Mohamed Affindi and Vanja Cnops were the great winners of the 2nd edition of the Batur Trail Running Challenge in Bali, Indonesia, last Sunday. For Affindi it was the confirmation of his excellent condition already on display at BUTM in March and his second ATM race victory of the still very young new season. For Vanja Cnops it was the confirmation she can be one of the women-to-beat in this year’s battle for the ATM title.

Trail running in Indonesia still has a number of covid-mitigation protocols to follow, such as a quota on the number of runners permitted to take part in the races, but the presence and participation of Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism in Bali was a wonderful token of support for the event organisers Bali Trail Running. The weather around the famous Batur volcano turned out to be fantastic as well on Sunday morning, so the atmosphere at the event was blissful to say the least. BTR Challenge could become a classic on the ATM trail circuit, indeed, and another welcome piece of evidence trail running does not always need to be about ultra long distances and massive elevation gain profiles.

While the big majority of local Indonesian trail stars decided to sit this race out, it was great to see a new Lombok face fastest out of the start blocks at 6 am. Moh Wisnu Haizufi entered the black lava field first after 2 km, and was able to stay ahead of the Singapore Shufflers trio of road stars Darren Southcott, Malachy Kirwan and Vincent Casanova for a few kilometers. Last year’s winner Thimo Kilberth, German but based in Bali for over ten years, Malaysia’s Mohamed Affindi and first woman Vanja Cnops - Belgian but living in Singapore - were following a short distance further back. Last year’s female winner Emma Payne, predominantly a Bali-based UK triathlete - was showing grit by trying to keep up with Cnops, who just returned from a bronze medal in the Belgian Championship half marathon (1:15:46!). Haizufi would logically slow down a bit, which brought trail newbie Darren Southcott to the front of the race. The terrain in the lava field and low forest is runable and favours the quick legs in the participation field. A little surprisingly perhaps, or just a great tactical sense, Affindi already switched to a higher gear before the crucial ascent of Mount Batur, in pursuit of Southcott. Malachy Kirwan and Thimo Kilberth were three and four respectively.

Climbing and descending Batur, Southcott managed to keep Affindi some 45 seconds behind him in what was developing into a great dual. Kilberth counted on his wealth of trail experience on Batur to try and make his decisive move during the fast but often technical descent. He caught Kirwan, struggling on his Vaporflys, and put himself into a podium position, but the two leaders had run out of range.

Southcott came out of the lava field first to take on the final 2km long uphill road climb to the finish…. and suddenly ran completely out of fuel. Affindi caught him almost immediately and left the Britain standing as he kept running up that hill as if it was flat! Now age 37, the Malaysian winner of Tahura Trail in Bandung 2018 looked stronger than ever. Initially wondering what happened to Southcott himself, Affindi was delighted with his second ATM race victory of the year as he crossed the finish line in a course record time of 2:53. He is now the overall ATM Championshop points leader with 1000 points in the bag, and may already have nearly secured his spot in Team Malaysia - one of the most competitive - for the ATM Final in December.

A visibly exhausted Southcott held on to second place, which by all means is a big achievement in his first real trail race. Thimo was a happy third in 2:59, three minutes faster than last year. Malachy Kirwan took four, ahead of female winner Vanja Cnops, and Vincent Casanova completed the race in sixth overall - also on totally worn out Vaporflys (a pair he was ‘retiring’ anyway). Emma Payne beat her time of last year by 15 minutes to take second, and Elsa Bardin was another newbie on the podium in third place.

It has been a while since the last points race in our 2022 ATM Championship season given two planned races in April got postponed, but this weekend action returns! In a wonderful arena, no less: Mount Batur in Bali. The Batur Trail Running Challenge is the shortest points race with “just” 30 km, but it’s a spicy one. Runners and podium contenders, especially, will have to dig deep in this one, as the climb up Gunung Batur will test their resilience after a flattish beginning. The downhill is spectacular and fast for the technically-skilled, but coming out of the black lava field is approx 2 kilometres of uphill road to the finish. For runners who have already run out of fuel, those final couple of kilometres will be endless.

The BTR Challenge in Bali is the first Indonesian points race for the 2022 ATM Championship rankings, and will open the points accounts for many people. Unfortunately, several of Indonesia’s better-known pre-pandemic trail runners do not feature on the start list, but that leaves opportunity for new faces. On the other hand, the defending champions of this race return to Batur this Sunday: Bali-based expats Thimo Kilberth (Germany) and Emma Payne (UK) are looking forward to compete against some strong runners from, mainly, SIngapore and Malaysia.

Thimo Kilberth can nearly call Batur his second home. For months he has been training rigorously for Sunday’s race, as his strava account testifies. Looking fitter than ever, Thimo just relishes the challenge. Anyone who wants to win will need to pass him on Sunday morning. There are runners who should be able to keep up with him, at least until the ascent of Gunung Batur. Malaysia’s Mohamed Affindi is arguably the most-celebrated runner on the start list, and a proven race winner on this type of trails and medium race distances. Winner of Tahura Trail in Bandung 2018, Affindi also started the 2022 post-pandemic season with a lot of motivation to perform well. Kilberth has the home advantage, but Affindi can be trusted to have the necessary technical skills to follow him in the fast descent of the volcano mountain. If he succeeds, Affindi has a tremendous kick to the finish line, too, as he showed us just two months ago in that incredible sprint finish against Safrey Sumping at BUTM 50k in Sabah (watch the video clip on our ATM facebook page). 37-year-old Affindi already bagged 500 ATM points in that race, and a second strong result this weekend will help him already a long way in securing a spot in Team Malaysia for the ATM Championship Final in Philippines on 17 December.

Kilbert and Affindi will need to look over their shoulders, though, as there’s more contenders for the race victory. The Singapore Shufflers are in Bali, and that includes some super fast road runners. Vincent Casanova (2:34 on the marathon less than two months ago) and Malachy Irwan, for example. They certainly have the speed to compete, but do they have the trail experience and technical skills - especially for that descent of Batur? Will they attack early in the flattish lava fields to gain a time advantage on the likes of Kilbert and Affindi before going up the mountain? It’s one of the big questions that makes Sunday’s competition very intriguing!

The Singapore team also includes Vanja Cnops, winner of MMTF 50 in 2019 and bronze medalist in the Belgian Championships half marathon two months ago in a new PB of 1:15:46 ! It goes without saying that Cnops is therefore the top favourite in the women’s race this weekend. Some even wonder if she can win the race overall. Also predominately a road runner, Cnops has proven already to be just as strong on short and medium distance trails. Let’s see how long Emma Payne - who of course has home advantage - can make Vanja Cnops nervous.

ATM will be reporting live from the event from start to finish via our social media channels (Facebook, Instagram).

The arena this Sunday: Gunung Batur and its immediate surroundings!

2021 men’s winner Thimo Kilberth

2021 women’s winner Emma Payne

2018 Tahura Trail winner Mohamed Affindi: one of the big contenders this Sunday

Vanja Cnops: Singapore-based Belgian bronze medalist on the national half marathon championships a few weeks ago

Less than three months ago, the BTR Challenge in Bali was one of the first real events that got organised in South East Asia after the long covid-related break. As a Candidate Race, the organisers of Bali Trail Running proved their skills and professionalism with a short, but solid and covid-safe experience that lay the foundation for more racing plans in 2022. To begin, the November 30k race has been moved forward to 15 May and has been accepted as a points race that counts for the Asia Trail Master Championship!

30 kilometres is obviously not the longest race in ATM’s history, but fans may remember the Japanese event Kushigata Wind Run from our early days. That one hardly reached 30 clicks, but just like the BTR Challenge had enough elevation and technical sections to test everyone’s mettle. The BTR Challenge is all about famous volcano Gunung Batur in the northeast of Bali. The course has 1230 hm and the cut-off time at the finish is six hours and thirty minutes.

Registration is already open and you need to be quick as spots are limited, still due to covid mitigation efforts. Please note that only the 30k provides ATM Championship points, not the 15k that is also on the event programme. Circumstances keep changing, but at present Bali and Indonesia are also making efforts to reduce the level of restrictions imposed on foreign tourists and visitors. Today people who have had a booster shot against covid are required to isolate for 3 days upon arrival in Bali.

Thimo Kilberth and Emma Payne, both residents in Bali, won the inaugural edition in an exciting competition of which you can watch the highlights again here below.

Thimo Kilberth in the descent of Batur and on the way to winning the inaugural edition last November. (Photo credit: darmasusila.dek_piyo)

Thimo Kilberth and Emma Payne are the great winners of the inaugural Batur Trail Challenge in Bali last weekend. Both arrived at the uphill finish line in KIntamani da solo with a clear advantage over their nearest competitors Michio Yoneda and Shindy Patricia, respectively. The new event, organised by Bali Trail Running headed by Ms Indah Immortel, was an ATM Candidate Race for the 2022 Championship series and received widespread praise from a diverse field of participants.

Covid 19 is of course still around us all and the event could only take place with a set of extra regulations and mitigation efforts to be adhered to. These were gladly accepted by the runners, most of whom toed a starting line for the first time in almost two years. That’s a long time without races, and it was no surprise to see several new faces at the front of the Batur Trail Challenge, which offered a 30 km course with the ascent and descent of Mt Batur as central piece. The organiser does have a longer course of about 55-60km already designed for 2022. Last weekend, again partially due to covid restrictions, runners had to make do for 30k. Despite the 1200m of elevation gain, it meant that competitive runners could go flat out from the gun. Having a quick default running pace therefore boosted one’s chances for a podium finish.

And familiarity with the race route. Jakarta-based Japanese “road” runner Michio Yoneda, who holds a 2:37 marathon PB, pushed Bali-resident Thimo Kilberth, who is fast on the road as well, forward until the summit of Batur. Then came the long descent, where Kilbert was able to use his technical skills and knowledge of the trails to open up the gap to Yoneda. Kilberth ran clear for over ten minutes, but not knowing how far ahead he actually was kept pushing hard to the finish and reached it in just over 3 hours. Yoneda secured second in a great debut at this level in an ATM-race. In third came another surprise, as Malang’s Mikha Tanujaya scored his first ATM race podium. Tanujaya stems from the ever-growing Mantra community by Heru Prabowo and Ivan Citraya, who have been doing excellent work in promoting trail running and required skillsets to local runners throughout the pandemic. In fourth, we had the second Japanese runner Fuminori Kondo and Indonesia’s Freda Wardana came fifth.

Shindy Patricia, arguably the best-known runner from Malang, was the top favourite in the women’s race. People who follow her on instagram know Shindy has kept on training consistently since the start of the corona situation, so if anyone was still going to be in shape it would be the 2019 Cameron Ultra winner. And yet, Shindy Patricia is a reputed ultra trail mountain runner and 30k might just be too short and too fast-paced. Elite triathlete Emma Payne, also known as Em J, felt like nothing to lose and immediately applied the pressure after the start, distancing Shindy and the other women already before the ascent of Mt Batur. Payne retained the gap on the mountain and cruised to the finish to score her maiden victory on the ATM circuit. Shindy secured second place, and France’s Manon Janin completed the podium in third place.

A comprehensive race summary of the Batur Trail Challenge can be watched on our YouTube and Facebook pages, or just here below. The broadcast includes a.o. fantastic footage of Mount Batur, shot by Santosh Vasan and Vincent Chalias, and interviews of several of the protagonists.

Watch our BTR Challenge race summary