The 50 km of Sungai Menyala Forest Trail in Port Dickson, Malaysia, is often dubbed "the fastest trail in Asia"and is likely to be blistering fast this Sunday when a star-packed field takes the start shortly after sunrise. While Sandi Menchi is the top favourite to win the women's race like last year, the men's race has so many contenders you need both your hands to count them. To note is Harry Jones, the Briton who will be racing his 3rd points race of the year and therefore challenge Wilnar Iglesia's lead in the ATM championship. 

Sungai Menyala is a race through ancient rainforest not too far from Kuala Lumpur airport, which makes it easy for a weekend break. The 50k is very runable, but the heat and a number of muddy sections can disrupt a runner's pace. As such, it's the kind of race - like last week's Beach Bunch Trail Challenge in Brunei - that is much tougher than one expects looking at the race map and profile. "A mental game," as ATM points leader Ruth Theresia said after her victory in Brunei. 

The men's race is highly anticipated with no fewer than 8 runners who can realistically fight for the podium and the race victory. Some of them are already very well-known, others not so. The facebook community seems to regard Harry Jones as the most likely to come out on top, especially as he's in fantastic shape this early part of the season. Jones won the 50 miles of the 9 Dragons Ultra in Hong Kong and backed it up with a big win in Philippines at the Cordillera Mountain Ultra. Afterwards, the Chiang Mai-based Briton stayed in the Baguio area for a training camp. Sungai Menyala is flatter and faster than the two aforementioned races, and it is a fact someone like the South Korean Byeunggwon Park has a faster personal best than Jones on the road marathon(2:19!).  Park was struggling on the mountain trail of the Cordillera to finish 4th last month, proving that trail is not the same as road, yet if Sungai Menyala's trails are dry the Korean will be a serious contender for Jones and the rest this Sunday. The rest also has sub 3 hour marathon PBs. The local Malaysian contingent, for example, will be very much in business as well. Team Malatra's Mohamed Affindi is arguably best-known on the ATM tour. Statistically speaking, Affindi is more likely to finish second than win, but Merapoh Trail was his best race in ATM so far and that one's equally fast in normal conditions. Affindi has just returned from the 100K Beach Bunch, but he's such a strong fighter Sunday might as well be his big day. His compatriot Azuan Asmuni might hold a psychological advantage over Affindi, though, having beaten him convincingly in the Mount Tahan Climbathlon early January. Asmuni is first of all a triathlete, but he's developing a bigger appetite for trail running. Sungai Menyala is his first big points race in the ATM Championship. And what to think of Chinese Malaysian, Lim Wen Shan, the local king of the 50k races? One of those top runners dedicated to the medium trail distance. He won the 60K race of Magnificent Merapoh Trail in 2016, well-ahead of Philippines' Marcelino Sano-Oy. That's a big reference, indeed.

Indonesia also has two irons in the fire, and not the least: Arief Wismoyono and his new Bandung Explorer teammate Margono Margono. Wismoyono is a big name since the beginning of Asia Trail Master (champion in 2015, first runner-up in 2017) and third on the podium in Sungai Menyala last year behind Manolito Divina and Steven Ong. He's quicker again then 12 months ago, and his experience of the trails boosts his chances for Sunday. However, Margono is arguably the faster pure runner of the two. His credentials in ATM so far show a great second place in Tahura Trail in January. The former international speed walker for the Indonesian national team was putting the pressure on Jeff Campbell and Alessandro Sherpa for 30K into that race. Now with the assistance of his country's premier trail squad, Margono is expected to become a man to be reckoned with and especially on the 50K distance. Finally, Italy's Alessandro Sherpa returns to the ATM tour after sustaining a major foot injury in Thailand at UTKC mid-February. Sherpa's foot seems healed, as he has been very active in March. Sungai Menyala's trails should suit him and although he prefers long ultras, Sherpa has a good running pace on the short and medium distance. Brief, along with all the other runners just mentioned, Sherpa can claim any place from first to eighth in Sunday's race. What's more exciting than a competition with an unpredictable outcome!   

As mentioned in the intro of this race preview, Harry Jones can take over the lead in the Asia Trail Master points lead. Currently 4th with 982 points, he needs to do better than 14th place to overtake Wilnar Iglesia's 1250 points score. 

While the men's race is perfect for a friendly bet, the women's race is more clear-cut. Philippines' Sandi Menchi returns to Sungai Menyala, a race she won convincingly last season. It is the perfect trail course for her, and it is hard to imagine anyone challenging her this weekend.  Then again, things even go wrong for top runners such as Sandi Menchi. In Pilipinas Akyathlon she ran almost 10K in the wrong direction resulting in a DNF. Her ATM points account is therefore still dry this season, as at the 9 Dragons in Hong Kong she opted for the 50K only and that was not a points race. Excluding the Akyathlon DNF, Menchi is still undefeated in ATM points races. 

The battle for the podium will be hot, however, as also the numbers 2 and 3 of 2017 are running again: Jassica Lintanga and Jeri Chua. Both have just returned from Brunei, where "Jess" even became the latest Asia Trail Grandmaster for completing her 6th 70+ ultra in 2 years. Jess finished third in the race, amazingly without really pushing it as she considers Sungai Menyala a major objective. That makes sense, because Jassica Lintanga has a good running pace and this is of course her Malatra team's home race. Her sister Adelinah Lintanga, also a Grandmaster, is arguably stronger on the long ultras, but can never be underestimated and is also in the race on Sunday. Singapore's Jeri Chua scored a podium on the 50K last week, and seems to improve again by the week after returning from quite a nasty injury. 

Indonesia also has a podium candidate in the mix with Shindy Patricia. Although probably better on technical ultras, Patricia was 2nd in UTKC Thailand in February, which was an excellent start to her ATM season. Not yet as well-known on the ATM tour but certainly hot for the podium is Malaysian Norhani Mohd Jaffar. She won the 25K race of Sungai Menyala last year, and is now stepping up to the big league so to speak. Others to watch are Faherina Mohd Esa and China-based Mexican Maria Aranalde. 

Sandi Menchi won last year ahead of Jess Lintanga and Jeri Chua. 

Sefli Ahar remains the measure of all things in the Bruneian trail running scene. For the third consecutive year the former winner of the Hong Kong Half Marathon won the Beach Bunch Trail Challenge, the premier trail ultra event in the country. It was arguably his most impressive victory of the three, in fact, looking at who finished behind him and how much distance he was eventually able to put between him and the others. Sefli crossed the line in 11:50, more than 1-and-a-half hours ahead of Mohamed Afindi and Wilnar Iglesia!! Sefli was a class apart last Sunday. It's 6th career ATM race victory. 

Being a police officer in his country, Sefli has found it hard to travel and cannot predict yet if he will again be able to challenge for the ATM Championship later this year. What's for sure is that he is now slowing down. Malaysia's Mohamed Afindi was already second behind Sefli at last summer's Magnificent Merapoh Trail, but the gap then was just about half an hour. While Afindi seems to be joining Isaac Yuen Wan Ho in the League of the Nearly Men, his first big victory in ATM is just a matter of time. Afindi proved his warrior instinct during the Beach Bunch and raced for the win against Sefli, rather than be happy with second. It nearly cost him second, as Philippines' Wilnar Iglesia still came quite close (10 minutes) at the finish. Iglesia himself was spent at the finish in another piece of evidence of how tough this so-called 'flat' race really is. It's Iglesia's first podium of the season after 4th in Akyathlon and 5th in Cordillera. His third top result propelled him into the lead of the ATM Championship for the first time in his career. Championship challengers better take note, because Iglesia was also 2nd in Penang Eco last year, a race he will return to next May! 

In fourth place was local runner Alex Chung. And that deserves a special mentioning. Chung, third last year in this race, was only 9 minutes behind Iglesia and 19 behind Afindi. A very consistent pace and a very promising result for the future. 

There is more than just Sefli in Brunei in any case. Another local, Amirul Tuah, became the 16th Asia Trail Grandmaster by finishing the 100k, his sixth ATM long distance finish within two years. Tuah joins his compatriot Ali Ajis Rasil ,who earned the Grandmaster title last December as first Bruneian. 

Also the women's race was spectacular and had a tighter battle for the race win than the men's. Indonesia's Ruth Theresia repeated her feat from last year, but clearly had to dig deeper as her compatriot Sri Wahyuni had the bit between her teeth! Ruth even had to catch her as Wahyuni took a faster start on the long road section before the runners hit the trails. But when everyone thought Wahyuni would quietly fade away and be happy to consolidate her second place, she kept on putting pressure on her more experienced and lauded compatriot. The gap was never more than half an hour and at the finish it was back down to 23 minutes. Ruth Theresia herself ran a great time of just over 17 hours (50 minutes faster than last year!), and regains the ATM championship lead with this second win of the season after UTKC in Thailand. It's also Ruth's 6th career win. But Wahyuni is certainly the new face of Indonesian female trail running: both quick and resilient. Beach Bunch was her 4th podium finish in ATM races, it won't be long before she claims that first victory. 

Malaysia's Jassica Lintanga took third on the podium. She decided not to mix with the two Indonesian ladies up front as her main goal was to claim the Grandmaster title. Her sister Adelinah already became a Grandmaster at the end of last year, and now "Jess" achieved the same in Brunei. Lintanga finished comfortably in 21:44 , earned a truckload of ATM championship points with her 3rd place, and will "race for position" already next week at her team Malatra's home race in Sungai Menyala, where she finished 2nd last year. Lintanga could become a genuine championship contender this season, although it is Ruth Theresia who has now regained the points lead at the expense of Majo Liao.

At BBTC there was a second A-race for ATM points. The 50K was surprisingly won by Filipino-Australian Andrew Hill in 4:44. He stayed 13 minutes ahead of Pablo Diago Gonzales, who returned after sustaining a knee injury at the 9 Dragons in Hong Kong last month. Amirul Jamil from Brunei claimed the final podium step. 

In the women's 50K, Kathryn Deuerlein from Canada took top honours in 6:56. She was joined on the podium by local runner Judy Leslie and Singapore's Jeri Chua from the Red Dot Running Company, her second ATM podium finish after Sungai Menyala last season. 

The women's 100K podium: Ruth Theresia, Sri Wahyuni and new Grandmaster Jess Lintanga

Hail the new Grandmaster from Brunei: Amirul Tuah!

Wilnar Iglesia and Mohamed Affindi did what they could, but Sefli was just a tick too fast

The 3rd edition of the Beach Bunch Trail Challenge in Brunei this weekend brings us a very interesting cast for both the 100k and 50k points races in the Asia Trail Master championship. The spotlights shine firmly on local hero Sefli Ahar, twice winner of the BBTC already, who is making his first appearance of the season. Sefli is up against none other than Malaysia's Mohamed Affindi, the young gun from Team Malatra who is determined to put Sefli Ahar under pressure. In the women's Ruth Theresia will defend her BBTC title as well, and if successful can become the new points leader in the championship. 

Sefli Ahar and Mohamed Affindi know each other very well from The Magnificent Merapoh Trail last summer. In that 100k race Sefli had to tolerate the company of rising star Affindi for a long part of the race. At the finish, the difference between the two was also not that overwhelming. Now with more trail experience in the bag, Affindi could get even closer to Ahar this Sunday. The Bruneian star is a local police officer and is very limited in his travel opportunities. Just like last season, Sefli needs to pick his races carefully and see where the ship sails throughout the year. If he can reach five race finishes by mid December, for sure he will again be a candidate for the ATM championship title. But first is the title defence in his home country. Other podium candidates in the men's 100k race this weekends are Alex Chung, also from Brunei, and Filippino Wilnar Iglesia. After coming fourth and fifth in Akyathlon and Cordillera Mountain Ultra, Iglesia is gunning for his third A-race finish of the season and therefore is in with a shot to take over the championship points lead from Dean Perez. Wilnar Iglesia needs to finish higher than 9th to achieve that. Given his speed in the two previous races that should be feasible, although a lot can happen on 100k. 

Another Bruneian, Amirul Tuah, will be competing mainly with himself on Sunday. Tuah is just 1 race finish short of completing his Grandmaster Quest! If he succeeds in the 100k, he will be the second Bruneian after Ali Ajis Rasil to obtain the 1-star Grandmaster. 

Also in the women's race we have someone keen to become Grandmaster this weekend. In the footsteps of her sister Adelinah, Jassica Lintanga is not only a favourite for the podium - maybe even the victory - but also a well-deserved Grandmaster if she reaches the finish of the 100k. Indeed, if Jassica has a good day, she will give Indonesia's Ruth Theresia a run for her money. Theresia aims to repeat last year's victory and take over the championship points lead from Majo Liao in her 3rd ATM race of the season. Twelve months ago, Theresia delivered one of her best performances ever on trail during the Beach Bunch. The question is can she do it again? This Sunday, another Indonesian functions as the dark horse for the top honours. Surabaya's Sri Wahyuni has proven to be both fast and resilient over the past half a year with podium places in three ATM points races in Indonesia. Still a relative newbie to trail, Wahyuni could grow into this race if Theresia and Lintanga were not to have their best day. 

There is also a 50K in Brunei and that one is also regarded as an A-race for the ATM points championship. That means the winner only scores 50 points less than the winner of the 100K, yet those 50 may turn out to be crucial at the end of the season. Last year, Tahira Najmunisaa opted for the 50k here, and lost the points championship to KIm Matthews by 35 points... 

A major protagonist on the 50K is Pablo Diago Gonzales. The Singapore-based Spaniard is returning from an unfortunate DNF at the 9 Dragons Ultra due to a knee injury, and will be keen to open his points account for 2018. In the women's, Singapore's Jeri Chua from the Red Dot Running Company could be the one to follow if you hoped to win the race. 

Jessica Lintanga can join her sister this weekend as Asia Trail Grandmaster

Ruth Theresia won last season: she is top favourite again in her 3rd ATM race of 2018

First Asia Trail Master points race in Singapore and also the shortest race on the tour with 25 km as total distance. We are happy to announce The Trail Blazer, part 4 of the COMPRESSPORT King of the Trail series in the country on 25 November! The Trail Blazer naturally caters for fast legs -there are no mountains in Singapore-, who get their chance to score a bulk of championship points at the end of the season in this race with start and finish in the Macritchie Reservoir. The event is ideal for a weekend outing with family to Singapore as well. If you're fast, you can even have brunch after the race. 

Precise course details will follow in due course, but COMPRESSPORT and Pink Apple, the experienced local organising company, is promising at at least 80% trail and a course as difficult as it gets in the country. Registration is already open.

While most races at the end of the season tend to be tough ultras, this one will allow faster runners to stay in the hunt for the championship title, which will be decided on the weekend of 7-9 December in Thailand and Japan as last year. Note that the points regulations for this last weekend will be amended for this year to create a more level playing field. More on that next week!

KOTT - The Trail Blazer

The Asia Trail Master Championship series goes to Bali! And this time not for a Candidate Race, but for a points race in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship. Plataran X Trail Bali Menjangan moves up and returns to the calendar on Saturday, 6 October! It will be this year's fifth Indonesian points race and will take place back-to-back with nearby Ijen Trailrunning in East Java. That's only a short boat ferry ride away, which means international runners can do both races during a short holiday break.  Options for a week long itinerary including both races will be provided soon. There may also be a special Wolf the Trail trophy for the best performer in both the two longest distances races of Ijen and Plataran X Trail. 

The 2018 long distance trail course of Plataran X Trail will be revised and updated in April and May, and will have a total length of anything between 50 km and 70 km maximum. The shorter distances of 25km and 7.1km for the less ambitious runners remain on the programme. While the terrain in West Bali inherently implies a runable course, we aim to introduce a little more elevation in this year's edition. Host of the event is of course the fantastic Plataran Menjangan Resort. Registration is scheduled to open in May 2018. 

More details will become available soon, meanwhile block your calendars!

Plataran X Trail Bali

The Dalat Ultra Trail last weekend saw the confirmation of the raw talent of Vietnam's own Quang Tran. After winning the Vietnam Mountain Marathon last year, he now also took top honours in Dalat in a great 70k run that took him 7 hours 32. Quang Tran stayed ahead of two European runners: Florian Deichmann (Germany) and Kevin Morisseau (France), who reached the finish in 7:49 and 7:54. HCMC-based Dutch woman Marieke Dekkers, training partner of Asia Trail Master champion Kim Matthews, won the women's race ahead of Vietnam's Julia Nguyen Thi Duong and Philippines' Ann Jilian Pulanco. 

2300 runners took the start over the four available distances in Dalat, of which 70K was the longest and the one that counted for ATM championship points. The event received praise from participants for its great organisation and a pleasantly runable, yet tough enough race course. The highlands around the city of Dalat are relentlessly going up and down. 

Kim Matthews, who of course lives nearby in Ho Chi Minh City, has not yet recovered from her dramatic fall a few weeks ago and was unable to start what could be called her home race. The good news was that Matthews did the 21k, albeit hiking for the most part. 

The next Vietnamese points race is the Vietnam Jungle Marathon in Po Luong on 14/15 April. 

Quang Tran and Marieke Dekkers: winners of the Dalat Ultra Trail 70k

Julia Nguyen Thi Duong was second in the women's, with Ann Pulianco third. 

We are happy to announce an exciting addition to the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship in a new destination: Iran. Ultra Trail Mount Damavand is technically organised by Hong Kong's experienced XTE team that also brings you HK 168 at the end of the season. UTMD will be the first ever points race in the championship in ancient Persia. Race date - pay attention - is Thursday and Friday 21/22 June. 

On the programme will be a 103km race wth 3650 metres of elevation gain and featuring the climb of Mount Damavand, the highest stratovolcano in Asia! Officially the peak is over 4600m above sea level, but in the race you will reach the highest point at 3500m - more than high enough in any case! Start and finish is in the village of Polour, south of the mountain, a traditional camp for mountaineering people 66km northeast of Iran's capital city Tehran. 

Runners doing the 103 km race - the championship points and Grandmaster Quest distance - will reach the highest point halfway through the course. Less ambitious runners can also go for a 50km race and a 30 km race. 

Tehran is well-connected by air. The local organisers are recommending Asian-based runners to consider traveling via Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, both serving Air Asia X flights to Tehran directly. 

Registration is open online via the organiser's event website. 

More information can be found via our cover page below. 

The Vietnam Mountain Marathon has been a successful trail event for a few years already, but the Dalat Ultra Trail in the south of the country proves that the sport has boomed. More than 2300 runners will take part in Dalat this weekend, and a lot of them are not afraid of tackling the 70 km long ultra, the ATM championship points race and a Grandmaster Quest distance as well. It is the first year the event has an international scope and given the exciting location -Dalat is hot on the tourist trail in Vietnam- it has all the ingredients of becoming one of Asia’s finest. 

The organisation is in the hands of a well-oiled team that has plenty of experience in outdoor and mountainbiking events. Some of the participants this weekend will actually stay in Dalat and take part in the 2-day MTB event here as well next week. The 70 km race is of course top of the bill. It's a nice highland rollercoaster that will please good runners who can cope with lots of intervals. Resilience and determination will arguably be even more important than speed to win this one. The weather in Dalat is generally cooler than elsewhere as the place is at 1500m altitude.  

One of the ambassadors of the event is Asia Trail Master champion Kim Matthews, who lives in nearby Ho Chi Minh City. Unfortunately, Matthews injured her hip quite badly before the Cordillera Mountain Ultra and is still unable to run distances, let alone race. As such, the women’s race is quite open and we are looking forward to potentially discovering new local talents. 

In the men’s race we have a clear favourite on paper: Danang’s Quang Tran. Winner of Vietnam Mountain Marathon 100 - ahead of Manolito Divina - and 2nd in Vietnam Jungle Marathon last season. In the latter race he was beaten by his compatriot and Vietnam’s Trail Master champion 2017 Cao Ngoc Ha. Cao is not running this weekend, the tall Hanoi runner is focusing on an IronMan in May before returning to the trail scene. With four races in Vietnam this ATM season, a runner like Quang Tran has a great opportunity to make a name for himself throughout Asia. 

The leadership position of Dean Perez and Majo Liao in the Asia Trail Master championship should not be under threat this weekend, unless there’s a last-minute registration of someone who already has scored a significant amount of points this season. Their points lead will certainly be under attack next week in Brunei, however. 

One of the most anticipated events in the Asia Trail Master Championship, and certainly in the summer months, is the Magnificent Merapoh Trail on the fringes of Taman Negara National Park in Pahang, Malaysia. The 4th edition takes place on 10/11 August and sees some modifications to the route for the two points races distances, 100 km and 70 km. Less ambitious runners can also go for the 30 km. The event gains ever more social importance as well, as logging and road constructions threaten the existence of this ancient rainforest and its inhabitants. By developing ecotourism the organisers of Ten Senses hope to stop this trend and allow the local communities to sustain themselves .

The 100k and 70k feature the passing-through of several cave complexes that characterise this beautiful rainforest area. And this August, runners will enter at least one more cave that is not yet open for tourism. This is a race that looks easier than it is. While mainly flattish, there are technical sections that you are unlikely to forget very quickly. Most legendary besides the caves is of course the 3 km long river crossing, which most 100k and 70k runners will also do before dawn. 

The event has quickly become popular over the past four years and is guaranteed to sell out fast. There is a maximum limit of 1000 runners. So do not hesitate if you want to be part of this great adventure. 

The Magnificent Merapoh Trail

Thailand-based pro runners Harry Jones and Carole Fuchs took top honours in a fantastic edition of the Cordillera Mountain Ultra 50k in Dalupirip last Sunday. The Philippines SuperTrail lived up to the high expectations and saw fantastic running by the stars of the trail, and the many hundreds who made up the field. The scorching heat and the re-designed hillier final section made sure everyone was happy to see the finish line. Dean Perez and Majo Liao left the Cordillera as points leaders in the Asia Trail Master Championship. 

CMU is more than just a sporting competition. It is a weekend in the outdoors with hardly any mobile network, let alone Wi-Fi. The people of Dalupirip are such welcoming hosts, though, that no one regrets staying there for one or more nights. The village itself is set in an idyllic landscape, roughly 90 minutes by jeepney away from Baguio City. It was the third edition of CMU and race director JP Alipio has stayed true to his original idea, fine-tuning the event and the race course over the past two years only slightly in order to produce a fully matured trail running event that can be considered pure promotion for the sport - even if you deem 50K too short for trail. 

The event begins on Saturday morning with a Vertical Kilometre, which was won by Hiroaki Matsunaga and Majo Liao, two of the protagonists for the 50K race on Sunday as well. That race started at 4.a.m. , which meant at least one-and-a-half hour would be run in the dark and in cooler temperatures, before the sun would heat up the Cordillera like an oven. Perhaps that was the motivation for Harry Jones and especially John Ray Onifa to go full speed from the gun. They quickly opened up a gap to Hiroaki Matsunaga, the Japanese elite and organiser of Kushigata Wind Trail and Echigo Country Trail, who was battling to keep the distance between him and the leading duo limited on Mount Ugo. The other contenders, including an in-form Dean Perez, followed a bit further back. Jeffrey Alligan, though, did not have the pace that brought him 2nd place in the Akyathlon last month. Aligan even suffered from heavy cramps late in the race and decided to DNF with just over 5k left to go.  In the long descent of Mt Ugo, Jones upped the pace even more, dropping Onifa and making sure Matsunaga would not return to the front. Jones dashed solo to the finish for his second ATM points race victory in a week after the 50 miles race of the 9 Dragons Ultra. His time was 5:20, a few minutes faster than the course record although this year’s edition was slightly longer and had an extra climb in the final 5 km. Harry Jones, who lives in Chiang Mai, had many good things to say about his closest chaser John Ray Onifa, the Filippino youngster who finished approx 16 minutes later. Both Jones and Onifa could fight some more interesting trail battles with each other later in this ATM season. Jones’ next points race will be Sungai Menyala Forest Trail in Malaysia. 

Matsunaga ran a very consistent pace and crossed the line seven minutes behind Onifa to complete the podium in what was his first ever visit to the Philippines. South Korean marathon ace Byeungwwon Park, who has a personal best of 2:19, missed the winning move in the beginning. Running his fourth trail race only, Park had not realised Jones and Onifa were up ahead when he caught up with Matsunaga late in the race. Still, a second stumble pushed him back again and fourth place was the maximum on his ATM debut. In fact, both Wilnar Iglesia and Dean Perez still came very close to the South Korean. Iglesia had lost the right trail earlier in the race, something that happens perhaps too often with the likeable Filippino, but once again he proved to be in great shape by catching up and passing runners in the second half of the race. Dean Perez is the first of the top runners to finish 3 ATM points races so far. The Vancouver-based Pinoy had a great race on Sunday and his 6th place puts him back at the top of the championship ranking. Perez is now returning to his resident country, yet endaveours to return to the ATM tour in the second half of 2018 to reach the plateau of five races, which is a must to get a high ranking in the championship at the end of the year. 

Hiroaki Matsunaga

Last year’s winner Arnold Lozano and CMU Podium Man Alison Telias performed well and placed themselves in the top 10 with Telias in 7th and Lozano  in 9th. Between them was American Casey Weinman and the first woman.

That first female finisher was France’s Carole Fuchs. The former professional triathlete turned out to be class on her own, perhaps aided by the late DNS of ATM Champion Kim Matthews. The Australian suffered a nasty hip injury in a fall on training and was unable to make the trip to Philippines. In fact, Matthews announced she will not be running the Dalat Ultra Trail neither in a fortnight. The third race favourite, Indonesia’s Ruth Theresia still felt jelly-legged from the grueling UTKC race in Thailand 2 weeks ago and decided early into the race to reduce the revs and take it easy. Theresia would finish (with her local friends) in 33th place, which also meant she lost the lead in the championship ranking. New points leader is namely Majo Liao, even though the latter did not have the best race neither. Liao finished down in 7th place, lacking power. Of those running their second race of the season, it was good enough however, because Rizal Mountain Run winner Aggy Smith Sabanal arrived further back in 8th place. 

Fuchs was outstanding in front and her winning time says a lot: 6:26. She actually still passed Al Telias in the last 3 km. Fuchs, who won the 50k at UT Panoramic last December, is planning to climb Mount Everest next - possibly taking Ultra Trail Nepal on 28 April en passant. The second woman into the finish was a surprise for most: Novena Manaces in 7:23. Hailing from the more northern Cordillera mountain areas, Manacnes had stormed past Bitbit Baby Marites Sotto in the descent to snatch that silver. While Stephanie Davidson was a great fourth in her debut on the 50K distance, local star and former winner of CMU, Gretchen Felipe, probably had expected to finish higher than fifth place. Maria Luisa Prado did well to stay ahead of Majo Liao, Sabanal and also Diorella Cerujano and Patricia Ann Morota. 

As CMU came to a close, so did the first six rounds of the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship. The spring campaign begins in 2 weeks in Vietnam and the Dalat Ultra Trail 70k with Dean Perez and Majo Liao as leaders in our points championship. 

UT Nan organisers Pom and Suwit were also running the CMU

This weekend’s Cordillera Mountain Ultra is the third and last SuperTrail of this early part of the Asia Trail Master Championship, and contrary to UTKC and 9 Dragons, CMU caters for the quicker legs on the medium trail distance of 50K (approx 2650 hm). The 3rd edition of the event in Dalupirip, Benguet, Philippines has smashed all records when it comes to registration numbers. Close to 800 people, of which 400 for the long distance race,  will take the trouble to travel to the remote venue in the Cordillera mountains, including runners from 26 nations! Not only the quantity is impressive, so is the quality in both male and female competitions that also have the ATM Championship points lead on the line this Sunday.

Looking at the men, the list of favourites for the podium is nearly endless, which does not happen often in a South East Asian trail race. And they come from different places. Harry Jones (Great Britain,residing in Thailand) and Hiroaki Matsunaga (Japan) are two internationally known runners who both showed excellent form in the past fortnight. Jones, of course, won the 50 miles race at 9 Dragons and collected a solid 432 ATM Championship points in that effort. He had to dig deep in that Hong Kong ultra, but if Jones is recovered the others will have to get by him to win on Sunday. Matsunaga himself is on the rebound from a 100k in New Zealand two weeks ago. Our organiser of Echigo Country Trail and Kushigata Wind Trail (both points races for the ATM Championship) is making his first ever appearance in Philippines and is seemingly not letting anything disrupt his concentration and prepration for the race this weekend. South Korea’s Byeongwon Park is a dark horse, and that could as well be an understatement. Coming to make a name for himself, Park belongs to the recent wave of fast road runners who like to get a taste of trail, like it and indulge in it ever since. The same seems to apply to a local Baguio runner who was the surprise-second behind the surprise-winner at Pilipinas Akyathlon a month ago. Jeffrey Aligan is over 40 and no longer the youngest runner in the field, but if he can repeat the performance he showed then he won’t be far off the podium. Current weather conditions may actually play in favour of the faster legs: it rained today for the first time in two months in Dalupirip, which by Sunday could have made the trails harder and more compact to run on. The likes of Aligan will love that, yet he is not the top favourite on the pinoy front: John Ray Onifa from Visayas has been making headlines ever since he won UT Mapawa last October, and has developed into the next big trail thing coming from Philippines. By winning a wet and muddy Rizal Mountain Run, Onifa proved he is also resilient and tough when more is required than pure speed. Fighting this weekend for the points lead in the ATM Championship, winning CMU would be another big scalp in his young trail career. A new element for him is that all Filippinos now know him and watch him. 

It’s almost perverse that we need to push top runners such as Wilnar Iglesia, Dean Perez, Al Telias, Kristian Joergensen. Dean Lim and last-but-not least, Arnold Lozano - the CMU winner last year! - to the back of this race preview. That is how deep the field is in terms of quality. Anyone who gets in the top 10 of CMU on Sunday is a race winner. Iglesia was very quick catching up after losing the right trail in Akyathlon. Al Telias finds in CMU his best race course and was on the podium here the past 2 years. Perez is doing his 3rd ATM points race of the season and keen to show the best of himself before returning to Canada. Joergensen is in the shape of his life, and looked strong in finishing 2nd in Rizal behind Onifa. Can he narrow that 30-minute gap this weekend? Maybe with the help of Lozano. Winner last year in a spectacular dual with Marcelino Sano-Oy, he was disappointed with himself for being too relaxed in the early stages of the Akyathlon. If he’s more alert on Sunday, he won’t easily let go! 

Unfortunately, some of the local favourites will, ironically, not be there at this great trail party. New entrepreneur Manolito Divina has not yet picked up his regular training and has postponed his racing campaign to April, and Marcelino Sano-Oy is still running with pain after a nasty fall early in the Akyathlon (a race he continued to finish 3rd on the podium). In the women’s Baguio’s own Sandi Menchi - winner at CMU last season - will not be competing. 

The female race will be very strong nonetheless, even when ATM Champion Kim Matthews has also announced her DNS today. Matthews fell badly on her hip a week ago during training, and is not in a position to run in the next few weeks. She even already scrapped her “home” race, Dalat Ultra Trail, on 17 March off her race calendar. The season is still long and Matthews already has 500 championship points in her bag for winning Tahura Trail at the beginning of the 2018 season. 

Still, one of her main competitors for the championship has a great opprtunity to open up a points gap this weekend. Two weeks after being victorious in UT Koh Chang, Indonesia’s Ruth Theresia is back for her second SuperTrail of the season. Were the Bandung Explorer lady to win also CMU, it would very much be a perfect start of her championship campaign! However, Ruth Theresia will face stern opposition on Sunday from the locals, but also from Thailand-based French runner Carole Fuchs. Fuchs is making her debut on the ATM scene, but has announced previously she might prioritise our championship this season. Known to be tough and fast, Fuchs    for sure will give all others a run for their money. Among the others we find 2018 race winners Aggy Smith Sabanal (Rizal) and Majo Liao (Akyathlon), 2016 CMU winner Gretchen Felipe and the ever-improving Patricia Ann Morota. Home advantage is a thing, yet it did not help local Felipe last month when she followed Sandi Menchi going the wrong way at Akyathlon. However, more reason to shine on Sunday. Other potential podium runners are Maria Luisa Prado, Diorella Cerujano and Bitbit Baby Marites Sotto. 

A big trail party is in the making in Dalupirip for the Philippines’ SuperTrail of the Asia Trail Master Championship. But if there’s one thing Dalupirip is not known for, it’s for the mobile connectivity. Measures have been taken to improve the speed, so that proper broadcasting and multimedia services can be done live. Please bear with us, should the mountains and its weather decide otherwise.