This weekend’s Simpur 50 ultra is the first ATM points race in Brunei in six years. A long-awaited return to the scene of the smallest country on Borneo island after the demise of the Beach Bunch Trail Challenge. Taking place in and around capital city Bandar Seri Begawan, aka BSB, Simpur has a treacherously tough course, which it has in common with its predecessor. Last year’s Candidate Race edition showed us that many runners were caught by surprise. Brunei lacks the high altitude mountains, but its hill zone goes up and down continuously and often very steeply so. In the past we made the comparison with the Tour of Flanders in cycling, and that remains valid for Simpur Ultra as well. Apart from a very enthusiastic local running community, the organising team of Passion Ku and Team Anakpanyuand is also happy with the presence of Sabah’s biggest trail stars on the start list: Milton Amat, Wilsen Singgin and the two best-known Lintanga sisters are all due to race this weekend.

Season 9 of the Asia Trail Master Championship has a big Borneo stamp on it, with points races in Brunei and both Malaysian States Sabah and Sarawak, before the big ATM Final at Borneo TMBT Ultra in Sabah on 14 September. It is testimony of and in celebration of the great trail running communities on the large island. Running at home, Milton Amat, meanwhile 40+, has a fantastic opportunity this season to finally win the ATM Championship title after two podiums in 2019 and 2022. He has already collected 950 points this season, winning BUTM 50 and scoring 2nd in Lantau 70, and in Brunei he starts as the man-to-beat for his 9th ATM points race victory.

Let’s see whether his younger compatriot Wilsen Singgin can put up a challenge. From a purely competitive point of view, Singgin went a bit through the motions last year, but has appeared refreshed and refocused in 2024. The gap between him and Milton Amat seems to have decreased. Singgin certainly has a bigger reputation on the long ultras, but Simpur 50 might just be tough and technical enough for him to stay with Milton. From peninsular Malaysia, Mohd Sulhan from Team Scott will also be a serious podium contender. Relatively new on the scene, Sulhan has been taking podiums at BUTM and Silabur already.

There’s also several local Bruneian candidates for a podium finish. Alexander Chung has a wealth of experience, but also Hidayat Metussin and Baharuddin Haji have shown good form this season. Ibni Nudin, who knows? Let’s also keep an eye out on the Thailanders, amongst whom 2023 ATM Finalist Amorn Kimnguan.

The women’s race features in-form and busy bee Adelinah Lintanga and Jassica Lintanga. Adelinah has just finished 3rd on the podium in Tioman 50 last week and is the #1 in the Malaysian ATM points ranking at the moment. She will be the first runner to score four results this season, and will normally speaking have her place in Team Malaysia at the ATM Championship Final fully secured this weekend. Her elder sister Jess will be doing her third race of the season and is also a potential qualifier for the final. Arguably the most competitive Sabahan female runner at present, Rejlen James, has her eyes set on Mantra in Indonesia next month.

ATM will be reporting live from Simpur 50 on our usual channels, with our facebook page being the one to get the latest updates on the race situation.

Going for ATM race victory number 9 this weekend: Milton Amat

Wilsen Singgin , always a serious podium contender

Amorn Kimnguan , experience and resilience from Thailand

Bukidnon Province in the northern Mindanao region of the Philippines is claiming attention for the next few weeks with MUSPO coming up on 13/14 July as the next points race event in the country, but first there is the inaugural edition of Point Trail Ultra this weekend. Point Trail Ultra is a Candidate Race taking place in the province’s capital city Malaybalay and is directed by Yoyong Sacayle, one of Bukidnon’s star elite runners who is part of last year’s ATM Championship winning Team Pilipinas. The main race category is the 50km with a total elevation gain of over 2300 hm.

As we wrote back in April, Bukidnon means “highlander” or “mountain dweller” so you know what to expect. In fact, the province is one of the country’s leading rice, corn and pineapple producers, too, and is stated as one of the Philippines’ fastest growing economies. Also in trail running, Bukidnon has developed as a genuine runners’ destination. Earlier this season, we have already had Mt Kalatungan Ultra, too.

While Yoyong Sacayle will be taking up RD duties, one of the other local protagonists features on the start list: Mary Joy Sumanda, also a member of Team Pilipinas last season and a Top 10 finisher. A start list for the 50k that has 174 names on it, by the way. Mary Joy and Shally Yuson rank among the favourites in the women’s race, but with so many new names we might as well see a surprise come along. In the men’s 50k, we have strong competitors like Kik Suello, Florence Alave, Ariehmar Bardoquillo, Jevie Cagatin, Carlo Chiong, the Amigleo brothers and last-but-not-least Jomarc Ferrer. Several of them are currently in the mix for this season’s team spots at the ATM Championship Final in Malaysia on 14 September.

ATM will be reporting from the Point Trail Ultra event as usual.

RD and 2023 ATM Finalist and winning Team Championship member Yoyong Sacayle

Local runner Mary Joy Sumanda finished 10th in last year’s ATM Championship Final in Indonesia

Vietnamese trail phenomenon and 2022 Asia Trail Master Champion Hau Ha delivered an absolute masterclass at the fantastic 2nd edition of Tioman Ultra 50 in Malaysia. Ever smiling, ever comfortable and ever self-confident, Hau Ha won the tough race overall in 7h14’ as if it were her usual Sunday’s fun run. Halfway into the race, at sunrise, she dropped the first male, local hero Yusof Ezkandar early on a lengthy and steep concrete road uphill. Ezkandar had to hike up, Hau could run it all the way up. The manner in which she performed that, and her dancing and playful moves in the ensuing descent even made her head coach Guim Valls raise his eyebrows. At least in an ATM-promoted race, this was the strongest she has ever been and she did not even have to push, despite a very crafty effort by Ezkandar, who exceeded his own performance level last weekend . Hau Ha’s limits have certainly not been reached yet and her Tioman showing bodes well for her ambition to win in Chamonix end of August. It was her 6th career victory in Asia Trail Master, made even sweeter by the second place of her compatriot and team mate at Team Mude Sports, Loi Luong.

Tioman Ultra 50 is the latest trail event project by Ewegene Tan and MMTF Consultant. It takes place on a relatively small but gorgeous tropical island, approximately two hours by ferry from Mersing on Malaysia’s southeastern coast. Logistical limitations put a cap on the total number of participants at the event (600), but that was certainly not a bad thing. Having learnt from the feedback of last year’s candidate race, the organising team has upgraded the event and racing experience to the highest level within the limitations of their budget. It takes time to get to Tioman, but once there, runners had an experience that the trendy among them would call ‘trail porn’. Proof, once more, that one does not need an overnight 100k to make a great and satisfying trail event.

You can re-watch a lot of livestreams and videos on our ATM facebook and ATM YouTube pages. Tioman 50 also made sure that worked and the result is one of the highest viewership numbers in ATM history.

The 50k race started at 3 am in relatively mild temperatures but with a high degree of humidity. Four runners quickly detached themselves from the rest: Singapore’s Chris Timms, last year’s winner Yusof Ezkandar, up-and-comer Lee Min Xiang and Vietnam’s Hau Ha as the first female. During the initial 7km on concrete roads that led to the ascent of Gunung Kajang, Tioman’s highest peak at just above 1000m, it was interesting to see the variations in Hau Ha’s pace. As if she was doing interval training. Afterwards, she did explain these short accelerations were to test her own legs, but also to see how the three guys responded. Timms had already raced Hau Ha before on Mt Apo in 2022. The two Malaysians knew her, of course, but were still amazed at what they were experiencing first-hand. Eventually, the quartet stayed more or less together until aid station 1 and the foot of Mount Kajang. On the climb, Ezkandar set the pace and would also reach the summit first - a bit ahead of Hau Ha. Ezkandar was first spotted as a young talent on the ATM circuit before covid, but had not been seen since. His professional duties do not allow him to compete very often - especially when long travel is involved. Freshly nicknamed as ‘the Flowerboy’ , Ezkandar was determined to try and give the Vietnamese girl a run for her money. His own split times were indeed considerably faster than he did last year. However, to no avail. In the descent of Kajang, Hau Ha used her technical skills to full effect and caught up with Ezkandar, who couldn’t hide his admiration upon arrival together at the second aid station. He took the punch with a smile of resignation, as they’d say in boxing, knowing the k.o. blow was coming. A few kilometres later, Hau Ha ran away from Ezkandar uphill.

From then on it was a true one-woman-show until the finish. Ezkandar did well in not giving up and keeping a steady pace of his own to finish some 35 minutes later as first male - which meant he had just won his first ATM points race. Lee Min Xiang arrived 45 minutes later for third place overall, second male. A great introduction to him, it was his first ATM points race. Chris Timms looked solid in third for a long time, but he ran out of steam in the last technical section - the ‘dragon back’. Experienced Malaysian Syahmim Nazmy caught him and managed to grab third away from the Singapore-based Britain. Seng Lip Ku was fifth in the men’s race.

Next was Loi Luong, the Vietnamese winner of Lam Dong Trail last year. Team mate of Hau Ha, Loi ran second female the entire race and finishing sixth overall is an impressive accomplishment for the young runner. Especially considering Adelinah Lintanga came third forty minutes after her. Lintanga did have a tumble in the descent of Kajang, but still. Loi Leung, who was also second in Cuc Phuong 42k earlier this season, will be among the favourites at Borneo TMBT Ultra in September - the ATM Championship Final. Obviously, that is considering Hau Ha is likely to give the ATM Final a pass, just two weeks after her only real goal of the year in France. Nevertheless, with UTSG 50 in Singapore next on her race calendar, Hau is in any case setting up a Plan B and looking to grab her wild card for the ATM Final as former champion.

‘Flowerboy’ Yusof Ezkandar: first ATM race victory in his running journey, even if it may not have felt like one

This Saturday on Tioman island off Malaysia’s east coast, Vietnamese trail phenomenon Hau Ha will be running her first race in the ATM Championship series since Dalat 2023, and her first race in Malaysia. Tioman 50 is a young event, it’s the second edition, and is organised by MMTF Consultant with a restricted field of 500 runners who can make the ferry crossing from Mersing in Johor to the island. Hau Ha starts as the favourite to win the race overall.

Now entirely focused on competing at the highest global level, our undefeated 2022 female champion is fitting in two ATM races on her personal race calendar - UTSG 50 in Singapore is next - to claim her wild card for this season’s ATM Final and have the option of a Plan B, if her summer goal in France for some reason does not work out. It will be great to see her back in action, while at the same time there should then be little doubt about the female winner on Tioman this Saturday. Still, to finish first you first need to finish and for sure Hau Ha will give herself the extra goal of trying to secure victory against the men in the field, too.

The battle for the female podium will in any case be exciting to follow with several candidates. Based on recent form, Sabah’s Adelinah Lintanga looks like a solid bet, coming from two podium places in the first two Malaysian points races of the current ATM season. On Tioman island, Adelinah can take a big step into her country’s team for the Final at her home race Borneo TMBT Ultra in September. However, ‘Narna’ has a bigger reputation on the long ultras than on the 50k distance, which is in contrast with her elder sister Jessica Lintanga. ‘Jess’ also features on the start list and with her you never really know. Often on the podium before covid, but since then much less consistent performance-wise. That has a lot to do with her jewelry art and Sabah cultural ambassador work, though. When motivated and in shape, she can still ‘fly’ - as she illustrated by finishing ahead of upcoming talent Shamiera Auther at TMBT last September. Other women to watch out for this weekend, as far as podium chances are concerned, are Siao Ai Lim, Faherina Mohd Esa and last but not least Loi Luong - teammate of Hau Ha at Mude Sports. Loi Luong is the winner of Lam Dong Trail in Dalat last November, ahead of a.o. Angelie Cabalo, and on the rise competitively speaking. Just as for Hau, it’s her first race in Malaysia. Reportedly, Loi Luong has her eyes set on the ATM Championship title this year.

The men’s race on Tioman also seems very open with no outspoken favourite. People who like to place a bet may do so on Singapore’s Chris Timms. Very fast by nature, the issue with Timms is his professional workload that can affect his running performance on weekends sometimes. Also for him, it’s been a while since he has raced on the ATM circuit, so we are looking forward to seeing him again in action. Especially on the men’s start list there’s a lot of unknowns, including from China and a number of western countries, who may surprise us this weekend.

ATM will be broadcasting and reporting live from Tioman island this weekend on our usual channels and depending on connectivity. For livestreams and videos, Facebook, YouTube and X, for photo and highlights there’s Instagram.

2022 ATM Champion Hau Ha: can she win the Tioman 50 overall, too?

In-form Adelinah Lintanga can take a big step into Team Malaysia for this year’s ATM Championship Final

Chris Timms from Singapore starts as a favourite to perhaps win his first ATM race

Loi Luong was the surprise winner of Lam Dong Trail in Dalat half a year ago

We are excited to announce that Scott Running is now the official trail footwear of the Asia Trail Master Championship series. Already for some six years, the black and fluo yellow outfits and shoes of Team Scott runners have been a shiny presence on the Asia Trail Master trails. Headquartered in Switzerland and with a history that goes back all the way to 1958, Scott has been a trendsetter with revolutionary innovations in a range of outdoor endurance sports such as skiing, motorcross, triathlon, cycling, mountainbiking and of course trail running. At ATM, we are genuinely pleased that Scott is joining us for the remainder of Season IX and for Season X, and we look forward to seeing more trail runners explore the brand across Asia.

In Southeast Asia, Scott is represented by Sportlicious, seated in Malaysia.

‘Sportlicious begins a journey with Asia Trail Master for Year 2024. As we venture Asia with ATM, we bring along SCOTT RUNNING as the official shoe partner,” says KC Tan.

‘NO SHORTCUTS" DEFINES THE SCOTT SPIRIT OF DOING THINGS THE RIGHT WAY, FOR THE RIGHT REASONS. We have always believed that TRACTION MATTERS, and have ensure our product design embodies this belief in the shoes we produce.”

Several of the Scott trail shoe models fit very well with the humid and often muddy terrain runners find in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. You can find and purchase them on the Sportlicious Asia store linked below.

About Sportlicious Asia

‘We started in 2012 to provide a better online and physical shopping experience for Malaysia trail, track, and road runners as well as multi-sport athletes.’

‘Our aim is to provide key products to assist you in achieving a balance lifestyle by offering the best products (gear we use ourselves) as well as knowledgeable advice to make sure you get the kit and nutrition that is best for you. ‘

‘THRU SPORTLICIOUS ASIA ..new tag line “RACE ASIA WITH US” our goal is to reach out to wider Asian community…build stronger bonding in term of friendship, running experience and foster greater friendship.’

Scott Running shoes

We are happy to announce that the Santa Cruz Trail Ultra event in Davao del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines has obtained the ATM Candidate Race label. The event, with Grandmaster and double ATM Finalist Sean Aying as Race Director, is scheduled for 28/29 September and comes in celebration of the 140th Araw Nang, the legal formation of the Santa Cruz Municipality.

The trail event offers three race categories: 60km, 25km and 10km. Expect a tough course taking you through the central mountains of Santa Cruz, but avoiding the summit and boulderface of Mount Apo. The highlight of the 60km course will take you to the rugged terrains of the 8 peaks in the foothills of Mt. Apo, namely Mounts Loay, Baryara, Tagaytay Ridge, Tinako, Dinor, 796, Fortune and Tagaytay Peak. Mount Tinako is the highest point of the course at more than 1,300 m above sea level. Total elevation gain is estimated at 4500 hm, 2500 hm for the 25k and even 1000 hm for the 10k, so do no expect an easy walk in the park. The mountains section of the 60k course is part of the “trailblazer” program of the Sta Cruz Tourism. Whilst challenging, the races are open to all levels of runners whether you are a beginner in trail, a trail running avid-fan, an enthusiast or a hardcore. The cut-off time for the 60km is 18 hours.

The event has a strong emphasis on showcasing the area as a sports tourism destination, and also wishes to encourage participants to appreciate and respect the environment they’re running through. This can include initiatives like minimizing waste, promoting responsible trail etiquette, and supporting local conservation efforts.

Santa Cruz is quite a familiar location on our ATM calendar. Located just about half an hour outside Davao City, it is among the easier trail venues to get to. Alongside Davao’s, Santa Cruz also has a large trail community of its own.

Registration for the event is open. You can access and see al details via the official webpages, and stay up-to-date via the event’s facebook page.

The latest ATM Candidate Race in Philippines was last Sunday’s Mt Karilongan Trail Marathon, organised by Vertical To Sky in Davao. Local runners competed with each other in three distance categories of which the 42km marathon was the main event. The men’s race resulted in a strong podium with youngster and relative newbie Eldy Bulod again taking victory in an ATM Candidate Race. Bulod also won SC 70 a few months ago. At Karilongan, he finished with an advantage of 35 minutes over Grandmaster and double ATM Finalist Sean Aying, and 42 minutes over 2022 ATM Finalist Angelito Vertudazo. Another well-known name and ATM race winner, Rexell Aguirre, had to settle for 6th place.

In the women’s race, it was Jahen Bonhoc taking top honours ahead of Dolly Joy Alonzo.

Mount Karilongan Trail Marathon was a “Plant & Run” charity race , wherein runners had to briefly stop and plant a new tree at aid station 1, in support of the reforestation program of the EGIP Foundation. Mount Karilongan is a relatively small mountain at 1102m above sea level, featuring duran fruits, but especially the 1083 steps to ‘God’s Hand’. Proceeds of the event went to the materials and equipment of Indigenous Obu-Manuvu Forest Guards and for the smart development of their still young eco-tourism project in Mt. Karilongan. The Obu Manuvu are looking to promote environmental awareness and create an additional source of needed income, so they can bring their ancestral traditions back to practice. The area is also included in the recently opened Koontayan ‘to Obu Manuvu Eco Adventure Park.

1. Eldy Bulod - 6:06:46

2. Sean John Aying - 6:41:48

3. Angelito Vertudazo - 6:48:48

4. Randy Pascua - 8:19:00

5. Earl Nasual - 8:36:02

6. Rexel Aguirre - 8:37:16

7. Michal Canubas - 10:31:11

8. Jay Ofonda - 11:32:36

9. Jahen Bonhoc (female) - 10:57:17

10. Dolly Joy Alonzo (female) - 12:05:07

11. Francis Ian Gilayo - 12:05:08

12. Richard Sastrellas - 12:42:21

13. Melvin Mig Clamor - 13:24:07

14. Mario Raymund Yap - 13:57:00

Sean Aying congratulates Rexell Aguirre

The 3rd Bukit Lawang Orang Utan Trail in North Sumatra once again proved the depth of young trail running talent on the large Indonesian island. A clean sweep on the men’s 50k podium for local runners with Erwin Simanjuntak scoring his second consecutive race win in Bukit Lawang and even in a more impressive style than a year ago. In the women’s 50k it was wonderful to see our popular 2018 ATM Champion Ruth Theresia returning to victory lane after six years and this for the 11th time in her ATM trail journey - a new female record.

Traditional sunny and hot conditions for the race after the previous night’s heavy rainfall. The 50km started earlier than in previous editions at 4:30am, but followed the same pattern with a very runable 20km+ through plantations before the runners went steep up into the rainforest, where they disappeared on tough and often very technical trails. Erwin Simanjuntak, Lindra Mulfanis and Noel Pakpahan were jointly in the lead at that more or less halfway point, and Hong Kong-based Australian David Longo following closely behind. No Andre Sinaga this year, but Mulfanis and Pakpahan replaced him as solid challengers for Simanjuntak. Still, the latter confirmed his amazing talent by outgunning the other two and finishing in 5h47 - no fewer than 20 minutes faster than his own time last year! Lindra Mulfanis arrived in 6h21 as second - a fine result as well for a newbie. For reference, last year Chris Timms ran 6h18 in this race. Noel Pakpahan completed the top 3 shortly afterwards, and then it was David Longo and Slamed Riyadi.

Ruth Theresia on her part was leading the race more or less from start to finish. Her 11th ATM race victory came 5,5 years after her previous one at UT Nan in Thailand, where she secured her championship title at the time. Ruth focused on other objectives after that, and the covid crisis was not kind to her neither. Her comeback was marred by injuries, but this year she had already showed a return to competitive form at the 9 Dragons Hong Kong. By winning Orang Utan Trail she scored her wild card for this season’s ATM Final at Borneo TMBT in September, and she took the lead in the all-time female victory list. She now has 1 ATM race win more than Malaysia’s Tahira Najmunisaa, now mainly a duathlete, and four more than Australia’s Kim Matthews and Slovakia’s Veronika Vadovicova.

2018 ATM Champion Ruth Theresia had to wait 6 years to add an 11th race victory to her record

Lindra Mulfanis is a great young newcomer on the ATM scene with a second place

For David Longo, fourth was the highest achievable in Bukit Lawang

The third edition of Bukit Lawang’s Orang Utan Trail in North Sumatra this weekend is also Indonesia’s first ATM points race of the season. ‘BLOT’ is one of our series’ most exciting boutique events taking place in a remote but scenic river town catering for adventure, outdoor and - of course - orang utan enthusiasts. The race for ATM Championship points is the 50km, which is more or less a copy of last year’s with a runable first half through plantations followed by a technical second half through the jungle and into the orang utan’s natural habitat.

It’s an event that has always had a great vibe with a big marqee tent on the city square surrounded by local shops and restaurants and the wide range of sponsor booths. In order to minimise exposure to potential sun heat , the race start of the 50k has been moved forward this year to 4:30 am. Over the past two seasons, we have gotten to know several great trail talents from Sumatra, proving that there’s more to Indonesian trail running than just Java and Bali. Runners such as Erwin Simanjuntak and Andre Sinaga, last year’s excellent 1-2 in the men’s race ahead of established ATM protagonists such as Chris Timms, Jose Luis Alvelais and Thimo KIlberth was testimony to that fact. Unfortunately, it remains difficult for Sumatrans to take part in races elsewhere. Travel expense is often the main stumbleblock - even within Indonesia.

Andre Sinaga is confirmed as a participant again this weekend, at least on the start list. He will face David Longo, the Hong Kong-Australian from T8, in the battle for race victory in the men’s. Unless, as usual, there’s again new faces appearing on the scene. Risqi Kurniawan is unable to start due to injury sustained in another race two weeks ago. In the women’s 50k race, we will see 2018 ATM Champion Ruth Theresia back in action for the second time this season. Finishing this weekend means she gets the wild card for the ATM Final at TMBT on 14 September. She is the logical favourite to win as well, although Bangkok-based American Tara Savage may keep her focused during the race.

Stay tuned for our coverage of the event this weekend on our usual channels. The 50k race is scheduled for Sunday morning.

Vanja Cnops truly enjoyed her race last year

Local Sumatrans Andre Sinaga and Erwin Simanjuntak stole the show in the men’s race last year

As in BUTM 100 early March, the Sabah runners Gustin Tiam and Rejlen James were fastest in the 100k long ultra of Silabur Cave Trail in Kampung Bedang, just under two hours drive east of Kuching near the Kalimantan border. After being ahead early on, good old Gustin tolerated the company of Hijazi Rija and Haziq Asyraf until the dying moments of the race. That’s 1000 ATM points in the bag out of two races, Gustin is on the way to qualification for Team Malaysia in the ATM Championship Final by the looks of it! The same goes for Rejlen James, who had to dig a little deeper to score the win last weekend, even though she also looked very composed and in control of proceedings. Still, Hong Kong’s Rachel Chan, ATM Finalist last year and 7th in the Siksorogo Lawu race, proved to be in great shape and was challenging James. Rachel loved the runable terrain in the hot weather and was even leading after the first third of the race. When the trails turned more technical and muddy, James felt more at ease and took command. Rachel did well to keep second place, ahead of Adelinah Lintanga, who at some point seemed to be closing in - as she did in BUTM in March, too. However, stomach cramps stopped Lintanga’s hunt. In fourth and not far behind was local hero Celeste Teo in what was a very spirited effort from her. Siriporn Leumathong overtook India’s Ashwini Bhat in the last 10k for fifth place.

Very high temperatures characterised the first day of the 100k race, before rainshowers gave the 126 participating runners a welcome relief on Saturday evening and night. The downside was, of course, that the trails also became much muddier and therefore more slippery. Experienced trail runners suddenly also had to cope with unexpected blisters.

Temperatures were a lot cooler on Sunday morning for the 50k and the shorter distances. Jeffery Budin, returning from a competition break, felt great and immediately set the pace with his teammate Mohd Sulhan. The duo would create a big gap towards the rest with Singapore-based Richard Hall Jr in third place. Budin’s pace was too high for Sulhan, and so he scored his 2nd ATM race victory after UTOP 100 in 2022. What a good rest can do with some runners!

The women’s 50k was exciting to follow with a number of runners genuinely contesting the win and the podium places. Singapore’s Dening Lo went ahead with youngster Shamiera Auther, until the latter had a slip that caused a small gap between them. Deeper into the race, just when Dening Lo had thought she had the victory in the bag, Auther reappeared. Still, the Singaporean proved too quick and took her first ATM race win. Behind Auther, there was a nice battle between Lolita Lintanga and Kona Liau, but at the end it was Singapore’s Joy Sim who had the last laugh and the fastest dash to the finish. Sim was delighted with her first ATM race podium, the just as young Lolita Lintanga had to settle for her second fourth place in a row.

Gustin Tiam collected his 2nd ATM race win of the season!

Rejlen James and Borneo : it seems an unbeatable combination the past two seasons

Rachel Chan gave Rejlen James a run for her money, and can be satisfied with a strong second place

Unexpectedly impressive: Jeffery Budin takes his 2nd ATM race win after a 6-months break from competition

Singapore’s Dening Lo took her first race win in the ATM Championship series

Joy Sim was a delighted third on the 50k podium!

The second Malaysian ATM points race event of the season takes place in Sarawak, Borneo, this weekend and this for the first time in our series’ history. Silabur Ultra Trail , aka Cave Trail, takes place at Kampung Batu Bedang, approx 1,5 hours drive from Kuching and near the border with Indonesia’s Kalimantan. On the programme are both a 100k long ultra and a 50k medium distance race featuring a number of caves that Sarawak is known for in adventurous travel communities. For once, the list of participants for the 100k is longer and in both the male and female categories we see the top duo of BUTM 100 in early March. Gustin Tiam, Mohd Sulhan, Rejlen James and Adelinah Lintanga will again face off this weekend with start at 10am on Saturday. There’s less elevation gain compared to BUTM, and with several other podium and victory candidates this could turn into an exciting and tight competition.

It’s only been a couple of years that Sarawak is claiming its stake on the Malaysian trail running map. Contrary to its northern neighbours Sabah and even Brunei, events and runners were few and far between. Sally Yap, ‘Alpha’ Siet Fah Lim, Celeste Teo and others have changed that, encouraging event promoters and organisers to build proper trail events, too. Alpha Sports is among those with several events in its portfolio. Silabur was a a Candidate Race last year, and in this season’s “Borneo Year” has been offered a spot on the ATM Championship calendar. The caves around Batu Bedang have attracted quite an internation field with several runners from, a.o. Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong and even India.

Good ol’ Gustin Tiam and up-and-comer Mohd Sulhan may be the men’s favourites on the 100km, but there’s quite a few others who can challenge for a podium result - or more. Wont Kudin, for instance, has already banked a great 4th place in BUTM this season. Phua Cho Ka and Kenneth Mun Keat Yow are two others. In the women’s 100km, it’s all eyes on Rejlen James and the once again in-form Adelinah Lintanga. But Celeste Teo may be very motivated on home soil. Mailin Salungin is another strong and experienced trail runner, who recently won the BDUTM Candidate Race in Brunei. Rachel Pui Hung Chan from Hong Kong was 7th in last year’s ATM Final and 3rd in MMTF 100, ahead of Celeste Teo and Rejlen James - the latter having had an off-day, admittedly. India’s Ashwini Ganapathi from Bengaluru is known as a long ultra specialist, having been part of her country’s team in the Asia-Pacific 24h championships (she ran 181 km!). She was also the only female finisher in the Everest Extreme Ultra in 2022. It will be interesting to see how she fares against Rejlen James and co on the trails in Sarawak.

The 50k for men seems wide open and we are bound to discover some new names this weekend. On the female side, the Lintanga sisters Jessica and Lolita could both eye the highest prize. Both are in good form, as shown already at BUTM with a fourth and fifth place respectively. Singapore’s Dening Lo was a surprising third in Bali Ultra last year and may be their main competitor for the win, along with Kona Liau - second in BUTM 50k and so ahead of the Lintangas in that race. Joy Sim, originally from Sarawak, is still a rather young trail talent who could pull a surprise, too.

ATM will be reporting live from the Silabur event all day on Saturday (100km) and Sunday (50km) on the usual channels.

Adelinah Lintanga has returned to her best level, as shown with a great second place in BUTM 100 in March

Gustin Tiam finally won his ATM race at BUTM 100 in March

Mohd Sulhan is an upcoming trail talent who already was a great 2nd at BUTM 100.

Celeste Teo is from Sarawak and always a podium candidate on the long ultras

We are very happy to announce that the 10th anniversary edition (!) of the Datu Salumay Invitational Trail Run in Mindanao, Philippines, is a new ATM Candidate Race scheduled for the weekend of 9/10 November. ‘DASAL’ ,as the event is commonly known, has grown from what was essentially a local interclub competition to a fully fledged running event that every year attracts hundreds of athletes to Datu Salumay, the venue approximately 80km away from Davao City. The longest race category is 85km, but there’s also 42km, 21km and 12km for less ambitious runners.

In recent months there have been quite a few Candidate Races in this part of Asia, but DASAL is one that already has a decade-long history in itself. The participants of the different categories race through the trails of Datu Salumay, passing by waterfalls, streams, rivers, trees, grasslands, and steep hill ascents and descents. It starts and finishes at the Datu Salumay Elementary School grounds, which is just adjacent to the Syre National Highway. This is a major highway with public transportation available. Participants on the 85km should prepare well, as there’s about 5000 metres of elevation gain in this course. The start is at 2 pm in the afternoon, meaning nearly everyone will also need to run through the night, which at least has the benefit of being cooler. The cut off time is 25 hours.

You can stay up to date via the event facebook page linked below. Registration can also be done easily online via RaceTech.ph .

Last year, Julie Ann Morales was a race winner at DASAL