The Mount Daisetsu Trail on Japan’s northern Hokkaido island witness a great dual between long-time ATM Championship protagonists Jeff Campbell and Hisashi Kitamura. Campbell had just looked amazing in beating John Ray Onifa at UTSG 50 two weeks ago, but the ever battle-ready Kitamura was not intimidated and took his second consecutive victory at Daisetsu ahead of the Hong Kong Canadian by a considerable margin of 15 minutes in 6h40!

Now based in Tokyo, the UGLOW Asia athlete had said before the weekend he felt in great shape and has been doing well on the Japanese domestic trail circuit over the past couple of months. The big goal is to finally get the ATM Championship title, and at the same time that win at Borneo TMBT Ultra that has eluded him so far despite several attempts. Daisetsu was also his 9th career victory already in ATM. Jeff Campbell himself has collected no fewer than 8 ATM points race wins over the years, but has never managed to get into the championship Top 3 podium. Also for him, it is a serious objective - the varied TMBT course should suit him better than high, long mountains Mt Apo or Mt Lawu of previous years. It was therefore fantastic that these two stars of the regional scene squared off in Hokkaido.

For Kitamura, winning the race by a margin over Campbell proved to be a confirmation of his own feelings of having returned to peak form this year. He is scheduled to race once more on the ATM circuit at The Punisher in Philippines in August, before the Championship title race in Sabah. For Campbell, who returned from injury to beat reigning ATM Champion John Ray Onifa in Singapore - inflicting the Filipino’s first defeat on our circuit in over six years - , it was perhaps a reminder there may nevertheless still be some work to do before September. As he himself stated after the race: “He crushed me today”.

Third place on the podium, but amazingly very much in a by-role, was Suguru Seo, 47 minutes behind Kitamura. The women’s race was dominated by Naho Kotani in 9h01. She finished a full hour ahead of Shibuya Chie. Third on the podium was Nagisa Yamaji .

The next Japanese points race will be next season, the famous Izu Trail Journey on the second Sunday of December. Registration opens next week!

Jeff Campbell and Hisashi Kitamura enjoyed themselves in Hokkaido

The men’s top five at Mt Daisetsu Trail Journey with Hisashi Kitamura once again in the middle

Tomohiro Mizukoshi made sure of his third ATM Final qualification with another fine 6th place

The battle for ATM championship points is ongoing in the Philippines, with several candidates remaining for the five male and five female spots for the team that can take part in the ATM Final at Borneo TMBT Ultra on 14 September. Last weekend’s MUSPO event in Valencia, Bukidnon, Mindanao was the penultimate chance to score points on home soil. Those who take an interest had to go for the 50km race category. MUSPO’s 100km was only valid for the Grandmaster Quest this season. 2022 ATM Champion Arnie Macaneras returned to MUSPO after an unfortunate DNF two years ago, when he was leading the 100k race together with Larry Apolinario until they both went off course. Davao’s leading runner therefore had unfinished business in Bukidnon. He also started as the top favourite in the 50km and quickly showed his good form. A brief scare towards the end, when Arnie again missed a marker and went off course, he won comfortably in 5h52. Kik Suello scored his second podium of the ATM season with an impressive run to second place in 6h01. Suello is beginning to make a name for himself. He preceeded Jevie Cagatin and local Yoyong Sacayle by 8 minutes. Eldy Bulod and Isaiah Paraiso were next, two more exciting newcomers to the scene this season. Grandmaster Sean Aying ran a solid race to 7th ahead of Ivan Matic and Marjones Abugan.

In the women’s 50km we saw the confirmation of the ever increasing competitiveness of Shally Yuson. As in the men’s category, many good runners in the women’s race at MUSPO, and Yuson managed to score her first ever ATM points race victory with even a dominating display. At the finish in Valencia she had an advantage of nearly half an hour on the equally surprising Irish Glorioso, who seems to have found back her good form from two years ago. Emelyn Cabangas finished ten minutes later in third place, and Sierra Madre Trail winner Christine Montuya had to settle for fourth. Maria Elywana Jara Isulat claimed fifth place.

The 100k race was won by Roberto Cain III in the men’s, and Guia Angelie Cabigas in the women’s.

Shally Yuson scored her first ever ATM points race victory and underlines her growing running form

2022 ATM Champion Arnie Macaneras notched up another race win

A great second place for Kik Suello!

Irish Glorioso has found back the form that gave her several podiums in the 2022 season

Emelyn Cabingas completed the women’s podium on the 50k

Roberto Cain III won MUSPO 100 and collected one more Grandmaster point

Guia Angela was the quickest woman on the 100km and scores a Grandmaster point

A generally successful and rather exciting revival of the Pacific Coast Mountain Trail Festival in General Nakar, Quezon, took place last weekend with Angelie Cabalo claiming the biggest spotlight by winning the 100km overall! Our 3rd place finisher in last year’s ATM Final - and therefore the driving force behind Team Pilipinas in winning the ATM Team Championship - managed to catch male leader Bhert Opiada towards the end of the runable trail race, an ATM Candidate Race, and finished in 13h11. Cabalo has been in great shape over the past few months and she ought to be one of the top favourites to become the first Filipino female ATM Champion at Borneo TMBT on 14 September. Behind Cabalo, Ann Jilian Pulanco took second place. Also Pulanco could be making the team this season. Second male behind Opiada was Jonel Lobos.

Cabalo was not the only one who raised eyebrows, however, in General Nakar. In the women’s 50km, Jewel De Luna finished in 5h15 and fourth overall and 7 minutes ahead of Cecille Wael, sixth overall in. Both ladies are in great shape. The men’s top three meant serious business, too. Trail rookie Cesar Bellen grabbed victory ahead of Maynard Encormal in 4h45 and Andy Borras. John Ivan Zonio was sandwiched between De Luna and Wael. Richard Akol came fifth.

As we had just seen in UTSG 50 in Singapore, flattish and runable trails can create some spectactular racing between several candidate winners and podium placers.

Bhert Opiada was the fastest man on the 100km, but could not keep Cabalo behind at the very end

Cesar Bellen was a surprise winner on the 50km, finishing ahead of a.o. Maynard Encormal

Maynard Encormal settled for second place, but confirmed once more he is in great shape this season

Jewel de Luna took the victory on the 50km in a splendid time and fourth overall

Cecille Wael was fast, too, sixth overall, but a few minutes behind De Luna

The biggest mountain trail running event on the ATM Championship calendar this year saw a lot of unexpected performances by both new and known names, while several pre-race favourites such as Arief Wismoyono, Rejlen James and Taofik Hidayat bit the dust and did not make it even onto the podium of either the 116km or 68km races. Mantra proved that every year is different and anything can happen. The great unexpected 116 winners were Indonesians Muhammad Ma’Mun Khariri and Henny Sutanda, while the 68km was won - but not without a struggle - by the anticipated favourites Risqi Kurniawan and Dening Lo from Singapore.

Ma’Mun Khariri turns out to be a young talent, like Risqi, who grew up in the greater Malang area while now living in Kalimantan. It was his first experience on the ATM circuit and he certainly left an impression. Already on the summit of Welirang, after the long ascent at nighttime, his name topped the leaderboard. At that time, Bandung’s Taofik Hidayat was not far behind and he even came closer as they went towards Arjuno. Japan’s Yuta Matsuyama was in the game immediately, and everyone expected former winner Arief Wismoyono to boom down the descent like he so famously did two years ago. However, it wasn’t his day last weekend and Arief would have to settle for 5th. Khariri kept on marching forward and when Hidayat pulled out of the race, he managed to keep a chasing Matsuyama on average about 15 minutes behind. The Indonesian took the win ahead of the Japanese ATM Finalist from last year and Malaysian Yih Huan Sua. Another Japanese runner, Tamie Tsukada was fourth.

The women’s 116 , without Sianti Candra , developed into a competition between Nia Swastika Septiana, Siriporn Leumathong, Risa Kamiya, Guan Shin Law and Henny Sutanda. The latter was 4th on the 68km last year, and had a golden opportunity to take a big-name victory. Leumathong and Septiana were tough but had to be content with spots on the podium - for both an excellent result as well. Sutanda follows into the footsteps of Shindy Patricia - winner of the past two editions. Shindy is focusing on road running in 2024. It should be noted that the number of women attempting the 116 was higher than ever, with 8 official finishers this year.

The men’s 68km resulted in the same faces on the podium as last year and in the same positions. Risqi Kurniawan again had the better of Hilman Maulana and Akhmad Nizar. However, it did not look like smooth sailing for Kurniawan this time around, most likely still feeling the aftermath of an injury he sustained about five weeks ago. The Indonesian trio nevertheless performed strongly given the big names behind them: the Malaysians Amierul Amin, Mohd Sulhan, Faris Azhari, Ahmad Tanjong, Jeffery Budin, as well as Thimo Kilberth Fikry Sakti Firmansyah and Husen Saepudin.

The women’s 68km, without Ruth Theresia due to work obligations, saw a rather expected winner in Dening Lo from Singapore, but she had to run for it. Bali’s Dian Pradina had started fast, and also Malaysia’s Halimatun Sa’adiah had a great day on Saturday. Not so for Rejlen James, struggling from the beginning and settling for 7th place. That was behind Yvette Chong Mi Chin, who sprained an ankle but still came in fifth in the finish, showing her 3rd place at Simpur Ultra 50 in Brunei a few weeks ago was no coincidence. Chong Mi Chin may get herself into Team Malaysia again after 2022, and is also a 2-star Grandmaster now. Qualification for Team Malaysia is not yet a given for youngster Lynda Marylyn, who unfortunately had that day of the month and saw no option but to DNF. In the end, it was Indonesia’s Yuni Noor Hayati who scored 3rd place on the podium, exactly like a year ago.

The next Indonesian points race is Bali Ultra on 3 August, which will be an important one for those runners keen on qualifying for their country’s team at the ATM Championship Final.

Ma’Mun Khariri was the surprise winner of the 116km long ultra!

Henny Sutanda: 4th last year on the 68, winner this year on the 116!

Thailand’s Siriporn Leumathong : impressive second on the 116!

Risqi Kurniawan added another ATM win on home Indonesian soil to this record

Hilman Maulana : second consecutive time on the podium

2023 ATM Finalist for Malaysia, Amierul Amin returned to the ATM scene with a solid 4th place

Singapore’s Dening Lo grabbed her second ATM race win of the season

Halimatun Sa’adiah scored her finest race result in ATM so far: second behind Dening Lo on the 68km

It’s early July and that means it’s Mantra time again! Arguably the toughest mountain trail race on our ATM Championship calendar, the 2024 edition has once again attracted a considerable field of trail runners in both the 116km and 68km categories - both also valid for the Grandmaster Quest. Most of Indonesia’s trail elites will be competing, with former ATM Champion Arief Wismoyono on the 116km against the likes of Taofik Hidayat, and Risqi Kurniawan against Akmad Nizar on the 68km.

The 116km has 7400 metres of elevation gain, which is not the highest number, but the technicality of the Welirang and Arjuno ascent and descent makes this race incredibly tough. Throw in the high altitudes of well above 3000m, potential cold temperatures, rain and wind and you are in for a real adventure. It’s the kind of race that elite mountain runners want to have on their record of wins, and regular runners want to have the finisher tee or medal of. While the 68km usually has a stronger competitive field, the 116km does draw most attention at this event.

Arief Wismoyono is approaching 40 now, but still ranks as the benchmark in Indonesia when it comes to long mountain ultras. His younger Bandung teammate Taofik Hidayat will be challenging him this weekend, along with Japan’s Yuta Matsuyama - who just ran Deep Japan Ultra 100 miles and finished fourth. There’s a strong Malaysian contingent featuring the likes of a.o. Hijazi Rija and Jin Heng Oh. The women’s race looks potentially more open, even though local runners such as Sianti Candra and Septiana Nia Swastika can be expected to lead the pack along with Mei Li. Malaysia’s Guan Shin Law, Japan’s Tamae Harada, Thailand’s Siriporn Leumathong and Philippines’ Irish Glorioso are all podium contenders this weekend on the 116km.

Risqi Kurniawan, already winner of the 68km last year, will again be up against Akmad Nizar and Hilman Maulana, podium runners a year ago. Normally speaking Risqi should have the edge on them, but he has been plagued by injury in recent times reducing his performance on the trails. Mohd Sulhan, Amierul Amin, Faris Azahri and Jeffery Budin from Malaysia could be challengers - at least for a podium spot. Thimo Kilberth has always been more competitive on the runable trails, but he has focused on Mantra this season. In the women’s race, Silabur Cave Trail winner Dening Lo from Singapore is one of the top favourites alongside former ATM Champion and former Mantra winner Ruth Theresia. However, Sabah’s Rejlen James may find Mantra to be a trail 100% to her liking. Also Malaysia’s Lynda Marylyn, in-form Yvette Chong and Halimatun Sa’adiah can be podium contenders.

ATM will be covering Mantra 116 throughout the weekend on our usual channels, with live feeds and most updates on ATM Facebook.

Arief Wismoyono: top favourite on the 116km

Rejlen James: if she can beat the high altitude, she could be hard to beat on the 68km

Singapore’s Dening Lo is one of the favourites on the 68km

Akhmad Nizar: always a strong podium contender, and who knows more than that this weekend

Jeffery Budin: impressive winner of Silabur 50 two months ago: can he repeat that performance?

We are happy to announce that Prenn Trail Challenge, taking place to the south of Dalat in Vietnam, has joined the ATM Championship and Grandmaster Quest calendar for Season 10. A successful Candidate Race last year, Prenn Trail Challenge is catering for all types of trail runners with a wide range of distance categories available on the long weekend of 20-22 December 2024.

Organised by UEM and managed by James Nguyen, Prenn Trail Challenge gets its event name from the Prenn tea resort, which will be the event venue host. The Dalat area is not only known for coffee, but also has several major tea plantations. From the tea resort, participants can embark on trail runs from 3 to a massive 182 kilometres. The race categories for the ATM Championship will be the 182 km long ultra and the 55 km medium distance. Runners just aiming for the Grandmaster Quest can choose between 182 km and 100 km. Expect lots of pine hills and old forests. Elevation gain for the 182 km is estimated at 8500hm, with 2300hm for the 55km. The start location for the two longest ultras will be at the Kala Lake and Samten Hill, respectively. The organisation will provide shuttle busses from Dalat City to bring everyone there.

If you want to try the 182 km, you must show proof of having already finished at least one race of 70km or longer. Obviously, also do not forget to check the mandatory gear list.

The Prenn Tea Resort is not so far from Dalat City , but it is nevertheless recommended to base yourself in the resort, as it is the event centre. You can find more details on the official event website. Registration is already open and accessible via the same website.

We are happy to announce that the 2nd edition of Broder 50 in the Bromo desert of East Java in Indonesia is a new entry on our race calendar of Season 10! The event is organised by the established team of Mantra 116 and takes place on 12 October 2024. The key points race is the 50km.

It has been a few years since ATM has had a race in Bromo on the schedule. Running in the high-altitude desert with its magical volcanic scenery. This race will be catering for trail runners with a good pace in the legs. The loop around the crater will be done twice, and refrains from including sections deemed too technical for the average runner. It is not flat-flat, with 1200m of elevation gain to be overcome. The cut-off time is set at 10 hours, so you need a minimum pace of 5km per hour.

Registration for the event is already open. Just go to the official website below. To get to Bromo, international participants best fly to Surabaya, main city in East Java. From there you can take ground transport to Probolingo and Lautan Pasir Bromo. The 50km race starts at 4am on Saturday morning.

Season 10 of the Asia Trail Master Championship series will thus initiate with two events in Indonesia. On 21/22 September, the season begins with Dieng Trail Run in Central Java.

An exciting and successful edition of UTSG 50 in Singapore saw the end of John Ray Onifa’s unbeaten streak of over six years in ATM. While our reigning champion ran a great race himself and looked like he was on the way to yet another victory, Hong Kong-Canadian Jeff Campbell found some energy reserves deep down at the end of the flattish race to catch Onifa again, and pass him for victory! Both great athletes finished the 50km within 4 hours, and eventually five minutes apart.

For Jeff Campbell it’s the 8th ATM race victory in his running career, his first of the season on a typical Singaporean and runable course that suited him perfectly despite a jetlag. He traveled back from London just the day before. John Ray Onifa took his defeat with a smile and lots of respect for Campbell, whom he knows very well, of course. In the end, Onifa did as he predicted the evening before at the pre race gathering at the Red Dot Running Company (see our video below). Onifa was right on the money finishing in 3h59, but Campbell just had too much speed in his legs.

Meanwhile, 2022 female ATM Champion Hau Ha was only four minutes behind Onifa... She was probably the fastest runner overall in the last 10km! Securing her wild card for this season’s ATM Championship Final, the Vietnamese star took a relatively modest start and even saw local resident Vanja Cnops coming back at her around the 10km mark. Competitive as always, Vanja had a brave run for sure, but an eye infection and the hard fact that Hau Ha has just become not only still a stronger trail runner, but also a faster runner, meant Vanja eventually had no answer. Going up on a road, Hau Ha just had too much strength in her legs for the Belgian. Still, Vanja’s finishing time of 4h25 nevertheless shows she had no off-day.

Hau Ha was running with Chris Timms nearby for most of the race. Timms, also a local resident, had a fantastic performance himself last Saturday. His third place on the men’s podium in 4h06 was illustrative of that, even though his podium spot was challenged severely by newcomer Siu Hong from Hong Kong. The latter went off course at some point early on, which may have cost him that top 3 podium spot. Still, Siu Hong, from the T8 squad, is a great new name on the scene. Singapore’s Deric Lau completed the top five with an excellent run himself ahead of Hong Kong Australian David Longo. Edmund Villaraza follows, then Gael Beron and Daniel Yap.

Behind Hau Ha and Vanja Cnops, Patsy Tan took the third podium spot. She finished just a minute ahead of Shifan Hu.

UTSG 50 showed that trail running, despite long concrete and road sections, can be great fun in Singapore. The X Trailblazers created a very fine experience for the 400-odd starters.

The five fastest runners in the finish

Initially, John Ray Onifa applied some serious pressure on Jeff Campbell.

Chris Timms and Hau Ha ran most of the race in each other’s vicinity

Patsy Tan completed the female podium in Singapore

Big names on the start list of the UTSG 50 event in Singapore this Saturday, the first ATM points race in the country since 2018. Organised by the large X Trailblazers community, UTSG will start and finish in the Macritchie Park and offers a course for the speedsters amongst the trail runners, in the absence of serious hillclimbs in Singapore. Pure running in other words, and it’s great to see a very well-stacked and international list of participants. Four names stand out: reigning ATM Champion John Ray Onifa will be facing Jeff Campbell for the men’s victory, and 2022 ATM Champion Hau Ha will be up against Singapore-resident Vanja Cnops.

Until a year ago, few people would have bet against Campbell on a runable 50k against even Onifa. But the Hong Kong-based Canadian has been shifting his attention towards the long ultras. People who follow the stats on Strava’s ATM Club know that Campbell ranks very high every week in the ‘total distance run’ column. Still, his sheer running speed won’t have disappeared so quickly, of course. His main issue will be his late arrival into Singapore, and the potential jet lag after spending time in the UK. Running UTSG 50 is a bit of a must for him, given his ambition to qualify again for the ATM Championship Final in September. Campbell was injured earlier in the season, and has no points on his 2024 account yet. John Ray Onifa will be keen to keep his unbeaten ATM streak going for a while longer. Earlier this year, Onifa indicated having an interest in road marathons now - to try and increase his running pace on the flat. UTSG will be a good indication where he stands with that.

There’s several other fast runners expected to join, such as David Longo and Chris Timms.

The women’s dual for the win should be between Vietnam’s Hau Ha and Belgium’s Vanja Cnops. It will be the second time they face each other in the same race. At the 2022 ATM Final on Mount Apo, Vanja was the first woman ever to make life hard for Hau Ha in a race. Eventually, Hau would get the upper hand going up and down Apo, but on Saturday the course is flat and suited towards Vanja Cnops, who has been living in Singapore for over ten years. If there’s one race where Vanja might have a chance against Hau Ha…. Her half marathon PB is still significantly faster than Hau’s, but can she prevent losing too much pace on 50km?

ATM will be reporting live from SIngapore starting at 6:30 am on Saturday.

Reigning ATM Champion John Ray Onifa wants to test his sheer running pace in Singapore this weekend

Jeff Campbell is increasingly focusing on long ultras now, but on Saturday he is back on his 50k top distance

2022 ATM Champion Hau Ha and her coach Guim are using UTSG as the perfect tune-up for their big goal in August

What can Vanja Cnops do against Hau Ha on flat trails in her long-time resident country Singapore?

Trail runners across Asia will be happy to learn that Luang Prabang Trail in Laos is a new addition to the ATM Championship calendar of Season 10. The 3rd edition of the event, organised by the same team as V Trail, will be held on the weekend of 19/20 October 2024 and features two points race categories (105km, 55km) for the Championship ranking, and one for the Grandmaster Quest (105km). Luang Prabang is the former capital of the country, and now a large UNESCO World Heritage Site and tourism magnet.

While trail runners can look forward to a very scenic new destination, they should also come prepared. Luang Prabang Trail - like V Trail in Vang Vieng - is no walk in the park. The 105km race has an estimated elevation gain of 6850 hm and the 55km has approx 3500 hm. Luckily, the cut-off times are reasonable - as you can see in the image below.

Trail running in Laos is still very much in its infancy, but the team of Green Step has built a solid reputation since 2018 with V Trail. International runners are highly encouraged to join the event’s facebook page to stay up-to-date with latest developments in English language. Event Director Philip Tay is also available via whatsapp for any queries there may be. There are a number of international flights to Luang Prabang from Thailand, Vietnam, China and Cambodia. Alternatively, you transit in Laos’ country capital Vientiane , or take a long distance bus from there. Accommodation is plentiful via the usual hotel booking agents online.

Deep Japan Ultra in Japan’s Niigata region, roughly 2-3 hours northwest of Tokyo, is rapidly gaining prestige as one of the great challenging events in our series. Managed and directed by experienced Japanese trail runner Hiroaki Matsunaga, DJU again provided a very satisfactory experience for participants, despite the high degree of ‘toughness’ . There’s two long ultras on the programme with the 100 Miles and the 80km, and in particular the ‘Miler’ is a serious test for everyone. Total elevation gain is only just short of 10.000 hm. It caught 4-star Grandmaster Masafumi Yamamoto by surprise once again, and also Hong Kong’s Rachel Chan even had to throw in the towel at km 120.

It’s an event where the locals perhaps have a clearer advantage, just because they know what is coming. Ryota Nakatani won the men’s race in 27h02’. He was followed on the podium by Tatsuya Saguchi and Tomo Ihara. In the women’s race, Yukiko Sawada won comfortably ahead of Ayako Murai and Kiyoko Nakata.

Gediminias Grinius from Lithuania returned to DJU and Niigata after an injury-induced DNF last year, and this time managed to secure race victory in 8h55. The female winner was the same as last year: Miki Saito in 12h14. Honourable mention goes to young Filipino Poy Brillantes who scored a fantastic 3rd place!

On the 100 miles distance, Yuta Matsuyama took a great fourth place. The same for Vietnam's Julia Nguyen Thi Duong in the women's race. Both collect 425 points at DJU, which will help them get qualified for this season's ATM Final at Borneo TMBT on 14 September.

Images courtesy of Dogsorcaravan

Winner on the 100 miles: Ryota Nakatani

Female winner on the 100 miles: Yukiko Sawada

Lithuanian Gediminias Grinius had unfinished business at DJU and took victory on the 80km

Poy Brillantes ran a magnificent race to finish 3rd on the podium in the 80km

Miki Saito won the 80km for the second consecutive year

ATM 2023 Finalist Yuta Matsuyama scored 4th place on the 100 miles

Trail des Gombak, a new ATM Candidate Race in Selangor, Malaysia, saw a 100km victory for the duo Philippe Daniel and Malachy Kirwan! Both Singapore residents finished in 14 hours 40 minutes, well ahead of third-placed Malaysian Tuan Hafandi. Frenchman Daniel and Irishman Kirwan ran the race in duo format.

In the women's 100km, another expat, Carly Balmforth took the win ahead of Norlela Ismail in 21 h 20. Balmforth is an ATM Grandmaster and a two-time finalist in 2022 and 2023.

The 50 km saw a nice battle between eventual race winner Mohd Aminuddin Musa and Mohd Hatta Wahab. Finishing time was 6h32. Ahmad Aqwa Bin Othman completed the podium. Filipino Ritzy Amor Ectin was the fastest female runner in 7h58. She was 27 minutes ahead of Federica Lara and Daniele Finocchi, both from Italy.

Carly Balmforth

Malachy Kirwan and Philippe Daniel