After a short break since UTOP in Malaysia, Season 10 of the Asia Trail Master Championship continues this weekend with the 3rd edition of Lam Dong Trail in Dalat, Vietnam. The 75 km race is the one that counts for both championship points and Grandmaster points, and we are looking forward to a very competitive men’s race with Quang Tran - winner of the previous two editions - facing none other than Kristian Joergensen, Godwin MIrar and in-form Nhon Trong - himself already twice second in Lam Dong.

The Valley of Love just outside the city centre of Dalat features again as the host venue for the event. Runners will do a 75km counterclockwise loop through hilly pine forests with start in the early hours of Saturday morning. Weather permitting, this is quite a runable course as usual in Dalat, with cool temperatures and clear forest trails. That benefits the likes of Quang Tran, of course, but he will certainly face a stern challenge this year with Joergensen and Mirar, both based in Philippines. Joergensen was third in last year’s ATM Championship and has already collected 7 ATM race wins since 2016. There is a question mark about his current performance level, however, following a nasty fall in training a couple of weeks ago. Godwin Mirar is the coming-man in Philippines, still just 24 years old. He still focuses on short distances mainly - and rightly so - but in Dalat he would like to give the 75km a try. He is not new to Vietnam: in 2022 Mirar already took third place in VMM 50km , not far behind the aforementioned Kristian Joergensen and his idol John Ray Onifa. Nhon Trong and Le Phi Lanh are the other two Vietnamese trail stars who could battle for podium. Nhon Trong is in good form lately, but has been focusing on the long ultras. Does he still have the speed to fight for the highest rankings in a 75km race? Let’s certainly also keep an eye out for India’s Grandmaster Shashwat Rao, who on his day can be very quick, indeed. Rao has won the upcoming Malnad Ultra on a course that can be compared somewhat to Lam Dong. Also Singapore’s Scott Pugh from the Endurance Asia podcast should finish among the top runners.

In the women’s 75km race we could see a nice dual between Loi Luong and Julia Nguyen Thi Duong . Both have won Lam Dong before, and for Loi Luong it was actually her competitive breakthrough last year. The Mude Sports runner and teammate of Hau Ha outran Angelie Cabalo a year ago, a performance she has backed up since a few times, including fourth place in the latest ATM Championship Final at Borneo TMBT in September. There’s several other contenders for podium, including Malaysia’s 2-star Grandmaster Yvette Chong Mi Chin, who has recently shown strong pace on medium distance trails, resulting a.o. in a podium spot at Simpur Ultra 50 in Brunei in June.

Lam Dong Trail: Joergensen and Mirar to challenge Quang Tran