2024 Asia Trail Master Championship Final - Season IX - 14 September 2024

Borneo TMBT Ultra (Malaysia)

MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT (11 April 2024) - We are very happy to announce that the 2024 Asia Trail Master Championship's ‘Season’s Final’ will be held in Malaysia at the classic and very popular Borneo TMBT Ultra event in Sabah! The event hardly needs an introduction. TMBT is the oldest trail event in Malaysia and one of the oldest in South East Asia overall. It has been a member of our Championship series for many seasons already and - in line with our calendar readjustment - is the perfect host for the conclusion of Season IX (9). Scheduled for Saturday, 14 September 2024, the ATM Championship Final race will take place on a special and dedicated course of approx 78km with qualified runners only. The event programme of course also features the traditional 100km, 50km, 30 km, 37 km Night Run, 12km and 7.5 km family run, and these are open for the general public.

It will be the second time the ATM Championship Final takes place in Malaysia. In 2019, the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival (MMTF) in Taiping took the honours and did so in great style. John Ellis and Veronika Vadovicova crowned themselves as the last champions before the covid pandemic. Borneo TMBT Ultra is centred around Mount Kinabalu, a world heritage site with spectacular views to the mountain throughout the race course. Racepack collection is in Sabah’s capital Kota Kinabalu and the event is organised and managed by the well-established local team of Borneo Ultra Trails, led by Claus Pedersen and Aileen Yong.

The ATM Final will be held on a specifically designed course that brings together the best and most scenic parts of the traditional 100k and 50k courses, connected by some brand new trail sections. The (in)famous Pineapple Ridge is of course also included. The total race distance will - as usual - measure around 78km and the total elevation gain is estimated at over 4500 hm, which is significant. There are some technical jungle trail sections, but the majority of the trails are quite runable, so the main obstacle for many participants will likely be the heat and humidity of the region. The race will start in Lingkubang at 5 am, roughly one hour before sunrise. The finish line is at the Perkasa Hotel in Kundasang.

As in the past two years since covid, runners need to qualify for the ATM Championship Final by scoring ATM points throughout the season. Per Asian country, maximum five male and five female runners - the highest point scorers - will receive the invitation to join the final race. A minimum of 2 ATM race finishes is required for everyone.

The reigning ATM Champions are John Ray Onifa (Philippines) and Rashila Tamang (Nepal). Both have already qualified to defend their respective titles at TMBT. The defending team champion is Team Philippines. Host nation Malaysia last held the ATM Team title in 2022.

Below is the Borneo TMBT Ultra event website, where you can find all details on the event and also register for the open public races.. All specific information and details about the ATM Championship Final will also be published, as usual, on the ATM Website on our dedicated webpage here.

Basic programme and timetable for ATM Final

To be updated with more details in coming months.

• Arrival in Kota Kinabalu preferably on Thursday, 12 September and at the very latest on Friday morning for hotel check-in, race pack collection, media hour, presentation and photoshoots

• Race Date: Saturday, 14 September 2024

• Organised large bus transfer (approx 90-120 minutes) from Kota Kinabalu centre to race start venue provisionally scheduled for 2 am on Saturday (1 hour before the open public 100k/50k participants). All basic facilities are available at the start venue indoors to prepare for the race. A mandatory gear check will be performed.

• Race Start time: 5 am ( 1 hour before the open public 100k/50k races)

• Race Start venue: Lingkubang

• Race Finish venue: Perkasa Hotel in Kundasang

• All runners stay overnight at the finish venue

• Podium Award Ceremony on Sunday morning at the Race Finish venue.

• Return to Kota Kinabalu city centre after the award ceremony
  

Race Rules & Guidelines (incl. mandatory gear)

Coming soon

Course map and elevation profile

The ATM Championship title race will measure approx 78km and have a total elevation gain estimated at 4500 hm. Below is the DRAFT course map and profile. The final map and the GPX file will be made available closer to the event date. While the start is scheduled before sunrise and many finishers may arrive after sunset, most of the course will be run in daylight to enjoy the majestic views of Mount Kinabalu and surroundings.

Conditions of entry for the ATM Championship Final race

The 2024 Asia Trail Master Championship Final will be a winner-takes-the-title race as in 2023 and 2022. The individual male and female finalists who cross the finish line first will be the new ATM Champions. Apart from the Individual Championship there is also a Team Championship. The latter will be based on the accumulated finish times of the best three male runners and best three female runners in each team (= 6 finishing times in total)

Runners do need to qualify to be able to take part in the ATM Final, and cannot be randomly handpicked. In each country, maximum five male and five female runners who score most ATM points during the season will qualify and be invited to enter their country’s team.

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

How to score ATM Points?

The top 25 men and top 25 women in an official ATM points race collect ‘championship points’ according to a fixed points table. In essence, male and female race winners go home with 500 points in their bags, 2nd place gets 450, 3rd place 425, then 400, 375, 350, 340, 330 and so on until 160 points for 25th place.

• Note: we apply a “best of four” system. Only a runner’s best four race results will count for his or her points total.

• Note 2: there’s a possibility to score Bonus Points: (1) The Abroad Bonus, i.e. +50 points for scoring a Top 25 at least in 1 race outside of one’s resident country ), and (2) the 100 Miles+ Bonus (+ 25 points) for finishers of a 100 miles race or longer

Nitty gritty

• Expats working and residing in Asia: if the expat is an Asian passport holder, he will represent his native country and not his resident country. If the expat has a European or American passport, or any other non-Asian passport, he will be eligible to join Team Asia Expat.

  • Exception: expats who have resided in one and the same Asian country for 8 years or more can join their resident country team.

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

• Wild cards: former ATM Champions get a wild card to take part in the 2024 Final, provided they have scored points in minimum two ATM points races during the season. Also, the team of the host country can at any times be represented by 5 male and 5 female runners, provided these have scored points in minimum two ATM points races during 2024.

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

• Multimedia coverage of the ATM Final: every participant waives the right to any images or videos made at the ATM Championship Final, and renounces all claims against the championship organiser, the event organizer and his authorized partners for the use made of aforementioned multimedia content.

Podium Award Ceremony

The Top 10 individual male and female runners will be awarded on the podium on Sunday morning, as well as the winning team.

ATM Series Sponsors & Supporters

ATM Final News Reel

Reigning & defending ATM Champions

Photo gallery ATM Championship Final 2023 and 2022

How to get to Sabah and Kota Kinabalu?

Kota Kinabalu (KK) is the capital city of Sabah in East Malaysia on the island of Borneo. It is well-connected domestically via Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kuching etc, but also has several international air connections (Singapore, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Seoul, Manila, China etc). The airport is very close to the city centre. We always recommend to check Trip.com for flight options.

99% of participants stay in the city of KK and take the organised shuttle bus to the race start venue, and from the finish venue back to KK on Sunday morning. This is also the plan for the ATM Finalists.

Kota Kinabalu is a pleasant little city with a great boardwalk full of restaurants and cafés as well. If you can, you might wish to linger around for a few more days after the event and maybe even consider the guided climb up Mount Kinabalu (tip: several local trail runners have experience as mountain guides..)

Please consult the logistical information on the TMBT official event website for more details, should these be needed.

Event location