Autumn in the southeastern mountains around Uljusan in South Korea can be cold already and that’s what runners experienced in this year’s edition of Ulju Trail Nine Peaks. The 9 Peaks race, with 121 km and well over 9000 hm elevation gain, is a genuine test of physical and mental strength. Korean runners completed the male and female podiums, with Junghyun Lim and Sunyeon Lee celebrated as race winners. The 5 Peaks of 45 km went to Ko Minchul and Hyunja Kim. Pre-race favourites Kim Jisu and Kim Jisub both did not start.

Junghyun Lim was in the lead for most of the second half of the tough race and had an advantage of more than one hour over Changsik Choi. Sung Jin Jang and Jong San Park were battling for podium with the former taking it. The women’s 9 Peaks actually saw Jung Soon Park on top of the leaderboard, but she got disqualified for apparently missing CP 9. Also Paulina Svoboda got disqualfied over halfway for not having her power bank on her as a mandatory item. Yonok Song claimed second and Ji Ho Hwang third place.

Ko Minchul grabbed his first ATM victory after two podium places, the last one this season in Korea 50k (third). Ko Minchul is therefore qualified for the ATM Championship Final. Kim Jongyol was second sixteen minutes later and Gyojeong Gu third another eight minutes later. Fourth overall and first woman was Hyunja Kim after an impressive performance. Sun Hwa Lee was second and Boyoung Jan third. The latter is now also automatically ensured of a spot in Team Korea for the ATM Final.

Singapore’s Trung Nguyen and Deric Lau were running in the lower half of the top ten for most of the 9 Peaks race. Trung scored 8th place in the end, and Lau 12th. Also Nguyen Hong Son from Vietnam and Takashi Wakiya got themselves into the top ten as non-Korean runners.

Deric Lau finished in 12th place

Boyoung Jan scored another podium - third - and is automatically qualified for the ATM Final

David Longo was comfortably inside the top eight until he went off course

Nguyen Hong Son and Trung Nguyen warming themselves up at CP 7 water boiling station

This weekend we have the second South Korean points race event on the ATM calendar in Uljusan. Ulju Trail 9 Peaks and Ulju Trail 5 Peaks are genuine mountain races engulfed in beautiful autumn colours. It makes for a wonderful trail experience, but also a very challenging one. The 9 Peaks race is 121 km with an elevation gain of well over 9000 hm. Even the 45km medium distance race has a whopping 3500 hm.

Korean runners are not often seen in the rest of Asia, and the number of trail events in the country is also quite modest then one would expect with so many quality distance runners around. It makes UTNP an event to look forward to with great interest. Looking at the start list of the longest race category, we see the name of Kim Jisu stand out among the local race favourites. Second in Korea 50k earlier this year, Jisu tends to be even more competitive on the longer distances. Last year, he also scored a second place in Seoul 100. Jisu will face some fast and well-experienced runners from Singapore as well, including Deric Lau, Trung Nguyen and Lem Chee Ng. Lau scored two Top 10 placings in ATM this season so far, in Dalat and Sierra Madre. Trung Nguyen had a very good VMM race last month ending in a fourth place. The question is can he sustain that level of effort for another 50km. The women’s 125km appears wide open with Singapore-based Chech Paulina Svoboda an established international name on the start list. Svoboda was running together with Shindy Patricia for over 50km in the very technical Cuc Phuong race in Vietnam before dropping out, but since then she has been very active.

On the 45km start list, the familiar name of last year’s winner Kim Jisub stands out. Question is how well he has recovered from an injury that plagued him for most of the year, even to the extent he has not been able to score any ATM points yet. Jisub won’t get the victory on a silver platter in any case, because there’s other competitors with a pedigree. Byeungwon Park is always solid on the medium distance, and so is Ko Minchul - second behind Jisub last year, and third in Korea 50k last April. Then there’s Hong Kong-based Australian David Longo, who has just scored second in Dark 45 behind Onifa. Longo can set himself up for the ATM Championship Final once again (last year he was 10th). Boyoung Jan and Gyesook Lee are among the favourites in the women’s 45km. Lee won last year’s Nine Peaks, but now doing the Five Peaks.

Stay tuned throughout Friday and Saturday on our Facebook and Instagram channels for updates from the races in Uljusan

Thailand’s Jay Jantaraboon was the impressive winner of a very wet and treacherous Korea 50k in Dongducheon, in the northern outskirts of Seoul, last Saturday. In control of his own pacing and navigation from the start, Jantaraboon was briefly challenged by the speed of Japan’s Koken Ogasawara, but when most contenders somehow went off course, Jay kept it all together and completed the course in 5h50. He actually made it look easy to score his 3rd ATM race win after UTKC 100 (2017) and UTCR 125 (2018).

Heavy rain in the middle of the night was a foreboding for a tricky race that started at 6am. Rainfall decreased for the first two hours, but then came back downpour-style. As runners got soaked, many also began to get cold. Due to the extreme conditions, many of the 650 official 50k runners also threw in the towel. However, many also picked up a DQ - mostly to their surprise. Especially faster runners fell victim to ambiguous marking signs, and said they ‘kept seeing and following markers’ even though they were already off course. Hence, they kept going forward without realising they were actually shortcutting. Alessandro Sherpa, not having his best day but still competing for podium, arrived visibly confused at the finish line. The same for Jose Luis Alvelais, Spiros Kechrimparis and Mongolian Amgalanjargal Davaajargal and a list of others. It was a particularly sad tale for Koken Ogasawara, who was leading the race just after CP 2, at km 23. He took a wrong turn and continued to run himself out of the race. Given that many participants ended up on the same “wrong” trails, it is fair to claim there was an issue. And yet, in the flash interview after the finish, race winner Jay Jantaraboon argued that the markings were fine. As the cliche in sports goes: ‘the winner is always right’.

Kim Jisu - not to be confused with Kim Jisub - was a legitimate number 2 in any case, 25 minutes behind winner Jay Jantaraboon. He proved strongest of a Korean trio that put pressure on Alessandro Sherpa early on. In third we find Minchul Ko, who ran a strong final sector to still pass Byeungwon Park and Dongkuk Jang. America’s David Duffy was sixth.

Hisashi Kitamura was never really into contention for the podium. Looking tired after a series of farewell parties and logistical arrangements in the context of his return to Tokyo after ten years in Kuala Lumpur, he started the race slow for his standards and arrived at checkpoint 1 only in 13th place. However, by CP 2, he looked more energetic and had moved up to 7th place. Unfortunately, his race then came to a bitter conclusion as he slipped and fell face first against a rock. Black-eyed and heavily bleeding from a cut, Kitamura was shaken and waited for assistance to bring him to hospital. He required six stitches and it was also discovered he had broken a bone in his wrist.. Kitamura had no race plans until Deep Japan Ultra at the end of June, but will need the recovery time in any case.

The women’s race was convincingly won by Joung Sel A, who led from the start. Kim Jinhee overtook a freezing Japan’s Moeko Yasugahira at CP 2, but then also ran the shortcut to CP 4. Another unfortunate DQ. Gwak Mihee inherited second place and Jang Hee Hoo completed the podium. Notably, both stayed ahead of Yasugahira and Boyoung Lee.

ATM Live Video Update CP2

ATM Live Video Update CP1

Kim Jisu ran a hard race battling with Byeungwon Park and Alessandro Sherpa for podium and finished second

Minchul Ko was a superb finisher, moving up the leaderboard towards the end to take third on the podium

A wet Saturday is forecast for the many runners taking part in South Korea’s trail classic Korea 50k, with temperatures probably staying below 15 degrees all day. That is probably not the worst news for Koken Ogasawara, the Japanese star from Sapporo who launches his 2023 ATM campaign and squares off against the likes of Alessandro Sherpa, Hisashi Kitamura and Jay Jantaraboon.

Ogasawara is arguably unknown for many following the Asia Trall Master series, but if we mention he was second in last year’s Izu Trail Journey a loud bell may be ringing already. Apparently inspired by fellow-Sapporo runner Moeko Yasugahira, who won the women’s Seoul 50k last October on the way to 6th place in the ATM Championship Final on Mt Apo, Ogasawara has a few ATM points races lined up for this season. At Korea 50k, he may find a course and conditions that suit him very well, and it will be exciting to see how the battle with ATM regulars Sherpa and Kitamura unfolds. Sherpa started the new season in great style, winning Dalat Ultra Trail 85 and placing second behind Jeff Campbell in Lantau 70 after giving the Canadian a stern challenge. Already in Seoul for a week, Sherpa is motivated to give it his best again this Saturday. Hisashi Kitamura has already demonstrated his form this season as well, easily grabbing victory in Cuc Phuong 42km four weeks ago, and beating Milton Amat in BUTM 100 in March. However, ‘Karate Kit’ has just moved from Kuala Lumpur back to Tokyo with his family and we can imagine that is not the best physical and mental preparation for a highly competitive race. There’s certainly one other serious contender on the start list in Thailand’s Jay Jantaraboon. Around for many years, not running in ATM often, but when he does he wins (eg UTKC 100 in 2017, UTCR 120 in 2018). Wet conditions won’t hamper him too much normally, as Jay has always considered himself an adventure racer first, and a trail runner second.

At the time of writing we have not yet seen the start list, but there’s certainly one more contender for podium if the dice rolls in his favour: Jose Luis Alvelais. The Hong Kong-based Mexican was 3rd in his comeback race following injury at Cuc Phuong last month. There was a considerable time gap between him and Kitamura, but that was a fast and dry course. Korea 50k has 3300 metres of elevation gain, and when it’s really wet, there’s only so much speed anyone can develop. Korea’s leading trail runner since many years, Kim Jisub, won’t be running as he competed in Japan just a week ago. The same for Sim Jaeduk.

In the women’s race we have the previously mentioned Moeko Yasugahira on the start list. She was the winner of last year’s Seoul 50k race and on paper the one-to-beat as a result.

We will be reporting live from the race on our usual ATM channels starting at 5:30 am Korea time.

Koken Ogasawara was 2nd in last year’s Izu Trail Journey.

Alessandro Sherpa currently leads the 2023 ATM Championship points ranking

Jay Jantaraboon has been the benchmark in Thailand for many years. How does he fare around Seoul on Saturday?

Hisashi Kitamura is the most successful male runner in ATM with 7 race victories

Moeko Yasugahira was 6th in last year’s ATM Championship Final, and won Seoul 50k in October

While every finisher of the very tough 125 km long Ulju Trail 9 Peaks deserves an honourary mentioning, the winner of the 45 km and 2500 hm medium distance was nevertheless again the most eye-catching trail athlete of the weekend. Two weeks after storming to victory in Seoul, Kim Jisub smashed the opposition again in the Yeongnam Alps on Friday. Kim Jisub won in 5h19, half an hour ahead of Minchul Ko, and 45 minutes ahead of Jong Youl Kim. With two ATM race wins and 1000 points this season, Kim Jisub is already guaranteed of a spot in Team Korea for the ATM Championship Final race on Mount Apo in December. He would be one of the top favourites, even when - as with Jeff Campbell, for instance - 75km is a slightly longer distance than he is used to compete on. Also qualified for his country team already is Jaeduk Sim, who finished fourth in Ulju after a 3rd place in Seoul 100K two weeks ago.

The fastest three women on the 45km were Hyunja Kim, Narae Park and Eun Nam Kim.

The longest race distance lived up to its reputation as being one of the toughest mountain trails in the ATM series and Asia in general. The DNF rate was high, but nevertheless there were 52 finishers. The weather conditions were ideal to highlight the magnificent autumn colours of the mountain regions not too far from Busan in the southeastern corner of South Korea. Junghyun Lim was the strongest by one hour over Dong Kuk Jang in 23 hours 10 minutes . Youngmin Yoon completed the podium in fourth and was followed by India’s ATM Grandmaster Shashwat Rao - a pure mountain trail lover. Rao did have some bad luck along the way, as he missed a marker and therefore a potential podium finish. Gyesook Lee was first woman in the finish in a time of 28 hours 41 minutes. Ji Ho Hwang was second and Sun Yeon Lee third.

Ulju Nine Peaks Trail is a serious mountain running event in the southeast of South Korea, which for the first time offers two points races valid for the ATM Championship ranking. The massive 125 km race across “9 Peaks” and covering 9200 metres of elevation gain, and the shorter 45 km race across “5 Peaks” and 3500 hm. Event and race director Jey Jang is known from the Korea 50k event, which was part of ATM before for three years, and she hopes to make Ulju Nine Peaks Trail an annual must-do trail event for runners in Asia.

It is a beautiful region outright, but what makes it even more stunning this time of year are the autumn colours of the forests in and surrounding the Yeongnam Alps. Especially for people from Southeastern Asia, the large variety of colours is not an every-day sight. Moreover, autumn typically implies cooler and less humid weather conditions, too. Excellent for endurance athletes.

The 125 km was flagged off on Thursday morning, the 45 km will be on Friday.

Poy Brillantes is one of the Filipino runners running the 125 km of Ulju Nine Peaks Trail

A really tough mountain trail on the programme this weekend!

It was a busy weekend with two ATM Championship points races in South Korea and Vietnam, plus an ATM Candidate in Sabah, Malaysia. The most striking performance was signed by Jeff Campbell at the Vietnam Jungle Marathon in Pu Luong. The Hong Kong-based Canadian went out of his comfort zone by tackling the 70k long race, but it hardly showed as he beat two-time race winner this year Gaetan Morizur and 2019 VJM winner Hisashi KItamura in a hard-fought battle. The lead trio were in a league of their own with Campbell finishing in a time of 7h03 (for 70k and 3000 hm) , half an hour ahead of Frenchman-in-Vietnam Morizur, who himself managed to pass Kitamura in the dying moments of the race for second place. All three class acts deserve applause for their spirited performances on Saturday. Far behind them, Ivan Grigorev took a solid fourth place, ahead of Vietnam’s Hoang Huu Thang, who has been very busy this season - last week he still completed the gruelling UTOP 105km in Malaysia. He will be rewarded with a quasi guaranteed qualification for Team Vietnam in the ATM Championship. Most of the big names in Vietnam were absent from the race last Saturday.

Not absent, and placing herself nicely between the top 3 and Grigorev was Vanja Cnops. The Belgian had no competition in the women’s race and as such could set her own pace throughout. Her winning time was 9h08. Vietnam’s Vu Thi Lan Huong was a good second, boosting her ATM points total into a safe zone for ATM Championship qualfication. Hoàng Xuân Vân Anh completed the podium in third place.

The trails around Pu Luong were quite dry and more runable than ever, which partially explains the very fast times. Kitamura was 50 minutes faster than his winning race in 2019. Vanja was more than 1h30’ faster than three years ago.

Over in Seoul, global trail star Gediminas Grinius delivered a fine performance by winning the 100k race in 12h53, almost 45 minutes ahead of Korean ace Kim Jisu. In third place we had Sim Jae Duk in 14h04. Among the ATM Championship protagonists we noted a nice 7th place for UTCM winner Yuta Matsuyama. Tomohiro Mizukoshi was a DNS after suffering from a bad cold late last week. The women’s 100k race saw a Korean success with Jung Soon Park having the better of Japanese duo Tomomi Bitoh and Kanna Suzuki.

The 50k was dominated as expected by the fastest Korean trail star since years, Kim Jisub. He finished the race 1h13’ faster (!!!) than second-placed Heeseong Noh. Seung Jae Min and Sangmin Chung were together in third and fourth. Japan’s Moeko Yasugahira won the women’s 50k, ahead of Boyoung and Yunmin Lee.

There’s been quite a few new events in Sabah this year, and Kokol Ultra is the latest one keen on getting a place on the ATM Championship calendar in the near future. The new 50k race could count on nearly all the big names in Sabah and they did not disappoint. Milton Amat was a clear winner once again, cementing his position as one of ATM’s best performers this season. Imagine he had been at VJM this weekend…. Barely a week after his 126km slog in Penang, WIlsen Singgin toed a starting line again and managed to get second place ahead of a surprisingly strong Jude Maikol in third.

In the women’s Kokol 50 race, we saw a nice resurgence of Jassica Lintanga as a competitive racer. “Jess” recent training efforts are paying off as she had the better of her younger sister Adelinah Lintanga and Aslin Sarawi.

Vanja Cnops: fourth overall and another easy win in the women’s 70k race

Moeko Yasugahira, 7th overall and women’s winner of the 50K in Seoul

Yuta Matsuyama (7th) and Kanna Suzuki (3rd) had solid runs in Seoul

Men’s podium at Kokol; 50: Milton Amat wins, Wilsen Singgin 2nd and Jude Maikol 3rd

Jess Lintanga was a bit faster than her sister Adelinah in the women’s 50k, Aslin Sarawi takes third

This weekend’s doubleheader also features Seoul 100K in South Korea, an already established event but a new entry on our ATM Championship calendar. Two points races are included, a 100k and a 50k, providing the local runners with a choice to collect ATM points with a view to potential qualification for the Finals in December. In two weeks, there’s another mountainous event taking place in Korea, Ulju Nine & Four Peaks, and so Korean runners can meet the minimum requirement of two ATM race finishes. Unfortunately, it has until today not been easy to travel abroad for Korean people as covid testing requirements and the related uncertainties remain in place.

It is perhaps no surprise that quite a few Japanese runners will also take part in Seoul this weekend, along with all kinds of nationalities. The event does take place in and around the Korean capital, which makes it very convenient. Being around the city does not mean it is a flat race, however. The 100k has over 4600 hm and also the 50k has 2600 hm.

The Korean Alpine Federation, event organiser, has invited a global trail star in the name of Lithuanian Gediminias Grinius. He is signed up even for the full 100k race. Obviously, he is the top favourite and a runner who has been competing in Asia a few times before with success, and with lots of respect for local Asian organisers. Tsuyoshi Kaburaki is one the Japanese trail names on the start list, and Kazuyuki Takahashi can also be ranked among the podium contenders. Better known for ATM followers is Yuta Matsuyama, recently winner of Ultra Trail Chiang Mai in Thailand, and someone capable of producing the upset. Matsuyama is also ranked in the ATM Japan Top 5 at the moment, which qualifies him for the ATM Championship Final in December. Another Japanese runner on the start list we all know very well is Tomohiro Mizukoshi, but he has reported to be not starting this weekend as he fell ill with a bad cold. Especially on the 100k race, we are likely to get to know a lot of new Korean names, as it has indeed been four years since the last ATM points race in the country.

The 50K could see a great battle between the best known Korean runner Kim Jisub and Singapore-based Frenchman Vincent Casanova. Jisub is a 50k trail specialist with wins in, for example, Borneo TMBT 50 on his record, and Casanova is a 2:35 marathon runner, his PB actually dating from earlier this year! The tall Frenchman from Corsica may be more of a roadie than a trail runner, but if the weather is dry on Saturday he could give Kim Jisub a genuine challenge.

Kim Jisub winning TMBT 50k in 2019

Vincent Casanova during the virtual ATM 500 in his resident country Singapore

Yuta Matsuyama getting ready for his 3rd ATM race of the season in Seoul

It is a pleasure to announce a second South Korean event for the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship calendar. Already an established event, Seoul 100K around the country’s capital city joins on the weekend of 15/16 October with a 100k and a 50k race on the programme that are both valid for ATM Championship ranking points. Organised by the Korea Alpine Federation, the races will be directed by JSceno, the company that does Ulju Trail 9 Peaks near Busan two weeks afterwards at the end of October. Korean trail runners will therefore have a great chance to feature in the ATM Championship again, as they can complete the mandatory two ATM race finishes inside their home country, too.

The races will start at Seoul Plaza at 5 am and have a fixed participation limit of 200 for the 100k and 300 for the 50k. The cut-off time for the 100k has been set at 27 hours,. Registrants should be aware of the mandatory gear items, and if you run the longest distance, please bring a doctor’s certificate stating you are fit for the task. A sample certificate can be downloaded from the event website (link below).

Logistics are obviously quite simple for this event. Seoul is one of Asia’s biggest capital cities, well-connected by air, and you could stay anywhere and even bring the family along for a shopping or tourism weekend.

Registration is going quicky so it is strongly advised to decide soon on your trip to Korea. Any questions can be directed to KAF (fluent English spoken) or to info@asiatrailmaster.com

One of the most-anticipated events on the ATM calendar is now open for registration following the pandemic: Ulju Trail Nine Peaks in South Korea. Scheduled for 29/20 October, ‘UTNP’ is directed and promoted by Jsceno, known from Korea 50K, and offers an extensive programme with two race categories that provide ATM Championship ranking points. Long distance runners can look forward to a challenging 124km with over 9210 metres of elevation gain, which on paper makes this one of the toughest races on our calendar this season. Faster-paced medium distance enthusiasts can also opt for the 44km race (Ulju Trail Five Peaks), which nevertheless also has more than 3500 hm! Shorter distances are also available with ‘2 Peaks’ or ‘1 Peak’ , but these have no ATM points. People with more time on their hands and happy to stay in Ulju for some days can also choose to do the ‘9 Peaks’ in different stages (5 days, 4 nights).

It will be a tough but beautiful day in the office in the southeastern part of the country. International access is easiest via Busan, an enjoyable major city to visit in its own right. However, you could also fly to Seoul and take a train from there. The races of Ulju Trail Nine Peaks will offer you sweeping views of forested valleys and silverglass fields.

Registration for runners outside of Korea goes via an online form first, following which you will receive a payment link. Good news: enter ‘ATM’ in the field ‘affiliated organisation’ and get a 15% discount on the registration fee. Moreover, for visitors from outside Korea there are hotel options with free shuttle transportation and a free touristic tour! Practical details can be obtained via Jsceno

We are excited to announce that the new South Korean mountain trail event High Trail 9 Peaks Ulju is supporting the Mountain Goat Trophy of the 7 Missions virtual team running challenge from 11 to 18 January 2021. The male and female runner who score most elevation gain during the whole week of the 7 Missions will be crowned “Mountain Goat” and win a free tour package and race entry to the High Trail 9 Peaks Ulju event in late 2021. In addition, HT9PU will also claim the fifth Mission of Friday. The second 10 km Mission of the week therefore becomes the Mission to the High Trail 9 Peaks Ulju!

Best performing teams on that Mission will be receiving prizes as well:

• 1st Team: free registration of 2021 9 Peaks and tour package (this is including local transportation and accommodation but excluding flight)

• 2nd Team: 50% discount of registration fee with tour package

• 3rd Team: 30% discount of registration fee with tour package

On top of that, HT9PU will also hand out race souvenirs to lucky draw winners among all the participants in Friday’s Mission.

High Trail 9 Peaks Ulju was a successful Candidate Race before, and is hoping to confirm its 2021 spot on the Asia Trail Master Championship calendar soon. The event has been held in early November so far, but the local authorities and event organisation are hoping to move forward to mid-October for milder climatological conditions. The organisation, by the way, is spearheaded by the team behind Korea 50K.

This is a pure mountain trail race, even when the highest elevation is approx 1200 m above sea level. Obviously, the main race totals 9 different hilltops to reach and a total elevation gain of 8800 hm over 105 km distance. Less ambitious runners have three shorter options as well, of which the second longest is 44 km and 3500 hm. (2020 race data)

It was supposed to be the second points race in South Korea this year, but for a well-known reason its entry in our Championship has been delayed to - normally - next year: High Trail 9 Peaks Ulju. A succesful Candidate Race back in 2018, was revived earlier this year and is certainly looking forward to the future and welcoming many international runners to Yeongnam Alp. As such, in association with the Korea Tourism Organisation, the event crew has come up with an innovative idea. Come to South Korea and run the High Trail 9 Peaks by yourself to score a range of benefits, including discounts on the registration for next year’s official event! If you then also make a selfie-video on top of one of the mountain peaks, you will get even more prizes and benefits!

Have a look at all details by clicking on the button below.

The event date for next year’s High Trail 9 Peaks Ulju event will be communicated in due course. This is a tough event that requires proper preparation with 105km and no fewer than 8800m of elevation gain to be conquered. It could actually be challenging Mantra Summits Challenge in Indonesia for the toughest mountain trail event in the Asia Trail Master Championship!