Season IX of the Asia Trail Master Championship series continues this weekend in the Philippines with the 3rd edition of Bagtit Ultra in Luzon. On the programme are both 100km and 50km races for ATM points. The event, organised by the Pace Republic, replaces last season’s Santa Ines on our calendar, and was a Candidate Race last June. That day we learnt that the race course of Bagtit is to be taken seriously.

‘Bagtit’ is the local Ilocano translation of the word ‘crazy’. The 100km course has an accumulated elevation gain of 4800 hm and has five distinct peaks. One can experience a panoramic view of the Tarlac and Pangasinan plains and Mt. Arayat from afar. Mt. Damas may arguably have the distinction of being the most scenic mountain in Tarlac. But it is the less explored trails on Mt Sem-Ilya that are considered to be the highlight of the event. The start and finish venue of the 100km is in Mayantoc Municipal Hall. Runners are required to toe the line on Saturday morning 6am. The 50km has a different start location: the Papaac Basketball Court (Camiling, Tarlac) and only starts at 1am on Sunday early morning - meaning the first four five hours will be in darkness.

The list of participants looks very solid as expected for any race that offers points for the ATM Championship ranking and the Grandmaster Quest. However, in the absence of ‘super elites’ like John Ray Onifa and Arnie Macaneras, the battle for podium on the 100k and 50k is wide open. Especially in the men’s category. Maynard Encormal is from Luzon and could be the one to watch out for most on the long distance. Already a podium placer on a few occasions in ATM races, Encormal may be keen to finally get on the top step of the podium. He was qualified for last year’s ATM Final but decided against participation. Sean Aying, Ariehmar Bardoquillo, Avelino Versola III and Florence Alave will certainly be challenging him. Also last year’s 80k race winner Julius Iglesias is back on the start list, and so is good old Angelito Vertudazo, who could produce the upset.

In the women’s 100k, the runner-to-beat is Elizabeth Dangadang. Part-time obstacle racer, part-time trail runner, Elizabeth Dangadang was a convincing race winner a year ago at Santa Ines, well ahead of Angelie Cabalo and Cecille Wael no less. While she may start as the favourite, plenty of other women will contest the podium, and -who knows- apply pressure on Dangadang. Davao’s Julie Ann Morales has been in great shape recently, also winning the Mount Apo Sky Race 100 in December in a solid time. Ann Jilian Pulanco showed in Sierra Madre Trail last season that she should never be discounted when the going gets tough and when she decides to go for it. And just a month ago, Michella Aradanas won the Grand Malico Ultra (ATM Candidate Race) in great style. Furthermore, there’s Shally Yuson, Kimberly Gaela, Cheryl Bihag, irish Glorioso, Roan Biguasen and Manilyn Mamugay.

On the 50km we have a similar set-up as on the 100 with a more pronounced female race favourite and an open field in the men’s. Looking to return to her most competitive level after a difficult 2023, Cecille Wael had a great start of the year at the Danao 50k just two weeks ago. The victory eluded her, but she showed her speed on technical trails is coming back. This weekend she will be up against a.o. Melanie Hingpit, Anne Rongavilla and Jennifer Commandante.

The men’s race looks very open with Noy Gentoleo and Aleksei Rodionov as solid podium candidates. Gentoleo is also returning to the scene after a long break during the pandemic.

ATM will be reporting live from the Bagtit Ultra event on our usual channels, and subject to connectivity along the race course.

Florence “Enciong” Alave: third on Mount Apo in December

Avelino Versola III : ATM Finalist in 2023

Sean Aying starts his 2024 campaign this weekend

Julie Ann Morales: race winner in Mindanao a number of times already. Can she also be victorious in Luzon?

Shally Yuson: 3rd on Mount Apo last December

Winner of Grand Malico Ultra just a month ago: Michella Aradanas

Two weeks after finishing 2nd in the Danao Candidate Race, Cecille Wael is aiming for the 50k win at Bagtit

Jumla Rara Ultra is the second Nepalese event on our ATM Championship calendar this season taking place the weekend after The Manjushree Trail. The 5th edition of this event is set for Saturday, 13 April and keeps the exciting A to B course to the Rara Lake, measuring just under 50km. Organised by Karnali Sports, JRU and the organising team of MTR are collaborating to facilitate transportation and overall logistics for runners aiming to attend both events. Jumla Rara Ultra is set on the other side of Nepal in the west, a region considered a ‘hidden gem’ by people and adventurers familiar with the region. The JRU event has been establised to boost adventure sports and tourism in this remote part of the country, as well as to provide local athletes with an opportunity to shine and attract national and regional attention.

The Jumla Rara Ultra starts from Jumla bazaar at an altitude of 2305m, and finishes at the Rara lake higher up at 2990m above sea level. The course is officially measured at 49 km. The course is undulating nonstop, but there are three steeper and distinct peaks with Danphe (3500m), Kavra cave, Bhulbhule (2950m) and Chuchemara (4017m). For international runners, having spent the weekend before in Kathmandu for the MTR event will clearly be a bonus to be adjusted to the high altitude of especially the Chuchemara pass.

The 4th edition of the event was an official ATM Candidate Race in 2023, won by Dal Bdr Kunwar in 4:54:10, just three minutes ahead of second-placed Dhir Bdr Budha. The women’s race went to Manju Rawot in 6:06:23.

We are very happy to announce that The Manjushree Trail Race and Jumla Rara Ultra in Nepal have been added to the 2024 Asia Trail Master Championship calendar on back-to-back weekends in early April. It is the first time since 2018 trail runners can score points for our ATM Championship in Nepal, and a logistical cooperation between the two events will even make it feasible to run both races in one trip to the Himalayan country. The Manjushree Trail Race takes place near country capital Kathmandu and on the famous Kathmandu Valley Rim, whereas the Jumla Rara Ultra event is set in the far west of Nepal, from Jumla to the Rara Lake - considered a hidden gem. Race dates are 5/6 April and 13 April , respectively.

For more on Jumla Rara Ultra, please go and read here

The 3rd edition of the Manjushree Trail Race event features four race distance categories, of which the 100 Miles, 100 km and 55km offer points for the ATM Championship ranking. Runners aiming for Grandmaster points of course need to focus on the 100km or 100 miles only. The 100 miler is a special one here and not only because it’s the only real one in Nepal. As the official website says: ‘The race route takes runners along the famous Kathmandu valley rim ridge line and across the seven peaks that surround the valley. As part of this, the racecourse also crosses the two national park (Nagarjun and Shivapuri) that border the valley. Over 85% of the route is single track, where it sometimes takes hours before runners come across a little settlement. Even though you are technically still within the Kathmandu valley, you will feel like you are far away from urbanization many times during the race.’ Looking at the course map, you see one big natural loop that measures 175 kilometres (so it’s actually longer than 100 miles). The names of the seven peaks are Jamacho, Shivapuri, Nagarkot, Pulchowki, Champadevi, Basmandur and Chandragiri. Total elevation gain is estimated at over 12000hm, meaning this is a race you need to be physically and mentally prepared for. The race starts on Friday early morning and the cut-off time at the finish will be reached after 52 hours.

The MTR 100 km and 55km races will have different start and finish locations along the same route as the 100 miler. The 100km will have an evening start and has a cut-off time of 26 hours, which considering the overall altitude and elevation gain is indeed quite tight. Note that pacers are allowed for the 100k participants from the start till dawn the next morning. Details can be obtained via the very informative official MTR website. The 55km race will start at 7am in the early morning on Saturday and finish 16 hours later. As much as a running competition, MTR will be an adventure and provide people with a lifetime of memories.

Where does the name Manjushree comes from? The website exlains: ‘The Kathmandu Valley Rim 100 miler is named after the god Manjushree. According to the legend, It is believed that Manjushree arrived at the edge of the valley while being on a pilgrimage, encountering a large lake that once filled the valley. Upon arrival, the god saw a lotus flower in the centre of the lake, which emitted brilliant radiance. Having walked around the valley rim, the god reached Chovar, where Manjushree used its flaming sword to cut a gorge, allowing the lake to drain and the Kathmandu valley to appear. The place where the lotus flower settled became allegedly became the Swayambhunath Stupa and with the valley being no longer under water, it became habitable and Kathmandu was founded. This has left Manjushree in a way to be the patron of the valley and to leave tales of the route the god walked before cleaving the rim and allowing the land to emerge. There are different opinions on what the exact route is that Manjushree travelled and so the Manjushree trail race is in no way trying to exactly replicate this or claiming to be a pilgrimage in anyway. Rather than that, it is inspired by the legend and therefore has chosen to honor this in its name and logo.’

This event has not suddenly emerged from nowhere. MTR is the result of years of work by trail pioneers even including international stars such as Lizzy Hawker and Seth Wolphin. Also. our reigning female Asia Trail Master Champion Rashila Tamang is a proud member of the MTR Team. The 2024 edition is already the third and the previous two have received widespread praise.

You can find all details on the event via the official website, as well as the registration facilities. Please note that after the event, transportation will be organised for local and international runners to travel to West Nepal for the Jumla Rara Ultra 50km race the weekend after on Saturday, 13 April.

We are happy to announce that Mude Sports has extended its cooperation with Asia Trail Master as our official customisation partner for Season IX. Mude Sports is a high-performance sports wear brand for running, cycling and triathlon with a specific focus on recycled fabrics and other sustainable solutions for the industry. While also sponsoring and coaching Vietnamese elite trail runners such as ATM Champion Hau Ha, Mude Sports’ bread and butter is customisation to produce products ‘outside the limits of a catalogue’. Whether you are a competitive sports team, a corporate or friendly training club, an organiser in need of event and finisher tees, or just an individual keen on wearing your own design, your own colours and using high quality and eco-friendly materials, Mude can customise everything to suit your wishes.

A special focus this season goes to the increasingly in-demand Mude hydrovest. Coming in various colour schemes, both the Summit 1 and Peak 1 hydrovests have become popular items among trail runners in Vietnam - including Hau Ha. The hydrovests are very light, but nevertheless robust to carry all your mandatory gear and with a special and convenient compartment for your poles.

Environmental protection is a key objective for the brand. When founder Guim Valls, originally from Spain, cycled around the world with an e-bike a good decade ago, he was confronted with the huge plastic pollution problem around the planet, damaging the soil, oceans and rivers, poisoning humans and wildlife. When he learnt that polyester fiber - the main fabric used in modern-day sportswear - is essentially also made out of PET, the main component of plastic bottles, the idea for Mude was born.

Creating polyester fabric from plastic bottles has an enormous positive impact on the planet. Traditional polyester depends on the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. Using recycled polyester instead makes use of the millions of plastic bottles already in existence. The process on how this all works can be read and learnt on the website of Mude Sports linked below.

Mude emphasizes that their recycled fabrics have the exact same properties as traditional Polyester fabrics, as proven by international and independent testing and industry certifications.

Mude Sports can be contacted directly for all your customisation needs via info@mude.vn

The 4th edition of V Trail in Vang Vieng, Laos, saw a few interesting new names appear at the top of the male and female leaderboards. While still being a very tough mountain jungle course, V Trail received applause from participants for its technical event organisation.

Victories on the long distance course of this season's only Lao event on the ATM Championship calendar went to South Korea's Hee Joo Jang in the women's and the Thai duo Sittisak Suwannee and Puttasit Wiwatsriprapha. Hee Joo Jang was clearly the quickest as she finished almost 2h50' ahead of Thailand's well-known Siriporn Leumathong, ATM Finalist last season, and Patchara Buagun, also from Thailand. Belgium's Olivia Becu was fourth ahead of the first local runner Nakin Visisombat.

The male duo crossed the line together. Suwannee and Wiwatriprapha had a 26-minute advantage over China's Lyu Meng. Also among the 86k finishers were Malaysia’s Grandmaster point chaser Phua Cho Kai in 7th and Japan’s 4-star Grandmaster Masafumi Yamamoto in 9th place. For Yamamoto it was the second time he ran V Trail.

V Trail 55 km - France's Arnaud Beck was clearly the fastest on the 55km course, finishing in 8h44'47". Second place went to Indonesian young trail talent Surydratama Yanizar from Bali in 10h27, and third to Australian Fergus McLeod in 10h45. Nedyalko Terziev from Singapore took fourth, ahead of Thailand's experienced Amorn Kimnguan.

The women's 55km went to local Yoth Soulivanthong in 12h19, clearly ahead of two other Lao runners - showing the competitive growth of the scene in the country. Hutsadar Matsouvanh and Viravone Thepsimuang joined Soulivanthing on the podium. Yumei Chan of SIngapore crossed the finish line in fourth place.

With special thanks to Amorn Kimnguan and Masafumi Yamamoto

This weekend the spotlights are put on Laos again for the only time in our ATM championship season. It’s time for the 4th edition of V Trail in Vang Vieng, the first international trail running event in the country. Now exclusively organised by Green Step, V Trail has kept the traditional courses of 85km and 55km with significant elevation gain in them (5470hm and 3290hm, respectively). Considered as one of the very toughest mountain jungle races in Asia, V Trail is as much as mental challenge as a physical challenge.

Participants on the 85km and 55km score points for the ATM Championship ranking. That’s also important for the local Lao runners, who only have one chance in their own country to put themselves on the board. The Lao community has been growing since 2018 - year of the first V Trail - and last year we even celebrated a local victory in the women’s 55km race: Sou Soulivanthong even finished third overall. We are curious to find out if anyone will follow into her footsteps.

The 85km start list shows lots of different nationalities and several well-known ATM Grandmaster point seekers, including 4-star Grandmaster and 2022 ATM Finalist Masafumi Yamamoto of Japan, and Malaysia’s Phua Cho Kai. The battle for the podium places appears open on paper in both male and female categories. Siriporn Leumathong, ATM Finalist for Thailand last season, might as well have an opportunity to score her first ATM race win. Belgium’s Olivia Becu could be a challenger, too.

The 55 km start list for men has Thailand’s Amorn Kimnguan on it, ATM Finalist last season and always a contender for a top placing. Kimnguan has plenty of experience in tough ultra trails, and alread ran V Trail five years ago - finishing fourth on that occasion. France’s Arnaud Beck has a decent trail record in his home country and could be a potential winner, too. Of course, running in France is not the same as in the tropical rainforest in Laos. We also look forward to the performance of two Indonesian youngsters: Surydratama Yanizar and Zenal Arifin.

The 85km starts in the early morning at 6 am, the 55km half an hour later.

We are happy to announce that the redesigned Pacific Mountain Coast Trail Festival in Luzon, Philippines, has obtained the ATM Candidate Race label for the event on 6/7 July. General Nakar is a large municipality located to the east of Manila in Quezon Province, passed the Rizal mountains. On the event programme we find 100km and 50km as main race categories, but less ambitious runners can also choose for the 25km or 12km. There is also a kids race foreseen. This event coincides with the towns' founding anniversary, celebrating bounties and culture through the Gapo and Palusong Festival.

The new PCMTF event is in a way not brand new. A previous version was held back in 2018 under a different management. Back then, the event had a runable terrain, but according to the new race director there will be more technicality in the hinterland this time around. General Nakar itself, of course, lies by the sea. The precise course map will be made available soon.

You can find more information via the webpage and the facebook page linked below.

The first Danao City International Ultra Trail in Cebu, Philippines proved to be a great addition to the Filipino trail calendar and was a successful ATM Candidate with promising years ahead. Andy Toniacao and Chloe Base won a very tough 100km race, but performance-wise it was probably Larry Apolinario who raised eyebrows the most with a stunningly dominant win on the 50km, 1h35’ ahead of second place…

The new event received large support from the Danao City authorities and featured a start & finish arena in the centre of town, which always boosts the festival atmosphere and the enthusiasm of the local population to be involved. Runners were given a technical course that was well-appreciated, including well-stocked aid stations that had about anything you could imagine. Especially the 100km ultra distance turned out to be a genuine challenge for the majority of participants. The 6300 metres of elevation gain were a warning sign on paper, but those numbers never say anything about technicality and gradients - both uphill and downhill. Experienced Filipino runners argued that Danao 100 comes close to being the toughest 100k trail in the country - and it was not even raining. The race winner’s finishing time of 20 hours and 37 minutes of course already says a lot. That winner is Andy Toniacao, a well-known and respected competitive trail runner in the Visayas region of the Philippines. Not a so-called nobody. He was in the lead from the start and soon build up a big advantage over the other runners. Despite slowing down slightly in the final sections - it was Toniacao’s debut on the 100 km - he arrived back in the bustling city centre of Danao on Saturday evening with an advantage of 1h15’ over Jensen Pasaforte and Juan Salang. Only one female runner managed to beat the 30 hours cut-off time: Chloe Base. She was probably the one who managed her efforts in the most efficient way, as during the whole of Saturday she was never reported to be inside the top three.

While the 100km was clearly a race for the toughest of trail runners, the 50km and 30km races were more manageable for the standard runner. Mind you, also the 50k was reviewed as ‘technical to very technical’. All the more impressive was Larry Apolinario’s pace as he blasted away from everyone else. At CP2, he already led the field by 25 minutes after just 15 kilometres. The majority of runners struggled their way to the finish, but Apolinario looked as if he had just gone for his regular Sunday’s jog. His race performances outside the Philippines, particulary in ATM races, have somehow been mostly below-par but on home soil he has firmly set his foot besides Onifa and Macaneras. His finish time was 6h25. Dante Soreno, all cramped up, finished second in 8h00’ , followed by Rodney Ortega in 8h16’.

The women’s 50km saw a very nice dual between local hero Kathleen Ligan, from Compostela - the town between Cebu City and Danao City - and the established competitor Cecille Wael. Both stayed together until aid stations 3 just over halfway. Then, Wael went off course for too long to still have a fighting chance against Ligan. Both of them were in good shape, finishing fifth and seventh overall. Let’s see if Ligan can build on this victory to become yet another contender for the already strong Pilipinas Team in our ATM Championship. From her side, Wael, was happy to have finished a technical race without the injury pains that plagued most of her 2023 season.

For once, the 30km category also attracted a lot of interest from trail followers due to the presence of reigning ATM Champion John Ray Onifa and the young up-and-comer, some would say ‘The Prince’ , Godwin Mirar. Still only 23 years of age, Godwin caught everyone’s eye already back in 2019 when he finished fourth behind Kitamura, Macaneras and John Ellis in the Punisher 80k race on Babak Samal island. One of those talents with a potentially big future in the sport. Godwin Mirar has been doing things the smart way: no long ultras for him yet, it’s all about body development, speed training and gaining technical experience in shorter races first. Already in VMM last year he showed the progress he had made since 2019. On the 50km he finished third behind Onifa and Joergensen, but just a mere 11 minutes behind. In Danao, Godwin Mirar could have a go at John Ray Onifa. It’s only 30km and Onifa is in recovery from a serious 100km in Hong Kong a week ago. Indeed, the Prince put the pressure on the King. At CP2, Godwin Mirar arrived a minute ahead of Onifa, who did twist his ankle just before. The ATM Champion realised he was in a serious race, grit his teeth together and managed to catch him again before opening up a gap. Mirar also missed a marker somewhere to eliminate his victory chances, but his bravery of taking the fight to Onifa can only be applauded. At the same time, John Ray Onifa showed his resilience to continue racing with a damaged ankle. After he crossed the line, he went straight into the ambulance. Luckily, it soon turned out to be relatively okay despite a swelling. His participation in the 9 Dragoons in three weeks is not in danger.

Chloe Base as the only female finisher of the 100 km

Kathleen Ligan: impressive victory on the 50km

Larry Apolinario: man of the weekend?

We are happy to announce Zenone Poles continues as the new Official Poles partner of the Asia Trail Master Championship series. Headquartered in Ningbo, China, Zenone has been expanding rapidly in South East Asia and has become trendy in our series as well, thanks to the colourful customisations and the lightweight products.

The company behind the brand ‘Zenone’ has over 15 years of experience in the production and R&D of trekking and hiking sticks. Since the launch of the 2018 Asia Outdoor Exhibition and the new brand, Zenone has adhered to the tenet of "walking steadily and supporting life", with a pragmatic and rigorous attitude, and focus on extremely light. and on reliability. Moving into the sport of trail running, Zenone has rapidly gathered applause and popularity in the outdoor sports communities, including even mountaineering.

Several events on our ATM calendar are directly supported by Zenone Poles as well, and participating runners can purchase customised versions of the lightweight poles. In the plan for 2024 are also customised ATM poles. Runners will also be able to score these as prizes in ATM events.

On the official webpage and e-store you can see the variety of poles on offer. There’s something for all budgets and personal preferences. A good source of information is also the facebook page of Zenone Poles Malaysia, linked below as well. Zenone Poles are also easily available via the Red Dot Running Company store.

The 1st edition of the Danao City Ultra Trail in Cebu, Philippines, can look forward to the participation of reigning ATM male champion John Ray Onifa this Sunday. Being more or less at home in the Visayas, Onifa will be running the 30km shorter distance race of the ATM Candidate event, which also offers 100km and 50km categories. Onifa is probably hoping for a calm race, having just done a highly competitive 100km in Hong Kong last weekend, but will have the 23-year-old up-and-comer Godwin Mirar on his tail this Sunday.

The new event Danao City Ultra Trail has been set up under the direction of Bitbit Marites Sotto, a former highly successful adventure, MTB and trail running racer. The ambition seems clear: make this the stand-out trail running event in the Visayas. Runners can look forward to lush forests, rocky trails, and stunning vistas. The 100km ultra will certainly not be the easiest race to complete, looking at its continuously ondulating profile and the more than 6000 hm of elevation gain. Cut off time has been set at 30 hours with start at midnight. Ezekiel Cheruiyot from Kenya will be one to look out for. As one of few in his country of runners to have a clear focus on long distance trail ultras, Cheruiyot has been on the ATM scene before - collecting a second place in the 100 miles race of Ultra Trail Chiang Mai in Thailand in 2022. Looking at the start list, amongst the known competitors, we find Noy Gentoleo - always a contender for podium or at least top five. Florence Alave, recently third on Mt Apo Sky Race 100, will certainly also be in the mix.

On the 50km eyes will be focused on Larry Apolinario and Cecille Wael in the men’s and women’s races, respectively. Both had a rollercoaster year in 2023 with great race performances alternating with injury-related struggles. Apolinario is also one of those young local stars trying to stay in the slipstream of John Ray Onifa and Arnie Macaneras in the hope of one day taking over the crown.

ATM will be providing live race coverage all weekend from Danao City. You can follow the action as usual primarily on ATM Facebook, but also on ATM Instagram, ATM YouTube and ATM X channels.

John Ray Onifa kicks off his 2024 ATM season with the 30k at Danao City Candidate Race, but will face some strong opposition by the name of upcoming youngster Godwin Mirar

Cecille Wael will be aiming for success on the 50km having taken it easy over the past two months to allow her persistent ankle injury to heal

Larry Apolinario when he impressively won MUSPO 100 in July 2022. He will be on the 50k this weekend.

We are happy to announce that the 2nd edition of Trail des Gombak in Selangor is a new ATM Candidate Race in peninsular Malaysia on the weekend of 22/23 June. The event is organised by Projek Hijo and offers traditional race distance categories of 100km and 50 km , alongside shorter versions of 30 km and 15 km. The 100km can also be done in duo format.

Gombak is located near Kuala Lumpur and to the Batu Caves, a touristic hotspot, making it a very convenient event from a logistical point of view. The event location is the Orang Asli settlement. The race courses consist of jungle trails, hills, waterfalls and much more of what the Gombak area has to offer. On paper, Trail des Gombak is not the most difficult with approx 3600 hm of elevation gain for the 100k and 1800 hm for the 50k, but as usual numbers never tell the whole story. The 100km starts at day time, 11am on Saturday, and there’s a cut-off time of 32 hours. The 50km has a 3am start on Sunday with 15 hours as the time limit. Runners should be aware of the mandatory gear requirements before signing up.

Registration can be done via Checkpoint Spot Asia, which you can access via a click on the button below. More event details can be obtained via the event website and facebook page.

 

On a truly beautiful running day in and around Moc Chau, Vietnam-based Frenchman Valentin Orange won the Vietnam Trail Marathon 70km just inside the course record time set by Quang Tran earlier! It’s Orange’s first ever ATM points race victory in a time of 7h01'40". He ran solo for basically the entire race as co-favourite Hung Hai had an off-day and never challenged for the win. It’s the kind of performance that would make Valentin Orange a favourite for this season’s ATM Championship. Until halfway, Nguyen Si Hieu was able to keep the gap at around 15 minutes, but in the second half of the runable but steep rollercoaster Orange boosted his advantage to an impressive margin of over 1 hour at the finish. Nguyen Si Hieu still got caught by the ever improving Nguyen Duc Tuan Anh (better known as Tu Do) and the two finished side-by-side. Si Hieu admitted that Tu Do had waited for him in the final kilometers. Nguyen Tien Vo was fourth and kept the podium within reach but was unable to close the gap in the end. Hung Hai appeared somewhat disinterested but still finished fifth. Who knows those ATM points can still be important later in the season.. Tomohiro Mizukoshi was running 6th for as far as 50 km, but then began to suffer from the midday sun and dropped down the order quite dramatically to finish 12th. Brian Angwin did well in the second half to take sixth ahead of Luis Alvelais.

Men's Top Results:

1. Valentin Orange

2. Nguyen Duc Tuan Anh (Tu Do) at 1h03'48"

2. Nguyen Si Hieu (VIE) at 1h03'48"

4. Nguyen Tien Vo (VIE) at 1h'18'12"

5. Hung Hai (VIE) at 1h35'42"

6. Brian Angwin (GBR/VIE) at 2h30'17"

7. Luis Alvelais (MEX/HKG) at 2h31'38"

8. Tran Van Bac (VIE) at 2h40'34"

9. Ivan Grigoriev (RUS) at 2h42'46"

10.Nguyen Hoang Nghia (VIE) at 2h49'57"

In the women’s race, New Caledonia’s Leslie Nowicki won convincingly ahead of pre-race favourite Vanja Cnops. It was Nowicki’s first race in Vietnam, and nobody had seen her coming, but she is quite experienced as a trail runner. A surprised Vanja Cnops never realised until only halfway into the race that she was running in second. Still, Cnops admitted she did not have the best of race days and finished 23 minutes after Nowicki. Both Nowicki (5th) and Cnops (7th) finished high up the overall result list, indicating their high level of performance. Vietnam-based Japanese Akane Nemoto, 6th in the ATM Final early December, confirmed her competitive progress in long distance races once more with third place on the podium. Vietnam’s Le Thi Hang came fourth (after running a marathon on each day of 2023) just two minutes ahead of Thailand’s duo Tara Savage and Sutinee Rasp.

VTM was the first Vietnamese points race of this season’s ATM Championship series. The next one is Cuc Phuong Jungle Paths early April.

Women's Top Results:

1. Leslie Nowicki (FRA/NCD)

2. Vanja Cnops (BEL/SIN) at 23'22"

3. Akane Nemoto (JPN) at 1h41'19"

4. Le Thi Hang (VIE) at 2h18'17"

5. Tara Savage (USA/THA) at 2h19'35"

6. Sutinee Rasp (THA) at 2h33'30"

7. Mai Thi Hoa (VIE) at 2h52'34"

8. Thuy Nguyen Thu (VIE) at 3h19'26"