Also in 2021 Vietnam seems to be the Asian country where most ‘real’ trail running events are and will be taking place. Vietnam Mountain Marathon and Vietnam Jungle Marathon are the classics on the Asia Trail Master Championship calendar in the mean time and already open for registration. Hopefully, by end of August and October some international runners will be able to enter the country by that time. That is currently still impossible, which is why Dalat Ultra Trail, which takes place this year early May, was not on our intended event calendar for 2021. This has opened an opportunity for another Vietnamese event to enter the ATM Championship and that honour has gone to last year’s Candidate Mu Cang Chai Trail in the northeast of the country. MCC, as it is often abbreviated, is scheduled for 18/19 September, which is the old date of VMM after the latter moved forward to end of August. As previously announced, Mu Cang Chai Trail offers a chance to the faster medium distance trail runners with the 50k race as the ATM Championship points race. The event organiser released a great teaser video - embedded below - to get you in the mood. Registrations open by the end of March.

Registrations are also open for the multiday boutique event Bali Volcano Race in December. This new event has the ATM Candidate Race label and has a lot of options on its programme. There’s the 3-day stage race, with limited numbers, and there’s two single day races around Mount Batur as well: Batur Extreme and Batur Adventure. Bali Volcano Race has Spanish roots and is one of several new events that were in the pipeline on the island of the gods last year. Hopefully, things can really get going in the coming months, indeed. More details on BVR via its website.

As mentioned above, Vietnam Mountain Marathon and Vietnam Jungle Marathon are open for registration as well , and you can do so via the website of the event organiser.

The ATM Final is set in Malaysia on 18 December, and if you were there or were following the 2019 race coverage you know you do not want to miss this: Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping is open for registration as well.

Another ATM Candidate Race has opened the books this week and confirmed its event date for 2021. Malnad Ultra in India is scheduled for 27/28 November. It will be the 5th edition of the event, which offers three ultra categories of 110km, 80km and 50km. The course takes runners through the beautiful Kadumane Estate, with stunning views in the Western Ghats of South India. A nice and comprehensive teaser video is embedded below.

VMM in Sapa has one of the most iconic finish lines in Asia

Not a lot of news over the past two weeks on the ATM circuit, as everyone keeps waiting for possibilities to make more formal and decisive plans. The good news, however, is that the registrations for the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival and the Vietnam Mountain Marathon have been going well, indicating again how hungry many runners are for real events. Ewegene Tan, event organiser of MMTF, even mentions a lot of international sign-ups, not in the least from the Philippines. MMTF is the last event on the ATM calendar this year on 18 December, making it the “ATM Final” once again after 2019.

How that Championship Final will be designed is a matter that is increasingly being discussed these weeks, as it appears unlikely the majority of Asian runners will be able to put in four of five results during the 2021 season. We will be updating you all on this in the coming weeks.

Registration for MMTF goes via the official event website.

In Vietnam, runners have had the most opportunities to keep up their racing spirit and so far it looks like that may remain the case in 2021. Both the Vietnam Mountain Marathon (end of August) and Vietnam Jungle Marathon (mid-October) are open for registration. These are popular events, so you may wish to sign up already and keep your participation chances alive. Go to the official website.

In Thailand, things have become more complicated in recent months but are expected to normalise again in May. Nevertheless, following meetings with local authorities on Koh Samui, organiser teelakow has decided to postpone Samui Monkey’s Trail from May to September at a weekend to be decided later. At the same time, it has been announced that the trail route will be completely redesigned for this year’s edition. For more info on Samui Monkey’s Trail, please consider the event’s facebook page.

Over in Japan, the Echigo Country Trail in Nagaoka, Niigata, remains one of the earliest events on the schedule for this year on 20 June. Registrations for the 60km points race are open via the official website.