also promises to be great with John Ray Onifa scheduled to face Brunei’s Sefli Ahar - he’s back! - and normally speaking Wilsen Singgin, who after winning the 100 miles of Penang Eco prefers the 50k over the 100k this weekend. Onifa requires no introduction, he’s been the star of the past two months winning both MUSPO 100 in Philippines and Akha Trail 80 in Thailand with remarkable ease and skill. Certainly, he is the hot favourite to add TMBT 50 to his victory trophy collection , but Sefli Ahar is not nobody and determined to have a good showing after years away from the ATM scene. Those who do not remember Sefli: the most awarded Bruneian runner grabbed six ATM race victories in the 2016-2018 seasons. His professional duties as a policeman prevented him from competing more and time doesn’t stand still, but just like a Daved Simpat and Gustin Tiam, Sefli Ahar can still be surprisingly quick when focused. There’s a number of Nepali runners on the start list, too, who could cause an upset. Other podium contenders are likely to be Amirul Tuah - also from Brunei and a Grandmaster, Yasbie Ismail and -who knows- our Filipino ATM contributor Richard Akol.

The women’s 50km has Singapore-based Belgian Vanja Cnops as the most likely winner, she also won the race last year. And yet, there’s a lot of other talent on the start list with Philippines’ Angelie Cabalo - winner of MMTF 100 last year - and Siet Fah Lim, winner of Penang Eco 100 two weeks ago. In addition, there’s Malaysia’s youngest developing talent Shamiera Auther - winner of BUTM 50 in March - , Nur Amaani and the 3 Lintanga sisters: Jess, Adelinah and Lolita. A race within the race: which of the three sisters is fatest in their biggest home race event?

As usual, ATM will be reporting live from Sabah on our usual channels with livestreams and multimedia updates throughout the weekend.

Hisashi Kitamura returns to TMBT. Without Milton Amat, who can stop him from winning?

John Ray Onifa: unbeatable in ATM so far this season. He is on the 50k this weekend

Indonesia’s Shindy Patricia: in the best shape of her life this year

Vanja Cnops: last year’s 50k winner wants to do it over

John Ivan Zonio was a great 2nd behind Jeff Campbell at Sierra Madre Trail 75 in May

Amir Zaki and Andrew Farmers: the 2 protagonists of Borneo Miler. Can they challenge Kitamura?

Lynda Marylyn, one of the local Sabahan newcomers this season

Angelie Caballo , winner of MMTF 100 last season

We deeply regret having to share the news that this year's Cordillera Mountain Ultra in Philippines has been postponed from 18 November to December and is therefore OUT of the Asia Trail Master Championship series' calendar. As a direct consequence, Matanao Mountain Marathon in Mindanao on 14/15 October will be the fourth and last Filipino points race event of the current ATM season until further notice. We apologise for this unexpected development, especially to all runners who had already planned to run CMU as part of their ATM Championship strategy. The last three opportunities to score points ahead of the ATM Final in Indonesia on 2/3 December are now MMTF100 & MMTF50 (Malaysia), Lam Dong Trail 75 (VIetnam) and Malnad Ultra 100 & 50 (India).

Risqi Kurniawan took his third ATM race win in Indonesia within little over a month and increasingly looks like a top favourite for this year’s ATM Championship title. Kurniawan outran a stubbornly tough Han Ching Su from Taiwan and his compatriots Akmad Nizar and Sobari Herdiana on the 50km of Bali Ultra Trail in Kintamani. On the 100km, Rachmat Septiyanto took his premier ATM race victory while Shindy Patricia proved her super-form again with her third ATM win of the 2023 season!

Bali Ultra Trail changed the race courses at the last moment to avoid potential repercussions following political statements that climbing Bali’s mountains would very soon be outlawed. This made the race more runable than originally planned, but it still proved tough enough - also due to the heat & humidity plaguing especially the many Japanese athletes.

The 50km was on paper the most competitive distance category and so it turned out to be. As said, Risqi Kurniawan again showed his amazing speed on this distance and it will be interesting to find out if he can stretch that to 77km on 2 December. What should help him in any case: he ran Siksorogo last year and Gunung Lawu is close to his hometown of Magelang! Team Indonesia is building up very nicely with also Akmad Nizar almost assured of qualification for the ATM Final. Nizar has been operating in the shadow of Kurniawan, but consistently so and the smart youngster can certainly produce something special at Siksorogo himself. Team Indonesia will also feature Bali-based German Thimo Kilberth, who had his best race of this season by finishing sixth and “only” 33 minutes behind Kurniawan. Fifth went to the second Taiwanese Pin Chi Chou. Great to see runners from Taiwan feature in an ATM race for once!

The women’s 50km developed into a tight battle between Japan’s Nami Ishihara and Germany’s Katrin Herzog. For a long time, Ishihara had the upper hand, but Herzog came back towards the end and managed to overtake her for the win. In third came Singapore’s Dening Lo, followed by Hszin Tzu Chao from Taiwan and Indonesia’s Siti Nuraini, who probably would have preferred to climb Mt Batur and Mt Abang. Bali’s home runner Dian Pradina had a great performance to finish sixth.

On the 100km, Japanese aces Yuta Matsuyama (male) and Tomomi Bitoh (female) set the pace for the first half, but both began to fade as a result of the climatic conditions and saw others coming back to them. Matsuyama was with Indonesia’s Abdul Salam at first, but he would DNF later and the experienced Rachmat Septiyanto was the one to claim the victory at the end. Second in Mantra 116 seven weeks ago, Septiyanto scored his first ATM race victory and is actually as good as qualified for the ATM Final and Team Indonesia. However, he is the lead organiser of Siksorogo Lawu Ultra and Septiyanto obviously cannot do both things. Matsuyama boosted his chances for qualification in Team Japan. Japan’s Takeshi Hashimoto was the third man on the podium, ahead of Vietnamese runners De Nguyen and Trung Hau Phan. Australia’s Washington Firmeza came sixth in another ATM race finish this season.

Shindy Patricia was chasing Tomomi Bitoh for a long time, being just a few minutes behind the strong and experienced Japanese runner. As often, Shindy is the one who slows down the least in the second part of ultras, and so it was again. In fact, Shindy went on to win comfortably but finished even second overall behind Septiyanto. Matsuyama came next but then it was Vietnam’s Julia Nguyen Thi Duong - in another wonderful performance of the weekend. Tomomi Bitoh still salvaged her podium in third.

Within just 2 months, Central Javanese youngster Risqi Kurniawan has propelled himself into a top fabourite position for the 2023 ATM Championship title.

Podium of the 50km women with Germany’s Katrin Herzog as winner

Wonderful to see a runner from Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) on the podium! Han Ching Su

Rachmat Septiyanto takes his first ever ATM race win

Third ATM victory of the season for in-form Shindy Patricia

Podium of the 100 km women

Podium of the 100km men

The 100 miles began at 6 pm on Friday night, which gave runners about 90 minutes to get warmed up before nightfall. Henry Yang from Singapore, whose goal was to complete his Grandmaster Quest, arrived first at the 11km aid station. A rather usual fast start by him, which was brave given Henry DNFd in Penang Eco a few years ago. He knew that this race is much harder than it looks on paper. Eventually, Henry would overcome serious feet and blister issues to finish the 100 miles and achieve his ATM Grandmaster status! Saiful Anuar from Malaysia was also aiming to reach the Grandmaster finish, but he will have to wait a bit longer as Penang Eco did get to him and he did not finish this one. 

The battle for the race victory was decided by Wilsen Singgin and Amierul Amin, as was to be expected. Rasyid Salehuddin, Tuan Hafandi Bin Tuan Ismail and Chong Teck Shuin followed and would determine the third spot on the podium. It was the very experienced Tuan Hafandi who grabbed it in the end. Up front, Singgin and Amin digested the conditions and the distance together until the final 30km, when the experience and toughness of Singgin began to prevail over the freshness of Amin - one of the 2023 season revelations in ATM. In the very tough final 10 km of the race - described as ‘sadistic’ by many - Singgin proved he still had quite a bit of juice in the tank as he ran more than 1 hour away from Amin to take his 3rd career ATM win, his first since MMTF in 2021. Not that it means much, but his finish time was 33h55’. When Singgin is in shape AND focused on a race, he is always able to deliver something special - especially on long and tough mountain trails. 

Sally Yap felt in trouble, sprained her ankle and was strangely worried about the cut-off time for most of Saturday until a welcome heavy rainshower cooled her off, and she started to get some pace in the legs. At that point, however, she was somehow one-and-a-half hours behind race leader Celeste Teo, with Hong Kong-based Australian Meg Sterling between them in second place. Both the Sarawakian and Sterling were having their debut 100 miler. Sterling was the race winner of Dark 45 in Hong Kong last season, an event coming up again on 1 October. Amazingly, all three women would suddenly find themselves together at the 106km aid station before the second sunset of their race. Sterling was struggling with knee pain and was reduced to power hiking the rest of the distance - which she did, and so third place was hers. Behind, Yvette Chong was the last survivor as all other women pulled out, but Yvette also had to throw in the towel at km 136 suffering from gastroentretis. Unsurprisingly, Sally’s raw talent came to the fore and she completed the final 50 km in first place to win in 42 hours. A welcome victory for the 2022 vice-ATM champion, which will be confidence booster with a view to what is still coming later this year. 

Penang-based Briton Alex Tilley took the 100km race, his second ATM win of the season after V Trail in Laos in February. Tilley had to work for it especially in the first half, when Achmad Tanjong, Jeffery Budin, Lim Wen Shan and Hijazi Rija Bin Mat Juri were keeping up and even setting the pace. Budin won UTOP in Penang last year and had the confidence he runs well on these trails, Tanjong showed in Mantra last month to be in great shape and Lim Wen Shan was the short distance dominator in Malaysia a few years ago, but now moving up in distance.  For a while, it actually looked like Lim Wen Shan was going to drop the others.  Then, the additional kilometers  compared to what he is used to in race trim still proved to be a big ask. Tilley and Budin took over command, and soon after Tilley would be on his own. Budin did not give up easily and was hanging just six to ten minutes back for quite a while until he realised that he was not going to close the gap anymore. 

In the women’s 100km, Lim Siet Fah lived up to the expectations and won her second ATM race after last season’s Borneo TMBT 100. She was never really bothered by the others to obtain the victory. Her second result of the season after a fifth place in Sierra Madre Trail in Philippines, where she perhaps underperformed a bit. The battle for second and third on the podium was exciting to follow all race with many position changes between Roan Biguasen, Goh Pei Fen and Heliana Arshad. Their tussle continued right into the final section, and it was local Goh Pei Fen who outran the two others for second. Busy bee Biguasen scored her fourth ATM podium of the season in third. 

100km award ceremony for men

Award ceremony for 100km women

Award ceremony 100 miles men

Bali Ultra is one of the most anticipated points race events of the 2023 ATM season and the last one in Indonesia before the country of islands hosts the Championship Final on 2 December. That means for those Indonesian runners who do not like or can travel abroad, this is the final shot at a points haul to try and get in the top 5 of the ranking and inside the host Team Indonesia. No surprise that many of the country’s trail running stars feature on the start list, but there’s a very large foreign presence as well, notably from Vietnam, Japan and Malaysia.

The event takes place in Kintamani, in the volcanic north of Bali. Many people might have heard already that the local governor has recently been pushing for an outright ban on climbing Bali’s mountains, including the famous and very popular Mount Batur - highlight of plenty a tourist visit to Bali and of Bali Ultra Trail. Whether or not the ban will effectively come into law still remains to be seen (a formal decision in September is rumoured), but the organisers of BUT have seen no other choice but to comply already, so as not to potentially jeopardise the event’s future. The consequence is that both the 100k and 50k are now much more runable than originally planned, as also the ascent of Abang has been omitted from the course. Good and fast distance runners, rather than volcano climbers will thus likely be seen at the top of the leaderboards and result lists this weekend.

On paper that means the Japanese runners, if they can deal with the tropical heat, are arguably the top favourites for the podium places and the race wins - at least on the 100k. Yuta Matsuyama in the men’s, and Timomi Bitoh in the women’s will indeed be the ones to beat. Matsuyama, double winner of UT Chiang Mai over the years, also wants to win to collect the 500 ATM points. He has expressed his desire to be part of Team Japan in the ATM Final this year. He already scored a 6th place in Dalat Ultra Trail in March, but now he is in better shape again than half a year ago. There can always be a surprise, e.g. from Vietnam, but his main rivals are probably going to be Solo’s Rachmat Septiyanto and Fuminori Kondo. Septiyanto may find the new course a bit too flat for his liking, though. Tomomi Bitoh was 2nd in Seoul 100k last year, and has just done a long ultra in Mongolia. Question thus is if she is recovered enough from that to deal with the rejuvenated Shindy Patricia, who has never looked faster and stronger than in the past eight months. Julia Duong Thi Nguyen, Isabelle Bedard and Qheiza Wiranda Edelwise are other podium contenders we know.

Patricia aside, most of Indonesia’s current top runners are on the 50k, including Risqi Kurniawan. He won this race last year and it is hard to bet against him this weekend, but there’s many unknowns on the start list. Akmad Nizar could be strong on this course as well. What about Taofik Hidayat, Sobiri Haerudin, a motivated Thimo KIlberth - who actually likes the redesigned course from his competitive point of view? Misha Ushakov looked solid in Mantra until he abandoned.

On the women’s 50km, former ATM champion Ruth Theresia features on the start list, but it is not clear yet which distance she will run after her nasty kidney infection a few months ago. Ruth is still on the way back, but showed great promise by winning the 30k race at Mantra. This weekend, Mantra 60 winner Siti Nuraini could secure her spot in Team Indonesia for the finals. Let’s see how she fares on the more runable trails. Many podium contenders also here, including Malaysia’s Jess Lintanga, Halimatun Sa’adiah, several japanese runners such as Yuuka Maeno, Novita Wulandari (winner in Dieng a month ago), Yustina Wardhani and so on.

Siti Nuraini, double winner of Mantra 75, can qualify for the women’s Team Indonesia this weekend

Rachmat Septiyanto was 2nd in Mantra 116 and hopes to collect another podium en route to potential Team Indonesia qualification at the ATM Final

Tomomi Bitoh is one of the favourites in this weekend’s 100km race

Shindy Patricia: what can she do now the course is more runable?

This weekend we have one of the oldest ATM points races on the menu in Malaysia. Penang Eco - this year La Sportiva Penang Eco - was part of our very first season in 2015 and since covid alternates on our calendar with event management company Endurance Nature’s second Penang race UToP. Bukit Mertajam is still the host town and the programme still features a hot and treacherously tough 100 miles and 100 km as ATM points races. Both races have a great start list and we can expect a nice competition for the race wins.

Penang Eco’s victory list has a lot of former ATM champions on it, such as John Ellis, Alessandro Sherpa, Tahira Najmunisaa and Manolito Divina. It says something about the difficulty of the course, which perhaps does not really show when looking at the map and the profile. The sting is usually very much in the tail, with hard technical jungle sections following a very runable section that drains the legs - also due to the traditional sweltering heat in Penang. In previous editions, several top runners have completely disintegrated in the final 20 km of this race. Penang Eco is never over until it is over.

It is therefore a little surprising that Malaysia’s young star Sally Yap has chosen this race as her first 100 miles try ever. The tall Sarawakian and vice-ATM champion in 2022 has already proven to cope with 100km very well, and now wants to try the longer distance. But there’s easier options in ATM for a miler debut. This season, Sally has a 2nd place in Koboi 50 under her belt and actually needs to start collecting some more points to safeguard her position in Malaysia’s female ranking and get qualified for the ATM Championship Final in Central Java on 2 December. Siksorogo Lawu is a course that should suit her even better than Mount Apo last season. This weekend she can expect competition from, a.o. Australia’s Megan Sterling, based in Hong Kong. Sterling won the Dark 45 points race last October. Other contenders are experienced runners such as Celeste Teo, Cheryl Bihag, Siriporn Leumathong and Siti Hajar Razali. And last but not least Irish Glorioso. Irish went very well in UToP last year (2nd) and is eyeing qualification for Team Pilipinas again with another good showing this weekend.

The men’s 100 miles probably has Sabah’s Wilsen Singgin as the one to beat. Singgin has developed himself over the years as the long ultra specialist. However, there’s other talent on the start list that could make his life difficult. Amierul Amin is one of the surprising newcomers of this competitive season, and will use his debut 100 miles experience at Borneo Miler in June to try and challenge Singgin. Other contenders are Rasyid Salehuddin, Jit Shiang Ang, Ben Siong Lee and maybe Singapore’s Henry Yang - who aims to complete his Grandmaster Quest this weekend. Henry actually started Penang Eco before, but DNFd on that occasion. It will be a sweet finish if he succeeds this time around.

The 100 km race features Jeffery Budin - the stunning winner of UToP 100 last October. Can Budin repeat that feat also in Bukit Mertajam? He will be facing some strong other runners such as Britain’s Alex Tilley, a resident in Penang. Basically a home race for Tilley as well, and he is one of those who excel when the going gets tough. Ahmad Tanjong ran an excellent Mantra 65 last month, and could leap to centre stage this weekend - who knows? On the start list we also have Lim Wen Shan, a fast short distance specialist. In the women’s 100k, Roan Biguasen will be eyeing her fourth ATM podium of the season. Soh Sum Mei, Carly Balmforth and Mindanao’s Manilyn Mamugay are other challengers for podium placings.

We will be reporting live from La Sportiva Penang Eco from the start on Friday evening to the finish, on our usual channels.

Jeffery Budin won UTOP 100 last year. Can he repeat on the 100km of Penang Eco?

Abdul Rasyid Salehuddin is a fresh Grandmaster, and doing well in the Championship, too

Wilsen Singgin is hoping to score a new ATM race victory on the 100 miles

Alex Tilley returns to the ATM scene in his now-home area, Penang

Roan Biguasen is looking for another podium spot in this weekend’s 100 km

Last year’s exciting newcomer on the ATM scene returns on 25 November. Malnad Ultra in India’s Karnataka region near Bengaluru in the southwest, is the last points race event of the 2023 season ahead of the championship final and a great trail experience in what is still a new destination. The 7th edition of Malnad will offer again 100k and 50k race courses for points, and also a 30k for less ambitious runners. The event takes place in the heartland of Indian coffee at elevations ranging from 800m to 1500m above sea level.

The origin of the name Malnad is attributed to Male meaning Hill and Nadu meaning Land. So, Malnad is the land of the hills. The organisation is in the capable hands of the Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management (GIREM), and further driven by a large team of enthusiastic volunteers. The races are runable, but challenging and across various types of terrain with accumulated elevation gain of approx 3400 hm for the 100 km and 1700 hm for the 50 km. The races mostly go through the vast coffee plantations in the area. The precise course maps for 2023 will be made available within the next few weeks, as the start and finish location is planned to be changed.

The courses take runners through the Mudigere area in the State of Karnataka, which has Bengaluru (previously known as Bengalore) as its capital. That big city is also the international gateway to the event. From there, busses will take runners to Attigundi, roughly 5 hours away, where the event is held. Please note Malnad Ultra is a trail adventure and takes place in a remote area so allow for enough time to reach the final destination. Also, be aware that mobile connectivity may be limited on many parts of the course.

International runners are recommended to email the event organisation or Asia Trail Master directly for details about transportation options to the event site. Accommodation is mostly pleasant homestays - with great food! - and are plentiful in the area. Detailed information about travel, accommodation and touristic options are available on the official website of Malnad Ultra now.

Do not hesitate too long because there is a quota of 200 runners for 100k and 300 for the 50k. This is India’s most popular trail running event and always fills up.

ATM Grandmaster Shashwat Rao won the 100k at Malnad last year

Dalat in the Central Highlands of southwestern Vietnam is quickly becoming the epicentre of trail running in the country. Prenn Trail Challenge is the latest event born in the outdoor tourism and culinary hotspot and promises to be very distinct from the already established Dalat Ultra Trail and Lam Dong Trail. Not only will Prenn Trail Challenge take place on 31 December - Yes, New Year’s Eve - the event venue and race courses are also different. The event is managed by Unique Events & Media and hosted by the Tea Resort Prenn at Prenn Pass Foot, Da Lat City. It has received the ATM Candidate Race label.

The event features four race categories, of which 80km is the longest and 15km the shortest. Elevation gain for the long distance is moderate at 2600 hm, and remember Dalat is on high plateau of about 1500m above sea level, which leads to cool temperatures for running on most parts of the day. Runners will go through pine forests, tea and coffee plantations that are typical for the Dalat plateau. Highlight will be the Prenn Pass, leading to Pinhatt Peak - the highest point of the course offering a wonderful panorama over the region and the Tuyen Lam Lake. Cut-off time is 20,5 hours for the 80km, which means the big majority of participants should be able to finish and celebrate New Year’s at the event venue.

Runners can reach Dalat via air or land. There’s a domestic airport in Dalat, but you can also take a bus or hired car from Ho Chi Minh City (estimate 5-6 hours drive to Dalat). Accommodation is plenty and can be found easily online.

Registration is open for this one-of-a-kind trail into 2024!

Please check all event details via the official website and facebook page.

What a run by John Ray Onifa last weekend along the Myanmar border in the far north of Thailand! The Filipino trail star gave a pure demonstration on the wet and slippery mountain forest trails of Akha Trail to win his second ATM race in a fortnight in an incredible time of 9h57. That’s 80 km with 5500 hm elevation gain! Onifa finished nearly four hours ahead of second-placed runner, Thosaeng Kunno, at this moment. He finished just before midnight, unfortunately when the whole village had already gone to sleep. It's the 7th career ATM victory for Onifa, which is one fewer than Hisashi Kitamura's eight wins.

Two weeks after comfortably winning MUSPO 100 in Philippines, Onifa felt confident from the start and immediately opened up a gap during the first, steep kilometre uphill through the Ban Pha Hee village. The others never saw him again. Young and upcoming talent Thosaeng Kunno - winner of Trail of Man in Chiang Mai six weeks ago - did not resist and focused wisely on his own pace in his first ‘long’ trail race ever. Kunno was joined by Chanil Thanguan and Wanna Sri Ati, with Hungarian Miklos Viczena a bit further back rounding up the top five. The weather conditions deteriorated halfway into the race as rain fell harder down on the forested hills. Wanna Sri Ati was unable to keep the pace up and would eventually DNF, leaving the podium to Kunno and Thanguan. Onifa was unbothered by the slippery conditions and kept running impressively forward, eyeing a sub-10 hour finish. Despite the high pace, it looked like Onifa still had an extra gear left should that have been needed to win the race. He is truly in contention for this year’s ATM Championship title now.

The women’s race was also dominated by one runner: Soingern Teekayu led from start to finish as well. Teekayu is still a relative newbie in trail, and this was her first ATM podium and so also her first ATM race victory. A finish time of just over 18 hours and eighth place overall is certainly a fine statistic for Teekayu.