After two intense days of racing in the New Territories of Hong Kong, John Ellis and Corinne Williams crowned themselves as the so-called 9th Dragons yesterday. Both won one of the two stages - Ellis the 50 miles and  Williams the 50k - but probably had to fight harder to score a win than ever before in their trail running careers. Australia's John Ellis from the Gone Running team always keeps everyone in suspense as he is a notoriously slow starter, but this time he had to dig deep to handle the Japanese duo of Kazafumi Ose and Kaito Kobayashi. In yesterday's 50k, the Japanese runners seemed to have recovered better than Ellis from the tough 50 miles the day before and took the fight to him, aided also initially by the strong Malaysian Milton Amat. On Saturday, Kazafumi Ose was leading the race until Ellis caught him with just 20K to go, and yesterday Ose and especially Kobayashi -third on Saturday but significantly behind on time - had that little extra left in the tank. John Ellis needed to protect a time advantage of 20 minutes on Ose, and he did just that albeit settling for third place in the 50k race. Kobayashi won it ahead of Ose. Milton Amat was fourth on both days, and showed that his joint victory in Borneo TMBT Ultra last year was no accident. Britain's Tom Robertshaw is still recovering from injury, and in that respect had a promising result with 6th place, just two minutes behind Jeremy Ritcey in the overall. 

The women's 50/50 race was arguably even more exciting than the men's and also featured a leading trio who battled each other relentlessly on this very tough and technical race weekend. Australia’s Kellie Emmerson looked like the fastest woman in the first half of the 50 miles on Saturday, until Okinawa-based Corinne Williams and local French woman Elisa Jean De Dieu turned on their engines and began to catch up. Williams was first and wasted no time to put Emmerson under pressure. However, it was Elisa Jean De Dieu from Team Uglow who suddenly became the quickest woman on the course as she bridged the gap to Williams and even took a small lead. Williams, third at Izu Trail Journey last December, rallied hard but struggled for grip with a completely destroyed shoe sole. In a descent in the final section of the race, Elisa Jean De Dieu opened the decisive gap and took a very big race victory. Williams was able to limit the damage to 2’38”, while Emmerson dropped back signifcantly in third place. Sunday’s 50K was bound to be a thriller, and yet again, Emmerson and Williams were quicker “out of the blocks” than Elisa Jean De Dieu. The duo was helped by 50K single stage protagonist Sandi Menchi, who set a quick pace in her own determination to win that race category. Elisa Jean De Dieu was again just a few minutes behind. Contrary to Saturday, however, she was unable to get to the front. In the final section of the race, she felt the accumulation of efforts more than the others and would settle for third place in the race, losing over 1 hour to stage and overall winner Corinne Williams. It should be mentioned that Chris Yee Ting Kwan from Hong Kong delivered a great performance in the shadow of the big three, by finishing fourth in an overall time of less than 23 hours, only 17 minutes more than Kellie Emmerson. 

Corinne Williams joins Ruth Theresia at the top of the ATM Championship ranking with 550 points. The 9 Dragons was a SuperTrail race, as was UTKC last week and as is Cordillera Mountain Ultra next weekend. In the men's championship, John Ellis joins Jay jantaraboon in third place behind Arief Wismoyono and Dean Perez, who both already ran two points races this season. 

The 50 miles single stage category was another battleground last Saturday. In this one, Thailand-based Briton Harry Jones opened his ATM account with a great but hard-fought win over China’s Deng Guomin and Austria’s Michael Skobierski. Deng Guomin, from Shenzhen, proved to be the strongest climber of the trio, yet missed a marker, went off-trail and saw his advantage disappear like snow under the sun. Jones and Skobierski caught up and would not give him a second chance in the final 20K of the race. Jones attacked at the start of the final section and managed to pull away from a resilient Deng Guomin, while Skobierski settled for third. Jones finished in 10:41:22, 1’40” ahead of the Chinese runner. Harry Jones is on the start list of Cordillera Mountain Ultra next week, and hopes to be recovered for that by then. 

Itsuko Uemiya was the fastest woman in this category, which was the B-race and therefore still valid for points in the ATM championship.  The 50K category was not valid for points. 

The 9 Dragons proved again to be one of the hardest trail races in Hong Kong, if not the hardest. Current unofficial (!) finish rates are pending but are likely to be well below 50%. Not only are the two race courses as tough as they get in this part of Asia, but the CUTs are tight as well. To ease the pain, the organisation made sure all refreshment stations are appropriately stocked. 

John Ellis won the 50 Miles on Saturday and hung onto his time bonus on Sunday

Elsa Jean De Dieu and Corinna Williams put up a fantastic show in the women's 50/50! 

Kaito Kobayashi won the 50K, and had his private refreshment station the whole weekend

The podium of the men's 50 miles single stage with Harry Jones as winner

Just one week after Ultra-Trail Unseen Koh Chang in Thailand we have the next SuperTrail already this weekend. The 9 Dragons Ultra is a new entry in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship and has immediately been assigned the label of SuperTrail. By looking at the start list of the 50/50 stage race in particular, there could have been no other way. It’s a field of not only Asian and Hong Kong elites, but several top runners from other parts of the world are flying in to try and slay the 9 Dragons. 

9 Dragons in Mandarin Chinese is Jiu Long, or indeed Kowloon in Cantonese. The event takes place on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong and runs across the New Territories, roughly from west to northeast and starting at the Po Leung Kok Jockey Club at midnight on Friday. Essentially a two-day stage race, runners will cover 50 miles on Saturday and 50k on Sunday. The stage race is where most ATM championship points will be scored by finishers (550 for the winners), although with 432 points in his bag the winner of the 50 miles single stage will also return home happy. There are NO points to be scored on the 50k single stage. The rules of the event stipulate that any finisher on the 50 miles on Saturday who decides not to start on the 50k on Sunday, will be ranked as a finisher of the 50 miles race instead of the 50/50. If a runner, however, starts the 50k and drops out during it, he will be ranked as a DNF for the 50/50. In other words, championship points chasers signed up for the 50/50 need to know what they are doing on Sunday morning. 

Tom Robertshaw, always a potential race winner in ultras

On the start list plenty of well-known names, including regular top 10 placers and ATM race winners such as Pablo Diago Gonzales and local Isaac Yuen Wan Ho. The latter begins his season this weekend after a lengthy period of rest that began following his Izu Trail Journey finish early December last year. From Philippines, Gene Olvis is one to watch out for and from Sabah in Malaysia, Milton Amad is an interesting name to follow as well. Of course, it will not be easy for them to compete against the established elite in Hong Kong on their home soil. Britain’s Tom Robertshaw won HK168 last season and could collect his 3rd ATM career win as he also won UTHK100 two years ago. But there’s also John Ellis from the Gone Running team, who could score his first race win the ATM Championship. Among the many international elites we also pick Harry Jones, who lives in Thailand and who could play a major role in this season’s championship. Jones is scheduled to run also next week in the Cordillera Mountain Ultra as well as Sungai Menyala Forest Trail in April. 

The women’s event also features big names such as Marie McNaughton, winner of Korea 50K last year, and Elsa Jean de Dieu. 2017 Asia Trail Master champion Kim Matthews had planned to start the 50 miles race as well, but has pulled out. It’s still Chinese New Year, which does have an impact on air fares around the region. 

As usual we will be reporting live from Hong Kong via our social media network. 

The 2018 Echigo Country Trail has opened registration for the 3rd edition on Sunday, 17 June. The colourful event in Japan's countryside of Niigata, Northwest of Tokyo, will have a slightly beefed up main race. Total length is now 56 km with elevation gain still just above the 2000 hm mark. 

As usual, the event receives full support from the local communities around Oguni Forest Park and Nagaoka City. All participants are invited to take part in the welcoming party on Saturday afternoon, and enjoy dinner with local delicacies, music and dance. It is also possible to stay overnight in traditional Japanese homestays. 

You can access Nagaoka easily via Shinkansen from Tokyo. Or you can fly to Niigata direct from a few Asian destinations. 

Apart from the 56 km main race, shorter distances are also available. However, only the 56 k qualifies for points in the Asia Trail Master championship. 

International registration, click here. 

Video trailer

XX/XX - Echigo Country Trail (JPN)

Thailand's best two trail runners delivered a high-paced and fascinating dual on Koh Chang last weekend during UTKC, the first SuperTrail race of the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship. Jay Jantaraboon and Sanya Khancia both beat the course record set by Steven Ong and Wataru Iino last season, despite the extra hill that was added to the course for this year. Finishing barely 17 minutes apart, Jantaraboon and Khancai sent also a strong warning to all other potential contenders for this year's ATM Championship. In the women's Ruth Theresia led a very strong Indonesian group performance. 

UTKC had the reputation already of being one of the toughest races on the ATM calendar, and last weekend confirmed that status even more. Whereas the approx 4400 metres of elevation gain on the 100 course is not necessarily earth-shattering, the steepness of the hills, the density of the rainforest and the long road section halfway in scorching hot temperatures force all runners to dig deep into their reserves. Organiser Teelakow is well-aware UTKC is very challenging and spares no expense to stock all aid stations abundantly, and set a CUT that is manageable for all participants as long as they keep moving. As such, 67 runners succeeded in finishing the 100K distance and they were all delighted, indeed. 

The main race was set alight quickly after the 4 am start when Jay Jantaraboon and Sanya Khancai opened the gas. Italy's Alessandro Sherpa was alert and followed, but after twisting his ankle badly he faded and was eventually forced to stop. Sherpa was in a position to grab the points lead in the ATM Championship in this race, but given his injury he will also need to sit out the 9 Dragons Ultra next weekend. Not following the Thai duo was Indonesia's Arief Wismoyono. Perhaps untypical, Wismoyono opted for a quiet start of his 100k. The first runner-up of the 2017 ATM championship would never play a role for the victory, and instead was battling with France's Clement Dumont for the third spot. At km 64, it looked like Arief had the potential to catch up with Dumont, but the latter kept a solid pace himself and was able to extend the gap substantially come finish. His second fourth place of the 2018 ATM season does put Arief Wismoyono in the lead of the championship ranking with 850 points, though. Dean Perez was not running in Thailand, and will be back on the your in two weeks for Cordillera Mountain Ultra. 

Jay and Sanya ran together for half of the race, until the Champion System runner accelerated and was able to put some distance between them on the way to CP 5 at km 64. The gap there was 12 minutes. It is quite impressive therefore that the gap at the finish was just 5 minutes more. It proves the resilience and fantastic form of 46-year-old Sanya Khancai, who also explained afterwards to be disappointed with his result. Certainly it is no shame to lose to Jay Jantaraboon, who scored his second ATM race victory after dominating Ultra-Trail Chiang Rai last October. The winner's time was 14:27, compared to 15:06 last season by Ong and Iino. It is still early season, but if Jantaraboon and Khancai manage to get five ATM race results they will both be hot contenders for the 2018 ATM title! 

Jay and Sanya: both Thailanders were outstanding

Jay Jantaraboon still looked cool and fresh at CP5

Arief Wismoyono: not the easiest race for him, but 4 th place was enough to claim points lead

Legros pulls out, Theresia wins and takes ATM points lead

The women's 100K enjoyed the presence of an international elite runner from France, Elisabeth Legros, who is spending holiday time in Thailand this month. Pre-race favourite Ruth Theresia had a great start of her race as she was able to keep the gap between her and Legros to around 15 minutes. Unfortunately, the Bandung runner then chose a wrong trail that sent her up another hill. When back on the right trail, Theresia of course had lost contact with Legros entirely and instead had to watch out for her compatriot Shindy Patricia, Philippines' Ann Jilian Pulanco and Thailand's Kanlaya Srinantawong. Montha Suntornwit was a DNS, unfortunately. Theresia was clearly in great form and also had luck on her side later on the day. Shindy Patricia missed a marker and got lost for a long time herself, and Pulanco had to stop the race being unable to still take in any water or food. Then, Elisabeth Legros began to suffer from serious foot blisters, too. And that was not her only problem: an insect flew deep into the French runner's ear and was stuck inside. Legros pulled out of the race at around km 75 and had to be taken to hospital to have the bug removed from her ear. As such, Ruth Theresia claimed the race lead and would hang onto it without rushing at nighttime to finish in 23:23. Shindy Patricia arrived two hours later to grab second. Thailand's Kanlaya Srinantawong was a further three hours back in third place. Srinantawong was engaged in a dual with another Indonesian Grandmaster runner, Lily Suryani, who reached the finish seven minutes later. Suryani is of course the only female two-star Grandmaster so far. Back from a hamstring injury that still bothers her, the runner from Bali remains an incredibly consistent finisher of ultra races! 

The 70K race of UTKC saw a tight battle between Fabien Bencler from New Caledonia and Britain's Paul Dunn, decided in favour of the former. The gap at the finish was just four minutes. In third place fourteen minutes down was Filippino Joeffery Camara. The women's 70K saw a Thai winner and podium: Patcharee Chuaythaisong, was faster than Parinda Sothonboon and Anisa Suebwongsan. 

France's Elisabeth Legros led the women's race until km 75 when blisters and an insect forced her to DNF

Indonesian women dominated the podium with Ruth Theresia as winner

Fabien Bencler from New Caledonia won the 70K race

Ultra-Trail Koh Chang, aka UTKC, is again the first SuperTrail of the Asia Trail Master Championship this year, and despite Chinese New Year sees a remarkable line-up of international and domestic trail runners. Contrary to last year, it also looks very likely that the host country will have one or more athetes on the podium of the main event, the 100K race.  Two of the country’s best trail runners, if not the best, will be at the start: freshly married Jay Jantaraboon - the dominator at Ultra-Trail Chiang Rai last October - and Sanya Khancai, the most successful Thai runner in ATM so far with race victories in Ultra Trail Nan 100 and Vietnam Mountain Marathon on his record already. 

The men’s 100K, which starts in the early hours of Friday, is a meanwhile renowned tough and technical race with over 5000m of elevation gain. Taking place mostly during the day, the heat can be scorching in certain areas of the course. On the positive side, runners can enjoy the fantastic scenery of Koh Chang island to the maximum, and the fastest runners are expected to be back at the finish in the late afternoon and evening, in prime time in other words. 

Astonishing views during UTKC (P; Adventure III)

While many athletes can legitimately dream of a podium finish tomorrow, if Jay Jantaraboon showed the same kind of form as in Chiang Rai a few months ago it would be hard to bet against him. Having said that, UTCR and UTKC may be organised by the same company Teelakow but they are two very different animals. This one is a lot more technical and tactical. Last season, Japan’s star runner Wataru Iino looked set for a grand victory in UTKC, yet completely disintegrated in the final 20 km and got caught by Soonseng Ong. The Malaysian was kind enough to stay with the dehydrated Iino until the finish, but the Japanese ace made it clear to everyone Ong had been the stronger man. A scenario like this can repeat itself always in ultra running and especially in a tropical climate. Yet Jay Jantaraboon is no rookie. How close can Sanya Khancai stay with Jantaraboon? Will Khancai and Italy’s Alessandro Sherpa take off like bullets again, as they did in Ultra Trail Panoramic 100 miles last December? Another traditionally quick starter could join them in an early attack: Arief Wismoyono from Indonesia. The runner-up in the 2017 ATM Championship can definitely not be underestimated and has been showing excellent form in the past six months in both ultra and medium distance races. This trio could take the fight to Jantaraboon, of course with the risk of running against a massive counter punch. Wismoyono and Sherpa will have a battle between themselves as well this weekend, namely for the points lead in the ATM Championship. Sherpa was third in Tahura Trail, Wismoyono fourth. That’s a difference of just 25 points. 

Other podium candidates on a good day are Frenchman Clement Dumont, third in Korea 50K in 2016, Britain’s Robert Butcher and Filippino Jared Teves. 

In the women’s 100k start list we see perhaps fewer known and big names, but one stands out: Ruth Theresia. The always smiling second runner-up in the 2017 ATM Championship launches her 2018 campaign in Thailand this weekend. Ruth Theresia has the experience to bring this to a good end as well. The Indonesian will be competing against a whole field of Thai runners, of whom Montha Suntornwit is likely the biggest podium candidate, and against her own compatriots and fellow Grandmasters Shindy Patricia and Lily Suryani, fifth and sixth respectively in the 2017 ATM Championship. Filippino Ann Julian Pulanco could also be a podium contender on a good day. As this is ultra, there can of course always be a new name popping up from nowhere. 

Apart from Wismoyono, Theresia, Suryani and Patricia, there’s two more ATM Grandmasters at the start of the 100K tomorrow. Brunei’s Ali Ajis Rasil and Filippino Cheryl Bihag. Both accustomed to the ultra distance, they will be adding another point on their march towards a second Grandmaster star. 

As announced via social media last weekend, we are happy to confirm that Borneo TMBT Ultra Marathon returns to the Asia Trail Master Championship series after a 2-year-hiatus. The classic event near Kota Kinabalu in Sabah was the first ever ATM points race in Malaysia, and this year will offer 100K runners again with a chance to boost their 2018 championship points and their Grandmaster Quest. The event will be held on 1/2 September and also marks the beginning of a very busy September in ATM, with Hakuba Trails, Bandung Ultra 100, Vietnam Mountain Marathon and Ijen Trailrunning occupying the other weekend slots that month. 

Race registration for Borneo TMBT Ultra Marathon is already open, and you better do not wait too long! 

The event will stay loyal to its traditional courses of 100K, 50K and 25K and is a genuine test of physical and mental strength through the mountainous rainforest of Sabah on Borneo. Please note that only the 100K will offer ATM Championship and Grandmaster Quest points. 

The TMBT is Malaysia's oldest Ultra-Trail® Marathon with the inaugural race held in 2011. The acronym stands for "The Most Beautiful Thing", and makes reference to the iconic Mount Kinabalu, which at 4,100 m is one of Southeast Asia's highest peaks and a world heritage site. The TMBT course is set over the ridges and in the river valleys around the base of Mt. Kinabalu, with the highest elevation on the race course just under 2000m.

The event takes runners from the quaint native villages at the foothills on the western side of Mount Kinabalu towards the southern side of the mountain. The 100k category continues around the base of Mount Kinabalu and to the South-Eastern ridges of the mountain to finish in the village of Kundasang.

The routes are challenging but beautiful and give runners an opportunity to experience remote villages and follow village trails through a varied landscape of forest and cultivated areas. Trails pass paddy fields and climb steep ridges clad in pineapples with amazing views to Mt. Kinabalu and over the surrounding ridges and valleys which are often shrouded in clouds. The routes cross numerous streams with refreshing water on a hot day, while most larger rivers are crossed via hanging, bamboo or log bridges. Part of the trails follow the old heritage trails that used to be a part of the old buffalo trading routes linking villagers from Kota Belud to Bundu Tuhan.

The race has a reputation for being challenging to complete with a combination of steep terrain and technical trail sections, and the weather, usually hot in the first part of the day and with a good chance of tropical showers in the afternoon, often add to the challenge.

Borneo TMBT Ultra Marathon

For the third year in succession, Trail Fifty Mapawa, previously known as Ultra Trail Mapawa, will be the second points race for the Asia Trail Master Championship in Mindanao, the large southern island of the Philippines. The event in the Mapawa Nature Reserve, close to major city Cagayan de Oro, is scheduled for 28 October as usual and will again feature the hilly rollercoaster of 50 km and approx 3000 hm of elevation gain. Trail Fifty Mapawa is a very popular local event and over the years has seen the best runners of the country taking part in it. Last season, the trail world got to know current Filippino hot newbie John Ray Onifa in this race, when he dropped Manolito Divina and gave him nearly 30 minutes come the finish line. 

The local organisation in Cagayan de Oro is very welcoming to international runners. There's two main ways to get there. Via a domestic flight from Manila or Cebu, but you could also consider just to fly to Davao and take a bus from there. 

Registrations for Trail Fifty Mapawa will open soon, and technical updates for the 2018 course are also expected in due course.  

Trail Fifty Mapawa

Bandung Ultra 100 is not only a new entry in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship, the event has also been selected after a long deliberation as the Indonesia SuperTrail this year! The organisation by the renowned Bandung Explorer Team - which has Arief Wismoyono and Ruth Theresia in its ranks - was impressive last year when BDG 100 was a Candidate Race, and the race courses technical, beautiful and challenging. All in all, we believe BDG 100 is a great new SuperTrail! 

The event is held on 15/16 September and has an A to B course with start at the well-known Tahura Park. That is the only similarity with the Tahura Trail of last month. BDG 100 chooses an entirely different route that mainly goes up and up and up. You will be surprised how high the mountains around Bandung are! There is about 6500 metres of elevation gain to be conquered, which means the new Indonesia SuperTrail has one of the hardest mountain courses on our calendar, which of course is rather typical of Indonesia. Yet, these events remain very popular precisely because they are so amazingly beautiful. In a nutshell, do not take this race lightly, prepare yourself properly and enjoy Bandung Ultra 100 mid-September. Registration is open.

Please note that only the 100K will be credited as a points race for the Asia Trail Master Championship. This being a SuperTrail, all finishers will get 50 bonus points. The race winner will collect 550 points instead of the regular 500. 

More details can be found here and will be added as they become available. The race course will be the same as in 2017. 

News from East Java: the Ijen Trailrunning event in Bondowoso has to be postponed from July to 29/30 September this year due to a local political event. As such, Ijen Trail will be the fourth points race in Indonesia this season, two weeks after Bandung 100 Ultra on the westside of Java island. Egon Trails, technical organiser of the event, apologises for the inconvenience this may cause to runners who had already planned to race in July, but this date change is beyond their control. 

Registration will open by next week. Both the 100K and 70K courses are points races for the Asia Trail Master Championship, but there's also shorter distances available if you're a beginning runner or simply not that much into long distance: 42km or 21km, it's all on the menu at Ijen.

Please note that Ijen Trailrunning is one of the very few ultras in Indonesia with a relatively generous cut-off time of 32 hours for the 100 km. So, if you want to try and finish a 100k race, this one is a perfect opportunity. The 100K has 4200 metres of elevation gain, which does mean you need to keep moving nonetheless. 

Ijen Blue Fire Trail

Just one week after John Ray Onifa confirmed his status as up-and-coming Filippino trail star at Rizal Mountain Run, two more pinoys with a road running pedigree defeated the established trail guard at the excellent Pilipinas Akyathlon event in Baguio last weekend. Elias Tabac from Davao on Mindanao Island in the south of the Philippines won the 46 km and 3250 hm mountain race in a stunning time of 5 hours and 42 minutes, trailing local runner Jeffery Alligan for 43 km before launching an impressive dash to the line. Tabac’s attack was so explosive the gap to Alligan had grown to  7 minutes at the finish. Cordillera trail star Marcelino Sano Oy had just about caught up with the front duo in the final 4k, but the end verdict was ten minutes behind the winner!

Before the start of the race at 4:30 a.m., Mount Apo Sky Race organiser Doi Calbes said to us: “keep an eye on Elias”. Elias Tabac turned out to be a young 2:44 marathon runner, who was doing his third trail race but his very first at Asian high level. Untested in other words, and surely the Akyathlon with the long climb up Mt Ugo and the 3250 meters of elevation gain in just 46 km cannot be compared to any road marathon. Yet is seems to be the new trend in the young 2018 season that road runners are taking the trails by storm and giving the established trail runners a lesson in speed. Second-placed Jeffrey Alligan reportedly only ran his second ever trail race, and his first was way back in 2015. The two were leading a well-stacked field from early on. 

Elias Tabac from Davao: another new pinoy name to remember

Marcelino Sano-Oy was keeping up and so was Wilnar Iglesia, until the latter took a wrong turn. In-form Iglesia realised his mistake timely, yet had to chase and never saw the front runners again. Sano Oy, who admiitedly is not yet 100% recovered from an injury and who fell again in the early part of the race, was 10 minutes behind the leading duo on the summit of Mt Ugo. Showing his technical skills in the long descent, he reduced that gap to barely 2 minutes at checkpoint 5 with just 5km left to the finish. It looked like he was going to grab and drop them, but then Tapac still shifted to a higher gear… 

Al Telias, likewise in excellent shape these days, gave it all he got and was seemingly disappointed with his fifth place at the end, close behind Wilnar Iglesia. A further look at the top 10 proves just how good this competition was. Lipa six, Carranza seven, regular podium placer Aldean Lim eight, Dean Perez - 3rd in Rizal - ninth and last year’s Cordillera Mountain Ultra winner and #5 in Vietnam Mountain Marathon, Arnold Lozano, had to be content with tenth! 

Lozano admitted he had probably been a bit nonchalant at the start by lining up towards the back of the pack. Yet nobody seemed to have expected Tapac and Alligan to step on the throttle like they did from the get-go. Both athletes love running on trails, but they will continue to combine trail with road races. It goes without saying that both could become a contender for the Asia Trail Master championship with this level of speed. Speaking of which, Vancouver-based Dean Perez is the new points leader in the men’s championship standings. He’s the best of the runners who have already finished and scored points on two of the three ATM points races in the beginning of this 2018 season. Dean Perez is Filippino, very experienced trail runner in North America, and expressed his admiration and surprise of the competitive races in his native country. Still on holiday till March, Perez has also signed up for the Cordillera Mountain Ultra on 4 March, so we may find his name on the leaderboard still for quite a while. 

Wilnar Iglesia showed good form, but fourth was the highest possible

If there was any betting on the women’s podium of Pilipinas Akyathlon, either someone brave got very rich or nobody won anything. Sandi Menchi, Gretchen Felipe and Rizal winner Aggy Smith Sabanal were all at the starting line… but not at the finish. What happened? Sabanal already said she was feeling unwell before the race began and quit in the early stages. Sandi Menchi and Gretchen Felipe were leading until they both took a wrong trail and continued to follow that one for what eventually turned out to be nearly 5 km. Their mistake proved very costly and eliminated all chances of a podium finish, as they had to run those 5 km back… mainly steep uphill  even. Also the women’s field had competitive runners including Majo Liao, who anyway was expected to put some pressure on Sandi Menchi. Majo Liao took the lead and held onto it with a well-paced and consistent effort in what was her first trail in nearly half a year. For the 28-year-old Manila-based Liao it was the third career ATM race victory. Behind her, Baguio girls Marjorie Sofla and Marjorie Velo had a nice tight batlle for the second and third place steps of the female podium. 

When she got back to the arena, Sandi Menchi accepted her mistake (note that there were no complaints about the markings in this race at all), and seemed to realise this should not happen. All top stars have a day-off for some reason, be it due to fatigue or lack of focus, but for Menchi’s chances in the ATM championship this is a bitter pill to swallow. Not in a position to do that many ATM points races over a year’s time, she missed out on 500 points… 

Pilipinas Akyathlon was a new entry in the ATM championship and a successful one. Taking place on the other side of Mt Ugo compared to Cordillera Mountain Ultra, runners will not be disappointed by choosing to run both races. 

Video footage of the finish including interviews is available to watch on facebook. 

The next points race is the first SuperTrail of the season: Ultra-Trail Koh Chang in Thailand. Finishers of the 100k and 70k races will score 50 additional bonus points for the championship. 

Majo Liao and Elias Tapac win the Pilipinas Akyathlon and score 500 ATM championship points

Fantastic weather on race day

Dean Perez was 9th after 3rd in Rizal last week: he's the new ATM championship leader

Pilipinas Akyathlon is a new entry in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship, and the second one in Philippines following Rizal Mountain Run last week. A great chance for the pinoy runners especially to claim the spotlight in the ATM championship ranking. A number of Rizal finishers will indeed be racing again this Sunday. Not in the least: Aggy Smith Sabanal, the female winner, and Dean Perez, 3rd place in the men's!

The Akyathlon is a 46km mountainous race featuring Mt Ugo but from another side than in Cordillera Mountain Ultra. Start and finish is at Binga Lake. 3250 metres of elevation gain in 46 km means this is a race for mountain goats, and of course the local armada of trail runners will be omnipresent. Baguio City is just an hour away from the race venue, and that's a city with a lot of Philippines' strongest mountain runners. Marcelino Sano Oy, Al Telias, Arnold Lozano are all racing this Sunday! They will be joined by Wilnar Iglesia and Rexell Aguirre from Mindanao Island, to name just a few more podium and race win contenders. And let's not forget the abovementioned Dean Perez. Perez stayed ahead of Pablo Diago Gonzales at Rizal, and that's no mean feat. 

Also in the women's race we have an interesting last-minute addition to the start list: ATM joint championship leader Aggy Smith Sabanal will be competing with none other than Sandi Menchi for the women's race victory. The still very young Sabanal, age 21, looked strong and a consistent pace at Rizal. She might find Akyathlon even more suited to her characteristics as a trail runner. Still, Sandi Menchi should be regarded as the top favourite. Will the local star finally aim for the ATM championship title as well? Last year, she finished three ATM points race and won all three of them. Also on the start list this weekend is Grandmaster Cheryl Bihag. 

Aggy Smith Sabanal: back in action already after winning Rizal Mountain Run last weekend

Marcelino Sano Oy

Al Telias