The island of Borneo is increasingly promoting itself as a trail running centre in South East Asia. Thanks to Mount Kinabalu and the former Climbathlon race, and the still very popular TMBT event, the Malaysian State of Sabah on the northern part of Borneo has been crucial in this development. No surprise that ever more trail events are being organised, and in a fine way, too. We are happy to announce therefore that Kadamaian Ultra, a.k.a. KAR Ultra, will be joining the ATM Championship calendar in 2024. Already a Candidate Race in 2022, the event enters our calendar on the last weekend of July, i.e. 27/28 July, with the 110km and 60km races offering points for the ATM Championship ranking.

KAR Ultra is centered around Kota Belud, roughly an hour north of Kota Kinabalu. It is supported by Kadamaian Tourism with the medium and long-term ambition to make the area the main sports and adventure hub in Sabah. Local communities are engaged in the event as well, and will be supporting all the participants. Cultural and culinary programmes, to taste the local cuisine, are also foreseen. The start venue is Kampung. Tambatuon, which is situated at the foot of Mount Nungkok (also known as Mount Kinabalu's child) and directly leads to the valleys and hills of the Kadamaian area. Participants will see the beautiful scenery along the trail, including hills, clear rivers, rice fields, and even Aki Nabalu. For those who wonder, the race courses are indeed different from TMBT.

Runners can book themselves into a hotel in Kota Kinabalu as well, because a shuttle van can be booked while registering for the races. The vans will depart as scheduled from Likas Square on the north side of KK City. As is custom in Sabah, the 110km and 60km points races will start around sunrise (5:20/5:30 am) - so come prepared if heat is a concern for you.

Registration is open and can be done easily via the usual Checkpointspot platform in Malaysia.

Obviously, Sabah’s #1 trail runner Milton Amat has already added himself to the list of winners at KAR Ultra

Milton Amat and Wilsen Singgin came out on top of a challenging ATM Candidate Race in Kota Belud last weekend. The two runners were clearly at ease at Kadamaian Ultra 70k on their home soil in Sabah and put considerable distance between themselves and the others, such as Daved SImpat, a surprisingly strong Gustin Tiam, the Sumping brothers, Marius Mousin and Guianus Salagan. The breadth of trail talent in Sabah seems to be still growing, but Milton Amat - along with Simpat among the elders there - shows no signs of having slowed down since the covid crisis. In fact, Amat was on the backfoot and considerably behind Singgin and Simpat in the early stages of the race, which also involved a number of river crossings. But when the number 3 in the 2019 ATM Championship and winner of BUTM 100 last March turned on his engine after checkpoint 3 it did not take very long before he was right at the front with Wilsen Singgin. Simpat had to let both runners go and had a battle with Gustin Tiam for the last step on the podium. The lead duo stuck together and Milton did not contest the official race victory for Wilsen. The pair concluded the course in 10h53. In any case, their performances bode well for the big race in six weeks: Borneo TMBT Ultra, when Milton Amat will need to deal with a highly motivated Hisashi Kitamura again.

In the women’s race, we saw a convincing performance by Mailin Salungin and Kona Liau. Salungin was leading nearly the whole race, but Liau kept the pressure on and finished just ten minutes behind. The two of them were in a league of their own, with Adelinah and Jassica Lintanga ending their race together in third and fourth, but two hours back.

Mailin Salungin : great win and performance!

If you thought that trail running in Sabah is only TMBT and BUTM, think again. This weekend the next ATM Candidate Race will take place in Kota Belud, approx one hour north of Kota Kinabalu: the Kadamaian Ultra, also known as KAR Ultra 70. This race developed under the wings of the Kadamaian Adventure Race that has been organised already for a number of years. KAR Ultra 70 will see nearly all the top runners from Sabah on the start list. It’s almost a Sabahan Championship race!

The main race of 70km has 3250 hm of elevation gain and has a course that goes up and down with one significant peak in the middle. It’s hard to tell if everyone will go flat out this weekend, but it will be very interesting to follow Milton Amat’s performance. Amat was one of the big ATM Championship challengers in 2019 and became the benchmark in Sabah that year. After the covid break, Amat showed at BUTM last March that he has lost none of his ability despite now also being 40 years old. It has again been quiet around him since, however, which is perhaps not unusual, but it does make trail observers wonder how well he will perform this weekend. Daved Simpat, who scored 2nd in Cameron Ultra just a fortnight ago and Wilsen Singgin, the 2021 Malaysia Trail Master Champion, are always strong competitors, and at KAR Ultra we are delighted to see also the two Sumping brothers on the same start list: Saffrey and Sampirin! This really does not happen a lot to get all the top dogs in the same race, and it is what gives Saturday’s KAR Ultra a lot of spice!

In the women’s 70k race, the Lintanga sisters naturally assume a lot of attention. Adelinah, winner of Penang Eco 100 miles in 2019 and 2nd at MMTF last December, will be making her first major appearance of the season after the postponement of her Everest climbing plans. Jassica Lintanga - Jess - is hoping to return to her podium-scoring form of before the covid crisis.

Milton Amat was in superb form at BUTM last March.

Adelinah Lintanga saw her Everest plans evaporate earlier this year and returns to her home trails tomorrow

We are happy to announce the latest ATM Candidate Race that will in fact take place very soon at the end of this month. The Kadamaian Ultra in Kota Belud in Sabah, Malaysia, is part of a bigger adventure race festival and is a new addition to the calendar in the home area of renowned trail runners such as Milton Amat, Wilsen Singgin, Daved Simpat and the Lintanga sisters. Officially called the High 5 KAR Ultra, the main race is 70 km in length and has an elevation gain estimated at 3250 hm. As you can see in the course map below, it’s quite an organic loop with the highest peak coming in the middle. Start and finish is at Kg. Malangkap Baru, Kadamaian in Kota Belud, roughly one hour north of Kota Kinabalu. The race start is planned for 6 am. Shuttle busses will take runners from Kota Kinabalu, but be aware you need to sign up for the bus via a google form on the website (see button)

As the event takes place in 3 weeks, race registration is already closed, but ATM can make two runners happy with a free race entry still now! Stay tuned for details on how to win the entry later today.