ATM Final: Country teams are taking shape

We are one month away from the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship conclusion, and the national country teams are beginning to take shape. Throughout the year, runners have been able to collect ATM points in all races on our calendar and many of them are, today, already guaranteed of a place in the top 5 of their country in the ATM rankings. For some other Asian top runners, there’s still work to be done if they want to be part of the Mount Apo Sky Race in Davao, Phlippines on 17 December, location of this year’s championship decider. The Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival and the Cordillera Mountain Ultra, Malnad Ultra and Izu Trail Journey, are the last chances to score points. Especially for a spot in the home team, Team Pilipinas, these last few races will have quite some significance. But even on the similarly competitive Malaysian trail scene, arguably the top guy is not yet guaranteed of his spot in the team for the ATM Final.

Let’s do a round-up for some of the leading country teams going into the final weeks of Season VII.

Philippines

The battle for the five spots (five for men, five women) is a tight one in the home country. Due to the covid crisis, organising events and traveling was difficult for Filipinos so quite a few competitive runners are banking on MMTF and CMU in particular to get inside their country’s team for the Mount Apo Sky Race 75 in Davao in Mindanao. The current men’s ranking is led by Larry Apolinario (830 points) and Sean Aying (825 points), but nobody is already guaranteed of qualification. Davao’s own Arnie Macaneras, in particular, sits in 7th place at 450 points and needs a good result at MMTF or he risks being left outside. Kristian Joergensen is signed up for both MMTF and CMU, and could still enter the game being a long-term resident in the Philippines. John Ray Onifa is registered for the 50k at MMTF, but even winning that one race won’t be enough anymore for him to qualify. Remember: race winners score 500 points, 450 for 2nd, 425 for 3rd and so on. Each runner’s best four results of the year are taken into account for the final ranking.

In the women’s ranking, busy bees Emily Raga and Rhea Batac have basically both secured their places already. The question is who will join them on Mt Apo: Julie Ann Morales, Ces Wael and Irish Glorioso are holding the spots for now, but Aggy Sabanal and Janet Halcon will be trying to sneak one away in the coming races.

Malaysia

The top 3 in the men’s and women’s ranking are as good as safe already. Wilsen Singgin, Mohamad Affindi and the surprising UTOP winner Jeffery Budin all scored enough points already. It’s not quite the case yet for Amir Zaki and, especially, Milton Amat. The Sabahan lead runner currently has only 2 ATM results this season, and even though it’s two big victories, his countrymen like to run a lot and it’s four results over a season that are taken into account. Milton will be competing at MMTF and can be expected to safeguard his place in Team Malaysia, however. As a matter of fact, several people argue Mount Apo is the ideal territory for Milton Amat to become ATM Champion this year. It may indeed be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for him. Other Malaysians who will still compete for a spot in the men’s team are Ben Siong Lee, Daved Simpat and Bernardo Linus.

In the women’s, exciting newcomers Sally Yap and Halimatun Sa’adiah already secured their spots, together with La Sportiva’s Norlela Ismail, who proves that consistency across four ATM races can bring you a long way. The remaining two spots will be contested between Chong Mi Chin, Trisha Thow (currently dealing with an injury, though), Izzah Hazirah, Sum Mei Soh and Siti Hajar Razali.

Indonesia

A complicated season for Indonesian trail runners, also due to international travel issues in the aftermath of covid. As in the Philippines, only three instead of four points races in 2022, so the rankings have been modest. One exception: long-term Bali resident Thimo Kilberth has made the step forward to ATM’s top tier and could be an important alley for former ATM Champion and in-form Arief Wismoyono on Mount Apo. Expected to be in Team Indonesia is also the young and promising Akmad Nizar. Nizar is also scheduled to compete at MMTF next week.

Shindy Patricia has emerged as the leading mountain runner in Indonesia this year, as former ATM champion Ruth Theresia returned from a covid-induced running break and selected her races carefully. Ruth will be missed in the Philippines, but Shindy finds a mountain that will suit her skillset very much. She may be joined by newcomer and talented Mantra Summits 75 winner Siti Nuraini and Novita Wulandari.

Japan

Hisashi Kitamura has been looking forward to Mount Apo and the ATM Final in particular since 2019, when he narrowly lost out on the title against John Ellis. Kitamura this year has focused on ATM and guaranteed his qualification already very early in the season. While he was outstanding in the period March to July, his form has dropped since, however. Also caught by covid during VJM mid-October, Kitamura has not been able to follow his training programme and finds himself on the backfoot going into December. Some say the additional resting time will do him good, and we will see the best Karate Kit again on Mt Apo. Time will tell. In any case, he has a strong team by his side - in theory. Yuta Matsuyama, Tomohiro Mizukoshi, Seiji Morofuji and Fuminori Kondo are all experienced trail runners and very familiar with Southeast Asian conditions.

The women’s team from Japan could offer some surprises. Most runners scored points in the Korean and Japanese races this season, and are less known in Southeast Asia. Tamae Harada is leading the ranking, but is for sure a DNS in the Philippines due to visa update reasons for her resident country Vietnam. Let’s watch out for Asami Kimio, Moeko Yasugahira and others!

Vietnam

The country that has seen enormous growth in trail running over the past few years will have two of the top favourites for this year’s Asia Trail Master title: Quang Tran and Hau Ha. While the former has been around already for quite some years, the latter is brand new onto the scene. Both are already secured of their spot in Team Vietnam, and they will be flanked by runners who can play a great supporting role as well. Nguyen Si Hieu won’t be able to join them despite his qualification, though. Thang Hoang Huu, Nguyen Duc Tuan Anh, Pham Duc Tuan and Bui Van Da are expected to join Quang Tran on Mount Apo, with Nhon Trong as first reserve.

Hau Ha will have the support of Thi Lan Huong Vu, Phuong Nguyen and Ngoc Lien Trinh. Vy Le Phuong is in the best position right now to secure the fifth spot.

Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia

Kim Jisub from South Korea and reigning and defending ATM Champion John Ellis will definitely be ones to watch out for. Ellis, Australian but long-term resident of Hong Kong prefers to run in the colours of his resident country. That gives Team Hong Kong a big name and arguably the only reasonable podium candidate this season. Kim Jisub is a 50k specialist who has not yet raced very often in Southeast Asia, but having won Seoul 50k and UNTP 45k in October there is no doubt he is a potential ATM Champion this year. The Korean team could actually turn out to be surprisingly strong with also Junghyun Lim, Jang Dong Kuk, Jae-Duk Sim and Youngmin Yoon qualified at this stage. Boyoung Jan, Gyesook Lee, Jung Soon Park and Hyunja Kim are very solid women in the team, too. Korea could turn out to be the suprise team champion.

In Thailand, Arnon Srimat and Chonlada Kappiyanond are arguably heading the team. Danon Rattanatumrong is a potential podium candidate, but his qualification is not yet fully guaranteed. In Singapore, Deric Lau has been a great newcomer this season, as is female mountain runner Vincere Zeng. Also Lem Chee Ng, Steve Chia and Trung Nguyen are already qualified, as is Chin Chin Lee for the women’s. For Australia, David Longo is qualified and could be a dangerman for the podium on Mount Apo, too. Longo has proven to be in the best shape of his trail life last month in the two Hong Kong races.

Team Asia Expat

The elephant in the room. The best-scoring expats across Asia will be united under Team Asia Expat and it is bound to have some big names and race favourites. Gaetan Morizur, Frenchman based in Vietnam, is leading this ranking but won’t be able to travel, however, as his wife is due giving birth around the time of the event. Jeff Campbell, Malachy KIrwan and Eirik Knudsen are basically all qualified already. Campbell just won VJM 70k in impressive style and has been focusing on Mount Apo, so whoever wants to become champion this season will need to get by Campbell. One former champion who is currently unranked but set to compete in both MMTF and CMU is Alessandro Sherpa. As the 2018 ATM Champion, it is sufficient for Sherpa to finish two ATM races this year to qualify for the Final.

In the women’s expat team we have Singapore-based Belgian Vanja Cnops, who has won all her 3 ATM races this season so far. She is most likely going to be joined by none other than Hong Kong-based Hungarian Ezster Csillag, winner of UM Sai Kung 58 in October and about to race MMTF next week. Those two races should theoretically provide Csillag with enough points to hunt for the ATM Championship title alongside Cnops. Fascinating that will be! Especially with an exciting Vietnamese newbie who can’t wait to race against the two. Also in a good position to enter Team Asia Expat are Isabelle Bedard and Carly Balmforth.

Most likely we will still be welcoming qualified runners from Brunei Darussalam and India as well.

Apart from the individual championship, there is also a team championship. The race times of the fastest three men and women of each team will be added up to produce the team’s finish time.

All details on the Mount Apo Sky Race can be checked on our dedicated webpage. Runners are also advised to familiarise themselves with the race regulations and the mandatory gear requirements.