This weekend SC 70, short for Santa Cruz 70, will test the endurance and technical abilities of runners looking to score an extra point on their Grandmaster Quest. The Filipino event organised by Team Jegol may only just qualify as a Grandmaster race with its 70km, but it’s a tough 70km. Elevation gain is estimated at over 4000 Hm and the course features some iconic places around Santa Cruz, such as Mt. Loay, Mt. Dinor, Tacub Laya Falls, Pilan River, Sinoron, Lipantod, Camotes Ridge, and Mt. 796. The course profile is actually quite distinct and interesting from a competitive point of view, too. Mount Dinor is the cornerstone and highest peak in the first half, Mount Loay in the second half. Runners should also be aware that after the final descent of Loay, there’s still a 10km flattish section to the finish back in Santa Cruz.

Plenty of solid runners will be taking part this weekend, including 2-star Grandmasters. Cheryl Bihag and Alfredo Reyes Jr. It is the first time SC 70 is on the calendar, so all finishers this weekend can score an additional GM point. The race does not offer points for the ATM Championship ranking, but will be interesting nonetheless with many competitive athletes on the start list, including last year’s winner Eldy Bulod. Marjones Abugan, Florencio Alave, Roberto Cain III, Isaiah Paraiso and others will be challenging him for the victory. In the women’s field we find Julieann Morales on the start list, as well Guia Cabigas, Dolly Joy Alonzo and Razzil Sumalinog to name a few.

Santa Cruz, just a half hour drive south of Davao City in Mindanao, has become a real trail running hub since the corona crisis and even more visibly so since the 2022 ATM Championship Final, the Mount Apo Sky Race. That event is how things started in Santa Cruz, which is now not only the main gateway for hikers to the highest mountain in the Philippines, but also the venue for several trail running events during the year.

One of Hong Kong’s classic events will take place on Saturday, 29 March in 2025. Lantau 70 by The Trail Hub takes runners across the island and back to Mui Wo. It’s a race with a significant history and one that all the competitive elites - especially the local ones - like to add to their record at least once. Jeff Campbell and John Ray Onifa were the last two male winners, Katryn Hamlin and Aurore Dacier the fastest females since the end of the corona crisis.

The 2025 course will be slightly amended but start and finish remain the same. It’s a daytime race with flag-off at 8:30 am, which means you can enjoy the great Lantau scenery during your run. Most elevation gain comes in the first half of the race, and the 13km long first section to Ngong Ping is arguably the toughest. It can get warm and treacherously humid already in Hong Kong at the end of March, so make sure you keep your hydration in check. Plenty have been surprised by that already in this race, even past ATM Champions Rashila Tamang and Alessandro Sherpa discovered that to their detriment.

The classic 70km solo race is of course the one that offers ATM Championship points and a Grandmaster point. Less ambitious runners can also opt for the relay race, for which you need a team of four.

While Mui Wo has accommodation options as well, it is perfectly possible to stay in the bigger city centres of Hong Kong and take the ferry to Mui Wo on Saturday early morning in time for the start of the race. If you stay in Tung Chung on Lantau island already, taxis can also get you to Mui Wo without hassle.

Registration is open already, and if you decide quickly you can score some great limited edition T8 goodies as well.

On 7 February 2025, for the first time ever, trail runners can score ATM points in Myanmar. The Kalaw Ultra Trail Run goes international and offers 80km and 50km options for points, alongside a few shorter distance categories for less ambitious runners. Outdoor enthusiasts, trekkers and travellers in Southeast Asia are well-aware of Kalaw, a pleasant town north of Yangon (Rangoon) and relatively close to the beautiful Inle Lake. We are indeed delighted to include Myanmar and its trail running community into the Asia Trail Master network this season, and hope to see a number of local Grandmasters and Championship qualifiers soon! .

The Kalaw Ultra Trail Run has been around for a while, but with the help of the Myanmar Ultra Trail Running Association the organisation feels ready to step up and is welcoming runners from the region to the event. The 80km long ultra, also valid for the Grandmaster Quest, starts at 5am on Friday, 7 February - pay attention - and has an approximate elevation gain of 2500 hm. The course is quite runable with the biggest climb coming after about 20km. That climb is also part of the 50km race course.

International runners should first fly to Yangon, which has a lot of connections in the region. Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Singapore are the most straight forward, but even from Hong Kong there are cheap options. To get to Kalaw there are various options. From Yangon there are domestic flights to Heho, nearby Kalaw. Busses and cars (up to five people) are another option. To take the hassle out of your trip, runners should consider contacting Hansar Travel, which offers travel packages including accommodation for the event from Yangon. Details can be found on the registration page via the ‘travel packages’ tab. Hansar can also assist with visas, should these be required. Check it all out via the ‘Momentum Timing” link below.

 

Silabur Cave Trail in Sarawak, Malaysia, has been confirmed as a points race for the ATM Championship ranking and Grandmaster Quest also in 2025. The event, organised by Alpha Sports, will see some modifications, including the date. The event will move forward on the calendar by a few weeks and will be held on the weekend of 12/13 April. Also the start and finish site has moved a bit to allow for better mobile connectivity. It will be at Kampung Lubang Batu, Tebakang, which is roughly 40km from Serian town & 100km from Kuching. As usual, there is a bus shuttle service from Kuching for registered runners. Important also: ATM points seekers need to focus on the 100 km.

Silabur is quite a runable 100km , but if wet can be treacherously slippery in parts. Highlight is of course the Silabur Cave, a.k.a. the Jade Cave. Sabahan runners Gustin Tiam and Rejlen James were the fastest 100k runners here in 2024, in a race with considerable participation numbers for a long ultra. It’s mostly a Saturday day time race with the start set at 7 am in the morning. Cut-off time at the finish is a very accommodating 33 hours. As always, but especially in regions like Borneo, take a good look at the mandatory gear requirements and ensure you are prepared for hot tropical weather.

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 Ultra Trail, a.k.a. as Silabur Cave Trail is currently the biggest.

Registration for the event is open via Checkpointspot. The official hotel is in Serian, the Roxy Hotel. Runners could also opt to stay in Kuching, main city in Sarawak and where the airport is, and take the event shuttle bus early in the morning on Saturday.

A tough candidate race in the outskirts of Davao with a 10-year history and a lot of runners. Datu Salumay can be called a classic and the event lived up to its reputation as being hardcore while at the same catering for runners of all levels.. Roberto Cain II was clearly the fastest man finishing the 85k in 16h45. That’s two hours ahead of Yoyong Sacayle and Jomarc Ferrer. Quite a performance! The race was halted at some point due to a swollen river that became unsafe to cross. Kudos to the event organising team to react quickly and appropriately in this situation. Runners were rerouted to ensure safety. The adverse weather also meant nearly 40% of the 85km course was on concrete.

The female candidate race at DASAL was won by Metzi Joy Alson in 20h16’. She preceeded Tressah Banas and Stela Coronica on the podium. Despite being on the start list, former winner Julieann Morales did not take part in the race last weekend.

Singapore-based American runner Humberto Baeza took his maiden ATM race victory on the 75km at Lam Dong Trail in Dalat, Vietnam, last Saturday. Baeza inherited the race lead halfway through when Kristian Joergensen and Godwin Mirar were, unfortunately, pointed in the wrong direction by a confused marshal. As they got onto the shorter and just-as-marked 45km course, they did not realise it in a situation reminding many of last year’s Korea 50k, where the same happened. Still, it takes nothing away from Baeza’s great performance to finish the course in 8h43’ and half an hour ahead of Vietnam’s coming man Tran Van Nghia. After already scoring 2nd place in Dieng Trail Run in September, Baeza is now the overall points leader in our Season 10 ranking and he has already fulfilled the minimum requirement of two race finishes for qualification for the ATM Championship Final next year September. The women’s 75km race also had a remarkable winner in the sense that the very experienced Julia Nguyen Thi Duong showed recent coming-girl Loi Luong she is still around as a competitive athlete.

Behind Baeza and Tran Van Nghia, another SIngaporean runner took third on the podium: Scott Pugh from the Endurance Asia podcast. A great performance by him as well, especially when seeing who he kept behind. Nguyen Dang Quang and India’s only ATM Grandmaster Shashwat Rao both have a considerable competitive pedigree in our series.

Julia Nguyen Thi Duong finished ten minutes ahead of Loi Luong and they were sixth and eighth overall, respectively. It proves both their talent as competitive trail runners. For 35km, Malaysia’s 2-star Grandmaster Yvette Chong was looking good for third place, but cramps in both her legs decided otherwise. Pham Ngoc Dan Chau scored the women’s podium in the end.

Kristian Joergensen and Godwin Mirar topped the leaderboard early on until their misfortune

Scott Pugh managed to score his first ever podium in an ATM points race

Julia Nguyen Thi Duong had never left, but made sure everyone remembers she is still here

Humbero Baeza : first ATM race win and second podium in two months

The 75km race started at 3am

Loi Luong had to settle for second

Pham Ngoc Dan Chau got herself third on the women’s podium

This weekend, points can be scored in Dalat, Vietnam, during Lam Dong Trail, but we also keep an eye out on the 10th edition of the Datu Salumay Invitational Trail Run, a new ATM Candidate Race. Perhaps better known as ‘DASAL’, the event takes place some 80km outside of Davao City and - indeed - has a full decade’s history already! For this anniversary edition, the organisers have added a long ultra category of 85km that has instilled some fear in many participants. At least, it is regarded as a considerable challenge with 5000 metres of elevation gain on paper. Less ambitious runners will be eyeing the 42km and shorter categories this weekend.

The trails of Datu Salumay will have runners 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. 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.

Julieann Morales is a former female race winner at DASAL and as great technical trail runner ready to pick up the 85km challenge. She is one of a few courageous women on the start list that also includes Shekinah Velasquez, who also has a nice track record on rugged terrain. In the men’s race we will also see some big names from Mindanao, including Jomarc Ferrer, Florencio Alave, Yoyong Sacayle, Reymar Taleon, Roberto Cain and others.

The first Filipino Championship points race in Season 10 is still several months away (Mt Kalatungan Ultra), but there are several Grandmaster point races and Candidate Races coming up. The first Grandmaster points races are SC 70 and the Mt Apo Sky Race 100.

After a short break since UTOP in Malaysia, Season 10 of the Asia Trail Master Championship continues this weekend with the 3rd edition of Lam Dong Trail in Dalat, Vietnam. The 75 km race is the one that counts for both championship points and Grandmaster points, and we are looking forward to a very competitive men’s race with Quang Tran - winner of the previous two editions - facing none other than Kristian Joergensen, Godwin MIrar and in-form Nhon Trong - himself already twice second in Lam Dong.

The Valley of Love just outside the city centre of Dalat features again as the host venue for the event. Runners will do a 75km counterclockwise loop through hilly pine forests with start in the early hours of Saturday morning. Weather permitting, this is quite a runable course as usual in Dalat, with cool temperatures and clear forest trails. That benefits the likes of Quang Tran, of course, but he will certainly face a stern challenge this year with Joergensen and Mirar, both based in Philippines. Joergensen was third in last year’s ATM Championship and has already collected 7 ATM race wins since 2016. There is a question mark about his current performance level, however, following a nasty fall in training a couple of weeks ago. Godwin Mirar is the coming-man in Philippines, still just 24 years old. He still focuses on short distances mainly - and rightly so - but in Dalat he would like to give the 75km a try. He is not new to Vietnam: in 2022 Mirar already took third place in VMM 50km , not far behind the aforementioned Kristian Joergensen and his idol John Ray Onifa. Nhon Trong and Le Phi Lanh are the other two Vietnamese trail stars who could battle for podium. Nhon Trong is in good form lately, but has been focusing on the long ultras. Does he still have the speed to fight for the highest rankings in a 75km race? Let’s certainly also keep an eye out for India’s Grandmaster Shashwat Rao, who on his day can be very quick, indeed. Rao has won the upcoming Malnad Ultra on a course that can be compared somewhat to Lam Dong. Also Singapore’s Scott Pugh from the Endurance Asia podcast should finish among the top runners.

In the women’s 75km race we could see a nice dual between Loi Luong and Julia Nguyen Thi Duong . Both have won Lam Dong before, and for Loi Luong it was actually her competitive breakthrough last year. The Mude Sports runner and teammate of Hau Ha outran Angelie Cabalo a year ago, a performance she has backed up since a few times, including fourth place in the latest ATM Championship Final at Borneo TMBT in September. There’s several other contenders for podium, including Malaysia’s 2-star Grandmaster Yvette Chong Mi Chin, who has recently shown strong pace on medium distance trails, resulting a.o. in a podium spot at Simpur Ultra 50 in Brunei in June.

Last year’s podium with Quang Tran ahead of Nhon Trong

Nhon Trong has placed second twice in this race

Loi Leung was the surprise winner last year, but has more than confirmed this feat afterwards

Kristian Joergensen: is his current form good enough for an 8th ATM race win?

It has been five long years but - at last - the very popular Indonesian event Tahura Trail in Bandung is returning to the trail and Asia Trail Master Championship calendar. The 10th anniversary edition is scheduled for 25 January 2025 with a brand new course of 40km for Championship points, along a wide range of shorter distances for the less ambitious. Before covid struck, Tahura Trail was by numbers the most popular trail event in Indonesia and the traditional opener of the ATM season. It’s one of the shortest points races on the calendar, but it has always been an exciting one to follow with loads of fast runners taking part.

Our reigning ATM Champion, Jeff Campbell, has won it twice already, in fact. Including the last edition in 2020. Other winners in Tahura’s rich history are Tahira Najmunisaa, Kim Matthews, Mohamed Affindi, Asuka Nakajima and Charlotte Taquet.

The 40km course has nearly 1300m of elevation gain and is a great mixture of runable and technical sections. When it’s dry it’s fast, when it’s been raining it’s muddy and tougher than one would expect. It is the training ground for many of Bandung’s well-known trail runners, not in the least our former ATM Champions Ruth Theresia and Arief Wismoyono.

Tahura is the name of the large park next to the city of Bandung in West Java. It’s also a place for weekend retreats with lots of nice restaurants and coffee & teahouses. There is an airport in Bandung with a few international flights, but nowadays the journey from Jakarta to Bandung has also become much faster thanks to a high-speed train.

Registration has opened already , please go to the official website of Tahura Trail.

Tahura Trail : Running Back In Time

After the success of last year’s edition, we are happy to announce that The Manjushree Trail Race in Kathmandu is keeping its place on the Asia Trail Master Championship calendar in 2025. Next year, the 4th edition of the event will take place a little earlier, from 14 to 16 March, and will again feature two categories offering championship points, the 100 Miles and the 50km. Runners focusing on the Grandmaster Quest can of course consider the 100km category along with the 100 Miles.

The longest distance of the event takes runners on the Kathmandu Valley Rim, which is named after the god Manjushree. As the official website says: ‘The race route takes runners along the famous Kathmandu valley rim ridge line and across the seven peaks that surround the valley. As part of this, the racecourse also crosses the two national park (Nagarjun and Shivapuri) that border the valley. Over 85% of the route is single track, where it sometimes takes hours before runners come across a little settlement. Even though you are technically still within the Kathmandu valley, you will feel like you are far away from urbanization many times during the race.’ Looking at the course map, you see one big natural loop that measures 175 kilometres (so it’s actually longer than 100 miles). The names of the seven peaks are Jamacho, Shivapuri, Nagarkot, Pulchowki, Champadevi, Basmandur and Chandragiri. It’s a clean oval loop, but with a total elevation gain of over 12000hm, this is a race runners need to be physically and mentally prepared for. The race starts on Friday early morning and the cut-off time at the finish will be reached after 52 hours.

The 50 km race will start from Badikhel, above Godavari, and join the trail of the 100 miles and 100km. Participants will go to the start venue by shuttle bus from Kathmandu city in the morning to take flag off at 7am.

In the 2024 edition we discovered several of the talented local Nepali who later managed to qualify for the ATM Championship Final at Borneo TMBT last September. Our now ATM Female Champion Priya Rai won the 50km race ahead of Rashila Tamang and Chhoki Sherpa. Arjun Rai Kulung won the 100 miles for men, Nirmala Rai for women.

International runners can stay in Kathmandu City, as the event venue is not far away and reachable by shuttle.

Registration for The Manjushree Trail Race is already open via the official website linked below.

Already then on the 50km, Priya Rai was faster than then-champion Rashila Tamang

Japan’s Yuta Matsuyama claimed his 3rd ATM race win in Luang Prabang last Sunday. The colourful ATM Finalist of the past two season, both times also concluding the championship inside the top 10, won the 100km race rather comfortably in 19h02’30”. The UGLOW runner was well-ahead of China's Lyu Meng in second and another Japanese runner Hiroki Yoshikawa in third. Amorn Kimnguan completed the race in fourth place. Yuta Matsuyama had previously twice won the UTCM 100 in Thailand. A perfect start to his Season 10 campaign!

The women’s 100km race was dominated by Thailand’s Siriporn Leumathong, who underscored her great 8th place in the ATM Championship Final at Borneo TMBT last month. For Leumathong, who resides in Malaysia, it was the first ever ATM points race victory.

The 55km race in the men’s category was won by Thailand’s Danon Rattanatumrong in 7h56’07”. His second ATM race win after UTKC 70 in 2022. He was 34 minutes ahead of Hong Kong’s Rod Henderson, an ATM Finalist in 2023. Henderson was chased to the line by Australia’s Fergus Macleod. The women’s 55km race went to Canada’s Cassandra Inthavong, by 25 minutes over Sawoeisook Miskow. Third place on the podium went to Toukta Inthavong.

Luang Prabang Trail was the first Laos event of Season 10, which could be followed by two more points race events in the country later in 2025.

The 5th anniversary of Ultimate Trails of Penang started with heavy rain on Friday noon, but ended in sunshine as the participants in all various distance categories enjoyed a great time out on the beautiful trails of the island. Beautiful, but tough. Especially the longer races again proved their reputation of being amongst the toughest on the entire ATM calendar. Of 66 starters on the 100 Miles, only 5 managed to finish. The experienced Aqmal Adzmi was fastest and scored his first ever ATM victory in 38h40’39”. Early in the long race, he was running together with Australian Andrew Farmers and the surprising Seng Lip Ku. However, already in the evening time, now dry, Adzmi took an advantage. In fact, Farmers would decide to retire at km 91 on Saturday morning, suffering from his feet and expressing his surprise of the technicality of Penang’s trails compared to those in Sabah, where he resides. Seng Lip Ku was joined by Tuan Hafandi Tuan Ismail, and at km 120 would likewise throw in the towel with knee pain. A sad conclusion of his great race until that point.

At the finish back at the Youth Park, Aqmal Adzmi was over five hours ahead of Tuan Hafandi Tuan Ismail as the rain again started pouring down at nighttime in Penang. David Khoo completed the podium in third place. It's Adzmi's first ATM race win ever after a podium spot at MMTF 2022 and several top ten placings.

Only six runners are still in the 100 Miles race. All women DNFd. Including Celeste Teo and Irish Glorioso, who both twisted their ankles in the same descent during Sthe first night.

Singapore's Chris Timms also took his first ever ATM race win on the 60km - the second points race for the ATM Championship ranking. The man-in-form led from the start and finished in 12h07'09", indicating once again what a tough course UTOP has. Timms preceeded Alex Tilley by nearly 40 minutes with Mohd Ammar Md Yazid taking third. Incidentally, nothing changed from the first checkpoint after 8,5km onwards. Kok Lam Yong was fourth. Zulharif Zakaria is fifth.

The women’s 60 km race winner was Siew Chen Tan in 17h33. She was pushed forward to the finish line by Peg San Tan who finished second 17 minutes later. In third place and completing the podium is Seoh Ling Tan. Also for Siew Chen Tan it was the first time she took top honours in an ATM points race.

The 100 km Grandmaster-only race (i.e no championship ranking points) was won by Gustin Tiam and Norlela Ismail.

Event Director Seow Kong Ng with 100 miles victor Aqmal Adzmi

Siew Chen Tan took the women’s 60km win

Peg San Tan was not too far behind the race winner in 2nd place

Chris Timms continued his fine performance streak with his first ATM race win on the 60km