The 9th edition of Tahura Trail in Bandung will not be the same spectactular trail festival weekend as usual, but at least there will still be ‘real’ trail running on the original 42k marathon course, and ATM Championship points up for grabs on Saturday, 23 January. Good news for runners in Indonesia, who have a chance to score points in the same manner those in Vietnam, Thailand and Japan have been able to do in the past couple of months. It is a brilliant and laudible effort by the running division of IBA, technical event organisers, to make this happen in an area where the health crisis is currently far from over. Registration opens on Boxing Day, 26 December.

Under the tagline “The new normal” , the Tahura Trail event as a whole will actually last for two full weeks, as covid 19 prevention measures do not allow more than 150 people inside the park and on the trail course on the same day. The event protocol has been agreed with local authorities and will be strictly policed. Even though everyone has a fortnight from 16 to 31 January to run the course in the various race distance categories, it is important to emphasise that the elite runners aiming for ATM Championship points must sign up for the race on the 23rd, as all other days do not count. The main reason is to of course ensure everyone will be running in the same weather and trail conditions.

The Indonesian country borders remain closed for the time being, so the event will be held with domestic residents-only. Race packages, including timing chip, will be sent by post to successful registrants, who also need to hand in a valid rapid test result certificate from a hospital when they come to the Tahura park. Runners are required to download the race route onto their GPS watch or phone app, and follow the permanent marking signs along the route. Very important for result verification is also the requirement to take photos at the starting point, all checkpoints along the route and the finish point. The official starting time for the elite 42k race is between 6 and 8 am.

Last January the Tahura Trail race was won by Jeff Campbell, who had already won once back in 2018, and Charlotte Tacquet. In the upcoming edition, local and other Indonesian trail stars such as Ruth Theresia, Arief Wismoyono, Yusuf Aprian and Taofik Hidayat will have a great opportunity to boost their ATM Championship ranking before international events resume again.

What a podium in the men’s race last year. Jeff Campbell took his second win at Tahura

Max 150 runners permitted per day, but that should still provide for a great race on the 23rd when the ATM Championship points are on the line

At home in the Tahura Park: Ruth Theresia. She could move up to 2nd place in the 2020-21 ATM Championship ranking

Will Yusuf Aprian grab the chance to run himself into the international picture this time around?

More than 3600 runners took part in the 8th edition of the Tahura Trail event in Bandung, Java, Indonesia, of whom 620 on the 42 km trail marathon - the opening points race of the 2020 Asia Trail Master Championship season. As in 2018, Hong Kong-based Canadian Jeff Campbell grabbed the race win ahead of Alessandro Sherpa, Hishashi Kitamura, Pablo Diago Gonzales, Ando Akihide and last year’s winner Mohamed Affindi. Running conditions were quite ideal for Bandung standards and this translated in fast times. Campbell went below 4 four hours for the first time in the race’s history.

In the women’s race, France’s Charlotte Taquet from Hong Kong’s Gone Running Team had a rather comfortable maiden race victory in ATM. Taquet has her eyes set on the Championship title this season and could not have wished for a better start of her campaign!

Below is the video race report of the main contenders’ finish arrivals.

A fantastic men’s podium with Kitamura clearly aiming for something in the coming months …

A new face and new ATM race winner: Charlotte Taquet!

Ando Akihide was a very strong fifth place, overtaking Mohamed Affindi in the final section!

Taifuk Hidayat was the best male Indonesian this year with 7th place

Jeff Campbell in his element at Tahura Trail: his 2nd victory here in 3 years

Alessandro Sherpa confirmed the good vibes from MMTF: he’s back at his best with possibly more to come!

After taking a bit of a very welcome break since MMTF, Hisashi Kitamura settled for third but did not forget his trademark ‘Karate Kit’ jump!

This Saturday Tahura Trail kicks off the 6th edition of the Asia Trail Master Championship series. The traditional season opener in Bandung, Indonesia, has smashed its own record and attracted well over 3000 participants including several elite runners from the Asian region for the 8th edition of the country’s biggest trail event in terms of participant numbers. The 42km long trail marathon remains the main race category on which finishers will collect their first ATM Championship points of 2020.

While several event organisers every year feel a need to increase the distance of their longest race, Agung Adijani of IBA stays with 42km ‘because the course works’. For sure it does. Tahura Trail has a bit of everything you can expect of a trail running course. While it is shorter than most, the 1800 hm of elevation will make itself felt and the technical sections are challenging for each participant. While the weather gods treated the runners well in the past two years, rainfall in Bandung can always turn Tahura into a bit of a mudfest as well. As such, nothing is a given in this race and even the fastest legs sometimes get beaten by those with more overall strength and technical skill. Last year’s winner Mohamed Affindi is a prime example of that when he had the better of the theoretically quicker runners Pablo Diago Gonzales and Tomohiro Mizukoshi.

Malaysia’s Affindi is returning to Bandung this weekend in an attempt to repeat last year’s performance and kickstart his 2020 ATM campaign. Work commitments in the army prevented him from living up to his full potential for most of last season, but according to his team Malatra manager Razif Yahya he will have more opportunities for focused training and racing in the coming months. While Singapore-based Spaniard Pablo Diago Gonzales will be one Affindi’s biggest rivals again this Saturday, arguably the top favourite is 2018 winner Jeff Campbell.

The Canadian from Hong Kong, running for our preferred retail store partner Gone Running-Joint Dynamics, is indeed coming back to Tahura Trail and with more than just this one ATM race in mind. Inspired by John Ellis and perhaps even more by Veronika Vadovicova, Campbell has stated he wants to give the championship a go. The Slovakian phenomenon proved that you don’t need to win a series of 100k races to get the points needed to claim the ATM title at the end of the season. Her longest race in 2019 was the last one in Taiping: 84 km. By exploiting his experience of two years ago Campbell is looking for the best possible start of his championship campaign. He won’t get the victory presented on a silver platter, though. Aside from the aforementioned contenders Affindi and Diago Gonzales, Campbell will need to deal also with Alessandro Sherpa, Hisashi Kitamura and the motivated local hero Yusuf Aprian. Together with Margono, Sherpa was the one pushing Campbell forward in this race two seasons ago and is arguably now in better shape than then. Karate Kit is making his debut in Bandung and we know his amazing speed on the medium distance. In the case of the Uglow Asia leader we need to wait and see how well he has recovered from a very long and tough 2019 season, in which he of course finished as runner-up to Ellis in the ATM Championship. Yusuf Aprian is still the youngest of all the known podium contenders and is keen to improve his performance once again. Aprian is part of the famous Bandung Explorer Team of Arief Wismoyono and Ruth Theresia and reportedly wants to give the ATM Championship a go this season. As such he may become a favourite for the new and soon-to-be-introduced T8 Trophy for the ‘Best Youth Runner’ in the 2020 Asia Trail Master Championship series.

Other potential podium contenders in the men’s race are the inevitable Rudi Iskandar, Stephen Dundon and Aris Sopiandi Muklis (the 2019 Indonesia Trail Master). The beauty of the season opening race is of course that we may always discover new names…. such as Asuka Nakajima last year.

Asuka Nakajima burst onto the ATM Scene by winning Tahura Trail ahead of Sri Wahyuni. This weekend, however, both runners are not on the start list. The women’s 42k race could become a race between two Asia-based French ladies: Charlotte Taquet and Josephin Anselin, and local hero Ruth Theresia. The latter’s participation in the 42k is still a bit in doubt given her busy racing schedule coming up with also the 9 Dragons in Hong Kong and the EcoTrail Al Ula in Saudi Arabia as targets for her new ATM campaign. In the last two years, Ruth has indeed used the 21K B-race at Tahura as a speed test and may opt to do that again. On paper, though, a podium on the 42k should be a given. Josephin Anselin is based in Jakarta and known as a very fast marathon runner, but she has been out of racing for a long time due to persistent injury that plagued her last year. If Anselin is fit, she could be the measure of things although her relative lack of experience in trail may boost the chances of Theresia and of Charlotte Taquet. Keen ATM fans may remember that name from the 9 Dragons last year. Indeed, she won the 50km. That was not a points race then (this year it is!), but note that Taquet beat none other than Kim Matthews and Sandi Menchi that day! Running for the T8 Team of John Ellis, Taquet has been put forward as a challenger for the women’s ATM Championship. As usual, ATM will be reporting LIVE from the events also this season via our facebook page and instagram primarily. The 42k race coverage at Tahura begins on Saturday early morning around 6 am.

Mohamed Affindi on the way to victory at Tahura last year

Jeff Campbell returns to Bandung after winning here two years ago

Yusuf Aprian is Indonesia’s young hope for competitive trail running

There’s always a great festive vibe at the first event of the new ATM season!

It is of course already known for months, but also in 2020 the Asia Trail Master season will commence in Indonesia, and more precisely with the 8th edition of Tahura Trail in Bandung, West Java on 18 January. We cannot think of a better event to start a championship and are indeed delighted to have extended the agreement with Mr Agung Adijani, the driving force behind Tahura Trail. The event features a wide range of race distance categories, but it is of course the 42 km long trail marathon that matters for the ATM Championship, which in 2020 enters its sixth edition.

The race calendar for 2020 is beginning to shape up and features a number of meanwhile classic Asian trail races and a few exciting newcomers. To begin with the EcoTrail Al Ula in Saudi Arabia: a 80km awesome run in a new destination that has everything to become a tourism hotspot in future. The race course is our own design, in fact. Saudi Arabia is one of the new countries in the 2020 ATM season. The other big one is (most likely) India! On our website and our facebook page you can already see the list of 2020 races for the first four months. This list won’t change. In May we may very soon announce a second event to precede Vietnam Jungle Marathon, and also in June there will be changes to what we had in 2019. Stay tuned for updates. Malaysian runners should be aware that the SuperTrail this year will be Borneo TMBT Ultra, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2020.. The 100km is the key points race, but we are trying to elevate the 50k to the same status as well - given it is so competitive as well every year. Speaking of which, the 9 Dragons Ultra in Hong Kong now focuses on the 50/50 stage race and the 50k single race, too, so no longer the 50 miles. Throughout 2019 we have picked up vibes from elite and regular trail runners that there’s too much emphasis on ultra long distances. Hence, we will try to bring long and medium distance more in balance to the extent possible. Stay tuned via our usual channels.

Meanwhile, sign up for Tahura Trail and spend another fantastic weekend in the beautiful Bandung area, which also has an airport if you wish to avoid the car/bus journey from Jakarta.

Tahura Trail website and registration

2019 Video Recap: Mohamed Affindi scores a big win!

2019 Video recap: Asuka Nakajima takes inaugural win in women’s 42k!

At the start line, the men’s podium looked like it was written in the stars

Tahura Trail organiser Agung Adijani will once again open the Asia Trail Master Championship in 2020

Tahura Trail is truly the best season opener imaginable!

Malaysian powerhouse Mohamad Affindi grabbed his maiden win on the Asia Trail Master tour with a masterful run at Tahura Trail in Bandung, Indonesia, last Saturday. Taking the bull by the horns from the get-go, Affindi still had enough dash left in the tank to fend off the late charge by the surprisingly quick Pablo Diago Gonzales. Tomohiro Mizukoshi was a great third, while his Japanese compatriot Asuka Nakajima controlled the women’s 42k trail race and made a perfect ATM debut.

The 7th edition of Tahura Trail was one for the record books with over 2700 people registered for the four races that took place during the weekend. 480 of them appeared on the start list of the 42k trail marathon, which for the third year in succession was the opener of the Asia Trail Master Championship season. As per tradition, the current ATM champions were present at the Tahura Park. However, Alessandro Sherpa (recovering from a surgical procedure two weeks ago) and Ruth Theresia (in training for her first goal, the 9 Dragons Ultra) did not compete in the main event. Bandung in January is often hit by heavy rain showers, but for the first time in three years, the race was dry from start to finish.

Whenever a new season kicks off, we look forward to seeing new names appear on the boards, but this time in the men’s it was the established guard who controlled proceedings. Mohamad Affindi had been chasing a race win in ATM for one-and-a-half years, scoring multiple second places in the process, and finally got it right in Bandung. The 34-year-old Malaysian typically started fast and went solo after local youngster Yusuf Aprian, Ari Masrudi and Japan’s Tomohiro Mizukoshi were overheating. Seasoned long distance trail runner Mizukoshi was able to maintain a high pace, though, and didn’t allow Affindi to lose focus. Aprian lost a bit more terrain, yet would finish eventually as fourth and that is a visual improvement from last season, when he got eighth. Aprian, only in his mid-twenties, was the top Indonesian runner on the weekend and increasingly looks like the man who could challenge Arief Wismoyono - unable to run in Tahura due to work obligations - for the number one spot in his country. On the other hand, Masrudi didn’t have the best of runs as he slipped from second (2017), fifth (2018) to sixth this year. He was the one who resisted most to Affindi’s early attack. Another local trail veteran, Rudi Iskandar, managed to pass Masrudi at the end to score fifth place. Christovik Simatupang and Fandhi Achmad were the next finishers.

And where was Pablo Diago Gonzales all that time? At some point, the Singapore-based Spaniard was down in tenth place! However, he is not a three-time race winner and two-time top five ATM championship finisher for nothing. Diago Gonzales left the early battles to the others, and gradually began to up his pace in the second half of the race. One by one he collected and overtook, and in the final five kilometre he even passed Tomohiro Mizukoshi going into second place. Eventually, he even approached Affindi, which made the latter so nervous he shifted back up a gear and powered over the final hill to the finish line in 4:27. The top trio arrived relatively close together they all got into the live video broadcast that you can see below. By all means an excellent start of the season for all three protagonists.

The women’s race was perhaps less spectacular as Asuka Nakajima’s pace was just a little too high for Surabaya’s Sri Wahyuni, who collected yet another podium place in an ATM points race. Wahyuni will take comfort in Affindi’s victory, as it also took him a long time before finally taking the podium’s top step. Nakajima is based in Jakarta, runs a 3:14 road marathon, and will be someone to be reckoned with in the next months, as she is poised to compete in several ATM points races, including even the super tough Indonesia SuperTrail, Mantra Summits Challenge in Malang in July.

Debby Meylia won the 21K race ahead of Ruth Theresia, who was ‘in training’. Still, a remarkable run by the road runner from Jakarta

Below is the video summary of the live broadcasts on the Asia Trail Master facebook page during the Tahura Trail 42K race.

Tahura Trail 42K - FInish of the Men’s Winner Mohammad Affindi

Tahura Trail 42K - Finish of Women’s Race Winner Asaku Nakajima

Tahura Trail 21K - Finish of the race winners

Tahura Trail : Broadcast of the race start

It’s 2019 and it’s tabula rasa! A clean sheet for all runners at the start of the 5th Asia Trail Master Championship series, which kicks off tomorrow in Indonesia with the 7th Tahura Trail in Bandung, West Java. Who will rise to the top in the next 11 months to compete with the established guard on the challenging trails of Asia? The five-best-count rule remains in effect, and runners can score championship points in 30 races across at least 13 countries before the big new final in Taiping, the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival on 14/15 December! By then we know who the successors are of 2018 ATM Champions Alessandro Sherpa and Ruth Theresia. 

The two defending champions will be honoured at the beautiful Tahura Hutan Raya on Sunday morning, as has become custom. Tahura Trail has indeed been the opening event of the Asia Trail Master series since three years and we love it. The 42k trail marathon is a concise summary of everything what trail running is about, and given the moderate race distance the ideal start of anyone’s campaign after the new year’s break. Sherpa and Theresia will not be eyeing the victory on Saturday, however. The Singapore-based Italian underwent long-postponed surgery two weeks ago and is currently unable to race, let alone on the potentially wet and slippery trails of Tahura Trail’s mid-section. Homerunner Theresia opts for the 21K non-ATM distance, as she did last season. Her focus is on the 9 Dragons Ultra in Hong Kong in two weeks’ time, the first SuperTrail in the 2019 ATM Championship, for which she wants to be in top form. 

Ari Masrudi (above) and Yusuf Aprian (right)

The trail marathon in and around the park in Bandung has a wide open competition, at least on paper. Six to eight runners have a logical chance to emerge victorious in the men’s. Without Jeff Campbell (winner last year) and Abdullah Mitiche (winner 2016, 2017), it could be the big day of Ari Masrudi. The fast Indonesian has been second and fifth in this race and therefore has the experience to time his efforts perhaps better than his rivals. Masrudi has been knocking on the ATM door for some time, and a big win in the season opener would be the protagonist entry he has been looking for. The same applies to BDG youngster Yusuf Aprian. A raw talent who has notched up wins already, but not yet at the level of ATM’s A races. His second place behind Salva Rambla at Ijen 70 just a few months ago does indicate that it is only a matter of time. Aprian making that final step forward in his development would be fantastic. Last year he was 8th in this race. What can we expect from Jakarta’s Christovik Simatupang? A specialist of the shorter trail races, Simatupang is arguably the dark horse of the weekend. If he can keep his pace over the full distance of 42 km, he won’t be far off the podium, which means top 5 in Tahura. Aiming for that will also be Rudy Iskandar. A strong competitor who crossed the finish line in 6th place a year ago. Japan’s Akihede Ando was behind him in 7th, and is also returning on Saturday. But Ando will not be the only Japanese runner with ambition at the starting line: ATM’s Trailmate of the Year, Tomohiro Mizukoshi is making the journey from Tokyo to Tahura to launch his 2019 campaign in the best possible way: a win. Not taking a long rest after a heavy 2018 season in which he took 3rd place in the Championship, Mizukoshi has tasted victory before in Indonesia, winning the Plataran X Trail in Bali last October. His running speed is quick and he knows how to cope with mud and technical sections, yet is 42 km long enough for Mizukoshi to make the difference? For Malaysia’s Mohammad Affindi the marathon distance may be just right. Always quick out of the blocks, Affindi may find a trail course made for his characteristics and yes, he is motivated to launch his new ATM campaign with a bang. Finally, what can Spaniard Pablo Diago Gonzales do at Tahura? Everyone knows who strong he is on the most technical and toughest of races - see Mantra Summits Challenge - but he is actually also a fast road runner on a good day. Diago Gonzales won three ATM races over 70 km in 2017, two of them in Indonesia, and finished 4th and 5th in the Championship in 2017 and 2018 respectively. Never underestimate him! Another born European who will feature up front is Wilhelmus Van Vliet, winner of the 21K race last year and now moving up to the A-race of 42 km. 

The participation of Margono, the Indonesian speed-walker who was second behind Campbell and ahead of Sherpa last year, is still in doubt. If he turns up, Margono of course becomes a top contender for the race win as well. What is certain, however, is that Bandung’s number one Arief Wismoyono won’t be competing this weekend as work duties prevent him from doing so. 

In the women’s race all eyes will be cast on Sri Wahyuni, the number 3 of the 2018 ATM Championship and of this race as well. The Surabayan runner often made races a bit harder than anticipated for Ruth Theresia last year, and could grab her first career ATM race win. Already a Grandmaster as well, Wahyuni has incredible grit and always gives it her all. Of course, a maiden victory won’t be given to her on a silver platter. On paper, she may receive the sternest challenge from a Japanese runner who has a 3:20 pace on the road marathon: Asuka Nakajima. Based in Indonesia, Nakajima is making her debut in ATM and it will be fascinating to see how she fares in Tahura Trail. Others eyeing a podium result will be Mila Marlina, Novita Wulandari, Ping Yanti and Siti Nuraini. 

Asia Trail Master will be covering the opening race of the new season extensively via social media as usual. As of 6 am on Saturday, Jakarta time, we will start with our multimedia coverage, including live video broadcasts. Just go to our Facebook ATM page to follow the event. 

Sri Wahyuni could take her first ATM race win this weekend

As in the past two years, Tahura Trail will once again open the new Asia Trail Master Championship season in 2019 at the Taman Hutan Raya on 19-20 January. It is one of the most popular events of the entire calendar, as a matter of fact, and ideal to begin a new year of trail running as the long distance remains wisely restricted to the meanwhile classic course of 42 km, or a marathon distance. Registrations for the event are already open.

Mr Agung Adijani from IBA is the organising force behind Tahura Trail, an event that is a bit atypical for Indonesia, a country renowned for its many monster ultras. Convinced there’s a place for less challenging trail races on the domestic calendar, he has seen Tahura grow to one of the biggest trail events in the country, if not the biggest. Other than the ATM Championship distance of 42 km, there’s also a 21 km, 17k night run and more ‘family-targeted’ races. Close to 2000 runners will be visiting the beautiful surroundings of Taman Hutan Raya. Mind you, less challenging does not imply it is an easy race. Tahura Trail is often wet in parts, causing a few trails to be muddy and slippery, and 1600 metres of elevation gain in 42 km still needs to be conquered first before you can relax your muscles in of the several spas and relaxation resorts in the area.

It being the opening race of the season, the Asia Trail Master champions usually join Tahura Trail to open their new campaign. Many other international stars do likewise. This year, global medium distance trail star Jeff Campbell traveled to Bandung, and it was great to see how he was being pushed by a.o. local Bandung runner Margono. Kim Matthews was outstanding in the women’s race. Unfortunately, it would prove to be her only ATM race of the 2018 season, as the Australian is plagued by a delicate and persisting hip injury.

There’s direct flights to Bandung from a few Asian cities, notably Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur. You can also fly into Jakarta, and arrange bus/minivan/car transport (Grab) from the airport to Bandung. Travel time fluctuates a bit depending on road traffic, but the distance isn’t that far.

You can sign up for the 2019 Tahura Trail via the official website.

The ATM Champions always enjoy coming to Tahura Trail to begin another campaign

 

11/03 - Tahura Trail (INA)

A Hong Kong trail superstar came to Indonesia and conquered the Tahura Trail Marathon in Bandung, the opening race of the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship series. Jeff Campbell was the hot favourite before the start, and he delivered on his credentials in exquisite style, completing the muddy course in 4 hours and 5 minutes ahead of the strongest field ever in this great race. In the women’s race, 2017 Asia Trail Master champion Kim Matthews started her season’s campaign with a comfortable victory as well. Although the event weekend was significantly drier than last year, many parts of the course proved too be extremely treacherous and slippery for the over 420 runners on the longest 42k marathon distance of the event. 

The 35-year-old Campbell is a specialist of the medium distance trail and renowned for his velocity. While he admitted that Tahura Trail was muddier and therefore tricky and technical more than he has been used to in Hong Kong, Campbell felt in command of the race. It wasn’t a start-to-finish solo run, though. Until past the halfway mark, he was still accompanied by Italy’s Alessandro Sherpa and the surprisingly strong Margono Ono, a local speed walker who finished fifth in this race last year. In fact, Margono received praise from both westerners for his sheer speed in the first half of the marathon. While he had no response to the acceleration of Campbell and Sherpa after 20 km, the Indonesian did maintain a high pace and caught Sherpa still at the end to snatch second place away from him. A bit further back was local Bandung hero Arief Wismoyono, who equaled his fourth place from last year. Perhaps more at ease on the ultra distances, Wismoyono nevertheless looked good in this short and rather fast race and stayed ahead of Ari Masrudi, who still beat him at Tahura last season. The 2017 runner-up in the championship will be a top favourite for UTKC in Thailand next month, along with Sherpa - who will also be competing in the first SuperTrail of the year. The solid performances of Margono and Wismoyono were further accentuated by the fact that Gaspard Dessy - third in 2017 - “only” came in ninth yesterday, and the Tahura king of 2016 and 2017 - Abdoullah Mitiche - barely made the top 15 this time around! Triathlete Mitiche was in shape and focused to go for the hattrick, but a direction error early on put him in a chasing group where he never really got out of. Also Fandhi Achmad - winner of Bandung Ultra 100 last September - and Asia Trail Master champion Steven Ong were the whole day condemned to the chase. In the case of Ong that was not entirely unexpected, as the 41-year-old Malaysian is at his best on the ultra distances. The champion started his 2018 ATM season with a 12th place. 

Jeff Campbell is supported by a.o. Gone Running - also a sponsor of the 2018 ATM Championship - and will likely be seen more often on the tour this year. Born in Canada, he only discovered his running talent about four years ago and since then he has made a remarkable rise to the very top of the Hong Kong trail community. While 50K is his standard race distance, Campbell pointed out after the race that eventually he will try and move up to longer distances as well. 

Margono Ono: a speed walker about to turn trail runner

The men's top 3 captured 1 km before the finish line: Campbell, Margono and Sherpa (P: Adventure III)

Kim Matthews took a relatively easy start before overtaking Ninie Hausschildt and then pulling away from the Indonesian, who has a subscription on second place at Tahura. Ninie Hausschildt, also more a triathlete than a trail runner, finished runner-up for the third consecutive year! In third place was Sri Wahyuni, who has become a regular podium visitor in Indonesian trail races lately. 

Matthews looks increasingly confident and strong in Asian trail races, which is bad news for her challengers to the throne. Last season, the Australian speech therapist suffered more than once from heat exhaustion, but seems to have overcome this problem since moving to Ho Chi Minh City. 

Bandung’s own Ruth Theresia opted to run the 21K half marathon at Tahura Trail. Theresia is in full training programme for the SuperTrails in Thailand and Philippines in February and March with the 2018 ATM championship title as top goal. It was nice to see that Matthews and Theresia ran side by side during the 10K race at Tahura the day after as well. There is competition, but trail running is mostly about fun and friendship!

Steven Ong and Kim Matthews were celebrated as the 2017 ATM Champions

Tahura Trail offers great scenery (P: AIII)

Everybody excited for the new season!

The 4th Asia Trail Master Championship begins at 6:45 am on Saturday with the 42k long Tahura Trail in Bandung, main city of West Java in Indonesia. It’s the 6th edition of the most popular race in the country based on participan numbers, and as last season, the two defending Asia Trail Master champions Steven Ong and Kim Matthews will be joining a very strong line-up of local and regional runners. In fact, the entire top 4 of the male 2017 Tahura race is back, including winner Abdoullah Mitiche and 2017 championship runner-up Arief Wismoyono. 

For Abdoullah Mitiche, Tahura Trail is his annual rendez-vous with the trail world before he focuses on what he loves even more: triathlon. Last year he was outstanding in overcoming a stern challenge from Ari Masrudi, Arief Wismoyono, Gaspard Dessy and Manolito Divina to take his second consecutive victory in the final kilometres. Can Mitiche do a hattrick at Tahura? It for sure won’t be handed to him on a silver plate. Other than the already mentioned runners, Steven Ong is keen to do well in his first ATM race as champion, even though being an ultra specialist he might find 42k on the short side. However, if the weather plays in his favour - when it’s wet - the course may just be technical enough for him to aim for the race win. A lot will also depend on the pace set by two western runners based in Hong Kong and Singapore respectively: Jeff Campbell and Alessandro Sherpa. Canada's Jeff Campbell has raised many eyebrows in recent months as he ran from victory to victory in Hong Kong. Sponsored by Gone Running, Campbell this year wants to see more of Asia and see where it gets him in the Asia Trail Master Championship. Hong Kong with all its concrete steps is rather unique, and on Saturday we will find out how Campbell fares on more natural and potentially muddy trails with a higher risk of missing markers along the route. Italian Alessandro Sherpa already knows what trail running is like in Indonesia. He was leading BTS Ultra last November until he failed to obtain his drop bag and saw no other choice but to end his race. Sherpa bounced back in UT Panoramic in Thailand  last month, finishing fourth in the 100 miles won by Steven Ong. While he prefers running ultra, Sherpa is sharp as a knife on    shorter distances and will regard Campbell as a challenge-in-the-race to boot. The men’s 42k Tahura Trail is going to be a blast with many potential winners who could just as well fail to even reach the podium! It’s the thrill of the shorter trail races that makes Tahura Trail the ideal season opener for the ATM championship. 

The men's podium last year: they are all back! 

ATM Champion Steven Ong 

Alessandro Sherpa: ready to make an impression!

Two months after their first and tight clash at Clark-Miyamit Falls Ultra in Philippines, Kim Matthews and Ruth Theresia will already be facing each other again. It could be a tough task for the Vietnam-based Australian, as Ruth Theresia is of course competing on home soil in Bandung and knows the course well. The form of the day will decide! Last year’s second place Ninie Hauschildt is also on the start list and definitely in for another shot at the podium on Saturday. Other women who could make it to the podium are Sri Wahyuni, Ina Budiyarni, Mila Marlina and Malaysian Puteri Norsharina, just to name some of the better known runners on the ATM tour. 

As usual, we will be reporting live from the field at Tahura Trail on Saturday via facebook, instagram and twitter. 

Kim Matthews is up against local hero Ruth Theresia for the second time after CM 50 Ultra. 

It is always exciting to announce the opening of registration for the first event of the new season. Tahura Trail will once again launch the Asia Trail Master Championship in 2018 on 20 January. Close to two thousand runnes will be expected in the Forest Park in Bandung, Indonesia, of whom the majority will engage in the 42k trail marathon - the points race for the ATM Championship. As of this week, you can commit yourself to the first challenge of 2018 since the organisers of Indonesia Biking Adventure have opened the books. 

The 42k race has a good mixture of everything trail running is about. Nevertheless participants need to take potential rain showers and muddy trails into account when they venture to West Java at that time of year. A drop of rain won't stop the party at Tahura, though, and it is one of the relatively few events that makes for a splendid weekend outing for the whole family. The outskirts of Bandung are picturesque enough and the area is full of spas and other types of comfortable accommodation facilities. 

For more details of the race, visit our cover page or go straight to the event website, where you can also register. 

Female podium of this year's 42K race with ATM Champion Tahira on the top step

The first race of the new Asia Trail Master championship series took place in Bandung, Indonesia, last weekend and was a worthy opener with two fantastic winners. Abdoullah Mitiche had to work hard on the very muddy and slippery course but repeated his victory from last year, while defending female Asia Trail Master champion Tahira Najmunisaa Muhammad Zaid delivered another superb run to take the women's race convincingly. The fifth edition of the event saw over 1700 participants spread over four race distances, all of whom had to spend time washing their shoes afterwards as heavy rain on Saturday night turned most of the trail course into a mud pool. 

The mud was good for the hardcore trail runners, but less so for the fast "road"runners who use the not-so-technical Tahura Trail to gain experience offroad, or simply because it is such a good event.  Algeria-born COMPRESSPORT athlete Abdoullah Mitiche is primarily a triathlete who does Tahura Trail year after year as it fits his schedule. Mitiche won last year, and was determined to repeat that feat last Sunday, even with established trail heroes such as Asia Trail Master champion Manolito Divina, Arief Wismoyono and Alan Maulana at the starting line. After a fast start, he and Margono - second place last year - opened up a small gap over his main rivals, but then took a wrong turn that put him back behind and on the chase. Divina was going well in his first ever race in Indonesia, until he also lost the right trail. Disaster struck for the Filippino star, as he was unable to find his way back to the right path and eventually was guided to the 21 km race course by a marshal. No ATM points for Divina in his first race this year. In trail running, you never know and bad things also happen to the best. Manolito Divina will aim to bounce back next weekend already at the Rizal Mountain Run. 

Ari Masrudi, a rather unfamiliar name on the trail circuit, was putting the pressure on in the mean time. A road runner first and foremost, Masrudi kept Wismoyono, Margono and the surprisingly quick Gaspard Dessy behind as the leaders entered the final 10k to the finish. However, when Mitiche started his final charge Masrudi had no answer. Given the treacherous conditions, it was amazing to see the winning time of Mitiche being virtually the same as last season: 4:02:16, six seconds ahead of Masrudi and almost five ahead of Dessy. 2015 ATM champion Arief Wismoyono opened his new account with 4th place and Margono settled for fifth. 

In the women's race, Malaysia's leading trail lady Tahira Najmunisaa had no match on the weekend. Taking charge on the first hill climb of the day, she gradually opened up a big gap to the other women and finished in an amazing time of 4:36:11, just 34 minutes slower than Mitiche in the men's! Second place went to Ninie Hauschild, mainly known as a triathlete as well, and third place to last year's Indonesia Trail Master Shindy Patricia. The women's field was also very competitive. 

On our facebook page, you can check pre and post race interviews with some of the protagonists of this year's Tahura Trail in Bandung. Both race winners are of course also the first leaders in the 2017 Asia Trail Master points championship. The next race is already taking place next weekend in the Philippines: the Rizal Mountain Run!