MMTF hosts 2020/21 ATM Championship Final

[MEDIA RELEASE] We are delighted to announce that the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival, better known as MMTF, will again host the Asia Trail Master Championship Final event from 17 to 19 December 2021. The main title race is scheduled for Saturday. Set in and around the city of Taiping in the State of Perak, MMTF delivered a stunning conclusion to last year’s championship series with its very tough but beautiful race course and an event arena that fostered camaraderie and unity among the couple of thousands of runners who took part over the weekend.

“Exactly a year ago, MMTF was sheer promotion for the sport of trail running in Asia, and for the city of Taiping. We are indeed thrilled to return next season for what will undoubtedly be another exciting conclusion to our competitive championship series. Runners and fans can expect a lot of add-ons and other innovations in the build-up to the event.,” says Kris Van de Velde, founder and general manager of Asia Trail Master.

Benefitting from participants’ feedback from last year, the main race course will see a number of modifications but the total distance is expected to remain between 80 and 85 km. Less ambitious runners will as always be able to opt for one of the several shorter distance categories on the programme of the event.

"We are excited and happy to be given the trust to host ‘ATM Season Finale’ for a 2nd time in 2021 after coming out on top against 3 other established races who were bidding for the job,” says Ewegene Tan, founder and event director of MMTF.

“Its been an uncertain and challenging year for everyone in 2020 which also resulted in the ATM Championship for 2020/2021 being merged into 1. In lieu of that, we hope to provide everyone with an unforgettable year-end trail party experience in 2021. There will be more competition, more fellowship, more music and more food, indeed, as the race will continue to take runners into the ‘Virgin Jungle Reserves’ (VJR) around the city. Besides that, plans are being made to start the race in the heart of Taiping town in the highly renowned Taiping Lake Garden famous for its pristine lush greeneries, which include more than a century old raintrees and pre-war man-made lakes. Hence, runners can certainly expect a ‘grandeur’ Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in 2021 befitting of an ‘ATM Season Finale’. "

Further details will come out after new year.

In response to the covid 19 pandemic and the subsequent wave of event cancellations throughout Asia, Asia Trail Master already announced in August that the 2020 Championship is being merged with next year’s 2021 Championship series.

Start your journey to MMTF 2021 with the Virtual edition as of 16 December

You can start your journey to the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival 2021 by registering for MMTF - VIRTUAL EDITION @ RESET AND CHALLENGE THE NEW NORMAL. MMTF is using the project to help everyone reset and challenge the new normal with the hope it will help everyone to look towards the future with more positiveness. Besides, part of the registration collected will be channeled to support the community surrounding us. MMTF also hopes that the virtual event will help everyone end the year as a winner in their own right. You can gain priority slots for the 2021 ‘real’ edition of MMTF, and also 10-20% discounts upon completing the challenge. Registration for MALAYSIA MOUNTAIN TRAIL FESTIVAL 2020 - VIRTUAL EDITION @ RESET AND CHALLENGE THE NEW NORMAL is currently underway at www.mmtf.my/mmtfvr2020.

End the difficult 2020 in style with the MMTF virtual event, and continue after the new year celebrations with ATM’s own virtual team running challenge, the 7 Missions.

Official documentary MMTF 2019 (by ICARUS)

China’s Xie Wenfei was one of the revelations in ATM at the end of 2019. Can she make the Championship an objective next year?

2018 ATM Champion Alessandro Sherpa returned to peak form last year with a great 2nd place

Manila-based Kristian Joergensen was outstanding and won his biggest ATM race to date

Veronika Vadovicova crowned herself as ATM Champion with arguably her best trail performance of her entire incredible season

John Ellis already had the ATM title in his bag by winning UT Panoramic in Thailand a week earlier, but showed fantastic physical and mental resilience to finish among the top five

Finish 2020 with your mind set on 2021: the virtual MMTF edition begins 16 December