At the 7th edition of Malnad Ultra in Karnatika, India, last week, ATM Grandmaster Shashwat Rao repeated his victory from last year. On an amended course with a new start and finish venue, Rao was a class on his own and finished in 12h14’ - more or less the same as twelve months ago. The men’s podium was completed more than two hours later by Nakul Butta and Deepak Rajput. In the women’s 100k, victory went to Soma Datta in 18h12. She was approx 50 minutes faster than Anuradha Bhat and Bindu Juneja.

The 50km was a lot tighter with the first three men finishing within eight minutes and the entire top ten within 32 minutes from the race winner. That winner was Philippe Policisto, who held off Sreejin Thankamani and James Thomas. The women’s 50km saw Trupti Katkar Chavan take top honours, ahead of Singapore’s Anna Tipping and Sandhya K.

Shashwat Rao wins again in the biggest trail event of his home country

This Saturday, teams of qualified runners will compete for the 2023 Asia Trail Master Male, Female and Team Championship titles at Siksorogo Lawu Ultra in Karanganyar, Central Java, Indonesia . A 77 km race with over 5000 hm, including the magnificent ascent and descent of Gunung Lawu. The race starts at sunrise 5am local time and by sunset we should know the new Asia Trail Master champions, successors to Arnie Macaneras and Hau Ha. Plenty of candidates for the victory again - the form of the day may also be crucial!

Stay tuned for news, updates and of course the live action on Saturday all day via our usual channels. Livestreams from the runner presentation on Friday afternoon, race start and finish plus intermediate flash updates can be watched via ATM Facebook. ATM YouTube and ATM X channels (previously called twitter). Regular photo updates will go on ATM Instagram and ATM Facebook.

Now on ATM YouTube, and ATM facebook, an Interview with the 2022 female Asia Trail Master Champion Hau Ha, conducted in her hometown Sapa in the Northwest of Vietnam, a few weeks after her amazing performance on the global stage in Chamonix. Hau logically won't be defending her ATM title this coming weekend at Siksorogo Lawu Ultra as her focus is now entirely on being competitive in the world's biggest races. Here's a look back on her inspiring running journey, which had its seeds already in childhood, but they only came to fruition in 2020 - just three years ago. She talks about how she started competing, the difficulties that came with it, the challenging race on Mount Apo last season and of course her successful European adventure this summer. Hau Ha, mother of a six-year-old son, also dedicates her running successes to all single mums.

Hau Ha is speaking in her native language Vietnamese, subtitles in English are provided.

Following Ha Hau Runner 's story, we also talked to her mentor and coach Guim Valls, who provides an extra layer of insight, including his interesting views on how to best prepare for competition.

The Candidate Race in Santa Cruz, easily enough titled ‘SC 70’ , saw quite a number of new faces from Mindanao’s ever growing trail running community. The 70km main race, which had 4000 metres of elevation, featured several regional peaks but avoided Mount Apo. Youngsters Eldy Bulod and Shally Yuson emerged victorious.

Organised by the experienced Team Jegol Runners, SC 70 flagged off in the afternoon for what then mainly turned into a nighttime race. Eldy Bulod and Isaiah Paraiso set the pace with Anthony Paladin initially as the closest chaser. Bulod and Paraiso stayed together across the hills until the final section, which was 10km flattish back to the race venue. Bulod had the fastest legs and won ahead of Paraiso, who also scored second in Matanao Mountain Marathon last month behind Yoyong Sacayle. Good old Angelito Vertudazo - ATM Finalist last year - eventually claimed the third step on the podium.

Shally Yuson led the women’s race from an early stage, but was pushed forward most of the way by Manilyn Mamugay, who is reaching her best competitive level again after a few years off. Yuson was second in Matanao a month ago behind Cecille Wael. Beberly Lim and Cherry Fuentes were third and fourth.

For the second year in a row, Malnad Ultra in Karnataka, the State with Bengaluru as capital city, connects the blossoming Indian trail running scene with the Asia Trail Master Championship series as one of the exciting late-season events. Already in its 7th edition, Malnad has again sold out with a thousand runners spread across three race distance categories, of which the 100km and 50km offer ATM points. Trail running in its purest form, in a beautiful remote location, often without even any mobile coverage. The course is laid out in the heartland of Indian coffee at an elevation ranging from 950 to 1050m above sea level, which implies rather cooler temperatures for the participants as well.

The event has changed start and finish venue for this year’s edition to adapt to the growth of the event. This means the race courses have been altered as well, although the characteristics have remained the same. The longest distance has a cut-off time of 21 hours and 3738 hm elevation gain. The 50km is 9,5 hours and 1856 hm gain. The start is in the morning around sunrise.

The 100k was won by ATM Grandmaster Shashwat Rao last year, and he will be back at the starting line this weekend. The 50k last year saw a great run and competition with another well-known Indian runner Sannat Sachdev taking the win. Anuradha Bhat and Lipi Kalita were the winning women a year ago.

The Malnad Ultra is organised by GIREM, short for Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management. It is volunteer-driven and not-for-profit, aiming to bring people to the outdoors and promote the sport of trail running.

Thanks to Trisha Yuen for images of the RPC today

The Malnad course traverses a huge coffee plantation area

Grandmaster Shashwat Rao won the 100km last year

The island of Borneo is increasingly promoting itself as a trail running centre in South East Asia. Thanks to Mount Kinabalu and the former Climbathlon race, and the still very popular TMBT event, the Malaysian State of Sabah on the northern part of Borneo has been crucial in this development. No surprise that ever more trail events are being organised, and in a fine way, too. We are happy to announce therefore that Kadamaian Ultra, a.k.a. KAR Ultra, will be joining the ATM Championship calendar in 2024. Already a Candidate Race in 2022, the event enters our calendar on the last weekend of July, i.e. 27/28 July, with the 110km and 60km races offering points for the ATM Championship ranking.

KAR Ultra is centered around Kota Belud, roughly an hour north of Kota Kinabalu. It is supported by Kadamaian Tourism with the medium and long-term ambition to make the area the main sports and adventure hub in Sabah. Local communities are engaged in the event as well, and will be supporting all the participants. Cultural and culinary programmes, to taste the local cuisine, are also foreseen. The start venue is Kampung. Tambatuon, which is situated at the foot of Mount Nungkok (also known as Mount Kinabalu's child) and directly leads to the valleys and hills of the Kadamaian area. Participants will see the beautiful scenery along the trail, including hills, clear rivers, rice fields, and even Aki Nabalu. For those who wonder, the race courses are indeed different from TMBT.

Runners can book themselves into a hotel in Kota Kinabalu as well, because a shuttle van can be booked while registering for the races. The vans will depart as scheduled from Likas Square on the north side of KK City. As is custom in Sabah, the 110km and 60km points races will start around sunrise (5:20/5:30 am) - so come prepared if heat is a concern for you.

Registration is open and can be done easily via the usual Checkpointspot platform in Malaysia.

Obviously, Sabah’s #1 trail runner Milton Amat has already added himself to the list of winners at KAR Ultra

The first ATM-affiliated event in 2024 is a new Candidate Race in the Philippines: Malico Grand Ultra in Santa Maria West, San Nicolas, Pangasinan on the weekend of 13/14 January. Organised by the Maharlika Trail Series team that also brings you the great new ATM points race Sierra Madre Trail in March. Malico Grand Ultra has more race categories than the aforementioned, but 75km is also its longest distance. Less ambitious runners can aim for 42km, 21km or 10km.

Pangasinan is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon, and basically south of Baguio on the map. International runners can fly to Manila or also to Clark, if available from your port of origin. The race uses some historical trails of Villa Verde, as you can see in the images below this is a very scenic region. The cut-off time for the 75km is 20 hours, so just like Sierra Madre you better have some preparation in the legs before you take the start.

Registration is open via RaceTecPH , which you can access via the event facebook page and webpage. Please also make sure you fulfill all conditions of entry and have the mandatory gear at your disposal.

For the first time since 2018, next year Brunei features again on the ATM Championship calendar with the Simpur Ultra Run on the weekend of 8/9 June. The 54 km long points race was a tough and exciting Candidate Race this season. Start and finish is in the capital city of BSB, Bandar Seri Begawan, which is a great bonus in terms of logistical planning for those planning to attend the event. The exact host venue is Dermaga Diraja.

The cut-off time for the 54k is set at 20 hours and there’s six aid stations and checkpoints planned between start and finish. As can be seen on the course profile below, trail running in Brunei means a lot of steep up & down hills that make it harder than it looks on paper.

Registration is already open and can be accessed via the button link below. Runners with less ambition can also choose for one of the shorter race categories, such as the 30k or the 8k and fun run.

Mindanano has become a hotspot for trail running in the Philippines over the past few years, illustrated in both quality and quantity of runners (reigning ATM champion Arnie Macaneras is from Davao) and also by the many event organisations on the large southern island. Team Jegol Runners is the latest addition to the list of organisers and their upcoming event Santa Cruz 70 is accredited as an ATM Candidate Race. The event takes place on the weekend of 25/26 November.

Asia Trail Master followers know that Santra Cruz stands for Mount Apo - highest mountain in the Philippines, host venue of the ATM Championship Final last year and of the forthcoming Mt Apo Sky Race on 9/10 December. But Santa Cruz is more than the gateway to Mount Apo, and Team Jegol wishes to make that statement very clear. The event has three race categories of which the 70k is the longest. Less ambitious runners can go for the 25k and 15k options. Neither one of them goes to Apo.

The 70k ultramarathon trail has an elevation gain of about 4000hm, and will feature scenic and iconic places in Santa Cruz, namely, Mt. Loay, Mt. Dinor, Tacub Laya Falls, Pilan River, Sinoron, Lipantod, Camotes Ridge, and Mt. 796. This will surely give runners an adventure that they will never forget in the infamous mountain ranges of Santa Cruz. The course profile is actually quite distinct and interesting from a competitive point of view. Mount Dinor is the cornerstone and highest peak in the first half, Mount Loay in the second half. Runners should also be aware that after the final descent of Loay, there’s still a 10km flattish section to the finish back in Santa Cruz. That could hurt for some, while be a tactical all-in section for others.

Registration for the SC 70 event goes via this online form . More details can be obtained via the official website and Facebook Page.

The event hotel is the MGL Hotel, with Ms Mercy as contact person (Local tel: 0907-530-7415 / 0929-447-2789)

Teaser video

Lam Dong Trail is the second ATM points race event in Vietnam’s Central Highlands main city Dalat this year and once again showed how great trail running can be. ‘Challenging but achievable’ is the tagline of the event that is determined to give every participant a very welcoming and enjoyable weekend. With the finish line set at the Valley of Love, just 4-5km outside the Dalat city centre, runners can bring their friends and families along. It does not even get so hot, as Dalat sits on a plateau a good 1500m above sea level.

The 75km points races for men and women saw two local race winners, interestingly both from the Mude Sports Team, the team around Hau Ha. The 2022 ATM Champion herself, who won Lam Dong Trail last year, now has other ambitions so she left the competition open for others to take the spotlights. For the first half of the race, Philippines’ Angelie Cabalo, winner of MMTF 100 in 2022, looked the strongest and on the way to collect her second ATM race victory. Julia Nguyen Thi Duong was in second and Luong Loi third. Cecille Wael (ankle pain) and Akane Nemoto were further back and never got in position to challenge the podium. Japan’s Nemoto also suffered from the mid-day sun. Upon entering the last 15 km, Luong Loi surprised most on-lookers as she overtook Nguyen Thi Duong and Cabalo to take the lead! Still young to trail, Luong Loi had already scored two 3rd place podiums this season, but this was unexpected. She crossed the finish with a big smile as winner with nearly 13 minutes advantage over Cabalo and 25 over Nguyen Thi Duong. In fourth was Le Hang, also not unknown in Vietnam’s competitive trail scene.

The men’s race was dominated by Nhon Trong, who - despite being around for several years now - also scored his first ever ATM race victory. Nhon Trong was too fast for his own protégé, Nghia Van Trang - second at 51 minutes. Nguyen Tien Vo confimed his great and consistent ATM season with a third spot on the podium. Nguyen Tuan Anh and Nguyen Dinh Minh were four and five.

Nghia Van Trang: 2nd place

Rhea Batac: now a 3-star ATM Grandmaster!

For about a third of the 100km race at MMTF, Hisashi Kitamura looked like he was going to genuinely challenge Daved Simpat again after receiving quite a beating by the good old Sabahan at TMBT two months ago. But as they hit the more technical sections, once more Simpat was the stronger one and steadily opened up a gap. Kitamura had to let go, and still had to fight with the surprising Chinese runner Bai Xingzhi for second place. Simpat won MMTF for the second time in his career after 2018. He is clearly back at his best level. Bai Xingzhi outsprinted Kitamura for second place some 45 minutes later. The Japanese runner was nevertheless quite satisified as the gap was much smaller compared to TMBT and his biggest objective is coming up in one month. Another Chinese runner from the Zenone Poles Team, Wang Gang, took fourth ahead of Aqmal Adzmi, who showed once more how much he enjoys MMTF.

The women’s long distance race was dominated by Fu Huarong from China. She ran away from her competitors early on and never slowed down to finish sixth overall! Best of the rest was Malaysia’s ultra specialist Siokhar Lim, who was way ahead of her compatriots, such as Celeste Teo and Rejlen James, who suffered a clear off-day. Hong Kong’s Pui Hung Chan was a great third on the podium. Guan Shin Law was a solid sixth, showing her competitive improvement once more.

On the 50km distance, leader from start to finish despite great pressure from his two main rivals: John Ray Onifa. He stays unbeaten in six ATM races and can look towards the Championship Final with the highest ambitions! Kristian Joergensen was pushing Onifa all race but paid a little price himself at the end, also due to a nutritional oversight. Milton Amat finished the strongest of the three and caught Joergensen for second place just 3’38” behind Onifa! Wilsen Singgin is fourth 39 minutes later - great run by him! Aman Mehla from India was fifth, just a minute behind Wilsen. Great new name on the ATM scene: Aman Mehla.

Aurore Dacier was the fastest woman on the 50km. Based in Singapore, the French runner won by half an hour over Nepal's Rashila Tamang with Korea's Boyoung Jan an impressive third - just a week after scoring third in Ulju Trail 5 Peaks. Chhoki Sherpa took fourth place, which means both the Nepalese who also ran Koboi Malaya earlier in the season are qualified for the ATM Championship Final. The same of course for Boyoung Jan.

China’s Fu Huarong - dominant winner in the women’s 100km

MMTF in Taiping is on this weekend and the event has already confirmed its recently achieved status as the biggest Malaysian trail running event alongside Borneo TMBT Ultra. Close to 3000 runners will be taking part across the various race categories, of which the 100km and 50km require our utmost attention. A wealth of Asian trail talent on the start lists, in particular of the 50km with an expected clash between John Ray Onifa - unbeaten in five ATM races this season -, Kristian Joergensen - unbeaten at MMTF -, and Milton Amat - Malaysia’s current most competitive runner and vice-ATM champion 2022.

And if those three top stars somehow suffer a bad day, there’s a long list of others who will very quickly pick up the spoils: Amir Zaki, Wilsen Singgin, Chris Timms, Sapirin and Safrey Sumping, Yakov Kozlov, Jeffery Budin and so on! This is undoubtedly the most competitive 50k of the current ATM season and just one month before the ATM Championship conclusion in Indonesia. Whoever wins will get a major mental boost. Onifa and Joergensen actually just went head-to-head at VMM 50k in September. The Philippines-based Dane attacked halfway through the race, but Onifa managed to come back and win by just a couple of minutes. Last year in Taiping, Onifa ran a superb 50k race, but so did Joergensen twice already in 2019 and 2022 on the 100k. This is the dual at MMTF that betting companies can make money of. And Milton Amat, who has had a more quiet Asian season this year, might just as well profit from the other two’s healthy rivalry. Ever since the end of covid, Amat has proven several times that his pure running pace has increased significantly compared to 2018-2019. All three are also not afraid of heavy rain with its mud thumping and trail surfing. Rain and MMTF, remember, go hand-in-hand.

Taiping is the wettest city in Malaysia and this was underlined again in the build-up towards this weekend’s event. Runners should expect rain, but an extreme situation like last year whereby the 100k had to be stopped seems unlikely.

That 100k will also be very exciting, featuring the rematch between this year’s TMBT winner Daved Simpat and Hisashi Kitamura. Simpat surprised many by easily outrunning the now Tokyo-based Karate Kit last September. The Sabahan is also a former winner of MMTF, in 2018 - the first edition. An uphill task for Kitamura, for whom a wet race is normally not to his advantage either. His biggest season’s goal comes next month at the ATM Final , so in any case we should see a glimpse of the dominant Kitamura from early to mid last year. As on the 50km, there’s plenty of other men with podium ambitions, or more. Another Japanese UGLOW runner, Yuta Matsuyama is a double race winner of Ultra Trail Chiang Mai 100. That race’s nickname is “kiss the rain” , so Matsuyama for sure won’t be intimidated by the excepted trail conditions at MMTF. Nobuhito Kobu, Jin Heng Oh, Amierul Amin are other names to watch out for, and who knows the Chinese trio from Team Zenone Poles in Hangzhou causes an upset.

In the women’s 100km we can look forward to a first real meeting between new Sabah star Rejlen James, winner of the Borneo Ultra Triple (BUTM 100, Borneo Miler, TMBT 100) this season, and Siokhar Lim - widely considered the benchmark in Malaysia for the long and tough trails. James will be among the top favourites next month for the women’s ATM Championship title, based on her performances this season. A win over Siokhar Lim at MMTF would only emphasise that further. Kanna Suzuki from Japan and Fu Huarong may get involved in the race for victory, too. Other podium contenders are Celeste Teo - the only Malaysian woman already guaranteed of a spot on her country’s team for the ATM Final - Norlela Ismail, Halimatun Sa’adiah, Law Guan Shin and Qheiza Wiranda Edelwise. For the Malaysians like Ismail and Sa’adiah it will be important to finish as close to the podium as possible in order to have a chance for ATM Final qualification.

The same applies for Jess Lintanga, who threw herself back in the mix during the summer with two solid results, and in particular third place at TMBT 50. If the The Team Kolumpa ace can repeat that level of performance at MMTF 50, she could still leapfrog others and jump into the top 5 of the ATM ranking. There is some serious competition, however. The Nepalese duo of Rashila Tamang and Chhiok Sherpa are back in Malaysia after their great results in Koboi Malaya Classic back in May. That was a flat race, this one should suit the mountain girls even more. Izzah Hazirah, Chong Mei Tze and Siao Ai Lim may also have a few words to speak in the battle for podium, and so does Korea’s Boyoung Jan - who features on the start list despite having just scored third place in Ulju 5 Peaks last week.

A lot to look forward and we will be keeping you up-to-date on our usual ATM channels as Mark and Richard are in Taiping.

Last year Kristian Joergensen and Milton Amat finished together on the 100km. This weekend they both run the 50km.

Rashila Tamang won Koboi Malaya Classic last May

Chhiok Sherpa took third place in Koboi. The much hillier MMTF should suit her better

Wilsen Singgin needs a top result to get into Team Malaysia for the ATM Final

Jess Lintanga was 3rd in her home race TMBT and could get herself qualified for Team Malaysia

Jeffery Budin was 2nd in UTCR two weeks ago, which boosted his ATM ranking and qualification chances a lot.

What to expect from Kitamura at MMTF?