The 2016 Asia Trail Master series has seen some superb trail racing and fantastic performances in the first half of the year. The stars of the moment are of course Manolito Divina and Tahira Najmunisaa, who both amassed 1050 points in the two races they have competed in so far. Meanwhile, Aleksis Capili has become our first Asia Trail Grandmaster by finishing six races of 70 km or more in less than two calendar years. Truly outstanding, and arguably THE run of the season so far was Divina's Malaysia Eco 100 miles victory in May. Both the Filipino and Malaysian athletes have set their eyes on winning the Asia Trail Master championship this year, so other runners with ambition will need to get passed them in the second semester. In any case, there will be challengers.

As temperatures are rising high in most Asian countries, first there is a summer break. A welcome relief for plenty of runners, quality time to recharge the batteries. This does not mean there won't be any racing at all in summer. The next points scoring races are Magnificent Merapoh Trail (Malaysia) and Rinjani 100 (Indonesia) on the last weekend of July, closely followed by the oldest race on our calendar: the Mongolia Sunrise 2 Sunset on 3 August. Before that, however, we also have the new 2017 Candidate Race in Siberian Russia: Altai Ultra Trail.

One important conclusion of the first six months of 2016 is that most events have shown great maturity. Problems with course markings, stewards and logistics, which characterised several events in Asia last year, were not absent but remarkably fewer. The Asian trail running scene has developed fast in a short period of time, and we congratulate the race organisers within our Asia Trail Master series for their great work and cooperation. Let's move on in the same way, at all times keeping the standards put forward by ITRA in mind, particularly concerning safety and security measures. As announced earlier this week, we now formally accept applications from event organisers to join the 2017 Asia Trail Master series. Please remember that we have a maximum number of races per country, so better to apply early rather than late. We will announce the initial race calendar for 2017 in the first week of August.

Any companies or brands keen on sponsoring the Asia Trail Master series and/or runners are also very welcome to contact us on info@asiatrailmaster.com

Returning to the 2016 points championship, remember that the best three points results for each runner will be taken into account for the final ranking at the end of the year. The last race is the grassroots race in Cambodia on 18 December, the Two Mountains Marathon. Two more SuperTrail events remain on the agenda: MesaStila Peaks Challenge in Central Java, Indonesia, on 8/9 October, and Clark-Myamit Falls Ultra in Philippines on 27 November. SuperTrails give finishers 50 bonus points.

This weekend we have the 2017 Candidate race on Mindanao in the Philippines, Mt Hamiguitan Trail. We wish all participants a great race, and all other runners a fun and relaxing break!

Top 10 Men:

1. Manolito Divina (PHI) 1050
2. Isaac Yuen Wan Ho (HKG) 900
3. Xu Xiutao (CHN) 800
4. Aleksis Capili (PHI) 737
5. Matthew Kennedy (GBR) 641
6. Guan Zhong (CHN) 640
7. Yunseok Yong (KOR) 600
8. Raymond Cheung Ching Yiu (HKG) 550
=. Hua Zhaohong (CHN) 550
10.Ali Ajis Rasil (BRU) 520

Top 10 Women:

1. Tahira Najmunisaa (MAS) 1050
2. Ma Yanxing (CHN) 550
=. Yuen Kit Shan (HKG) 550
4. Akmaral Meirman (KAZ) 500
=. Ann-Mari Lillejord (NOR) 500
=. Zhou Dongmei (CHN) 500
=. Yukaku Takashima (JPN) 500
=. Gretchen Felipe (PHI) 500
=. Yukari Fukuda (JPN) 500
=. Tseng Weiling (TPE) 500
=. Qu Lijie (CHN) 500
=. Xiao Jing (CHN) 500

Check the full rankings here. You can filter by nationality, search for your favourite runner, click on their points to see where they come from, and so on.

Tahira (right) and her husband and equally strong runner Abdul Rahman

By finishing 12th in the Echigo Country Trail, South Korea's Yunseok Yong moved up to 7th in the 2016 Asia Trail Master ranking

Ranking Update - Divina and Najmunisaa enter the summer break as leaders