We are happy to welcome the 1st edition of Bogd Khan Ultra Trail aka Mongolian International Steppe Marathon on 19 August as a 2019 ATM Candidate Race.  A 50k hilly grassland trail in the mountainous outskirts of capital city Ulanbaataar. With outdoor and endurance sport expert Carole Fuchs as race director and a Japanese production, the event has high ambitions to become a summer classic on the Asia trail scene. The longest distance this year is 50 km. 

A bit of background. Bogd Khan was born in Tibet and was the third most important man in the hierarchy of Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. Nevertheless, he moved and lived most of his life in Mongolia. In 1911 he was enthroned as the Khagan - Head of State - of Outer Mongolia after it declared its independence following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in what is now known as China. The Bogd Khaganate - the reign - was short-lived as in 1919 Chinese troops returned to Urga, as the capital city was then called. In the political turmoil that ensued, Bogd Khan was again reinstated to the throne for three more years till his death in 1924. Then, the People's Republic of Mongolia was officially announced, backed by Soviet Communists. The winter palace of Bogd Khan has been well-preserved an is now tourist attraction in Ulanbaataar. 

Fascinating stories and cultural relics are omnipresent in this region of the world, and for sure adds meaning to the new trail event in August. 

More details via the facebook page of the event. 

https://www.facebook.com/MSUT.Official/

Egon Trails, organiser of Ijen Trailrunning, is happy to announce a special tour package in East Java for trail runners, in conjunction with Asia Trail Master. After the Ijen race on 29/30 September, runners can bridge the gap to the following week's Plataran X Trail Bali race (6 October) by climbing Gunung Raung and do four days of exquisite sightseeing and trail training! 

Gunung Raung is the famous highest peak (3334m above sea level) of the Ijen mountains cluster and one of the most active volcanoes on Java.  The scenery is phenomenal. Beginning on Monday after the Ijen race, the guided tour package consists of 4 days and 3 nights, of which 1 on the mountain itself. The climb of Raung is a genuine training session, but other than the physical exercise there will also be plenty of cultural and more easy-going activities before taking the bus and ferry to West Bali and the Plataran resort for the X Trail event. 

The price for the package is very democratic and depends on the number of runners or people taking part. Please note that these are also special prices for participants in the Asia Trail Master points races Ijen Trailrunning and Plataran X Trail Bali Menjangan only. 

Spending a week in the breathtaking volcanic mountains of East Java and ending with beach and pure relaxation in Bali! 

More details can be obtained via info@egon.co.id and info@asiatrailmaster.com . 

The 3rd edition of the Echigo Country Trail in Nagaoka, Niigata, was the most successful to date with around 1000 runners who traveled to the traditional countryside of Japan, roughly 2,5 hours northwest of Tokyo by shinkansen bullet train. In beautiful weather, Kota Araki once again proved to be one of his country's best trail runners with an outstanding race victory in the men's 53 km. Half a year ago, Araki also won the Izu Trail Journey. He finished in 4:46 - a new course record - and over fifteen minutes ahead of Sota Ogawa, who in so doing collected his first ATM championship points after the DNF at Penang Eco 100. Ogawa ran a strong race on the generally runable course, although he prefers it rough and tough. He concluded in 5h02, and was able to hold off Kenichi Kawano and Tsutomu Nagata. Seven minutes later, Kazufumi Ose arrived in fifth place. Earlier this season, Ose was second in the 9 Dragons 50/50 in Hong Kong. 

Another sixteen minutes later, in 6th, came Tomohiro Mizukoshi. His assignment was clear at the start: finish in the top 14 to claim the points lead in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship. He did it in style and therefore is the first ever Japanese runner to be on number 1 on our championship ranking. Mizukoshi wouldn't be Mizukoshi if he hadn't grabbed the bull by the horns in the race, of course. Just like in Penang Eco, he started fast and mixed with the naturally faster-paced runners ahead of him. A courageous strategy, but he pulled it off. There's a gap of four weeks till the next points race in the ATM Championship - Mantra Summits Challenge in Indonesia on 14/15 July - so at least until then Tomohiro Mizukoshi can call himself the ATM Championship leader! 

The women's race also produced an amazing result as 47-year-old Yukako Takashima took the victory in 6:16. An impressive feat as in second place was nobody else than France's Carole Fuchs in 6:52, winner of the Cordillera Mountain Ultra and several other races outside the ATM circuit. Fuchs, of course, had just returned from a mountaineering expedition and a successful ascent of Mount Everest. It is normal she is not at her best level right now, yet let's not take anything away from Takashima's win neither. The podium was completed by Mayumi Kobayashi.

Kirk Kenny's highly-anticipated photo album of the Echigo event weekend will be made available on our facebook page later this week.  

With Ultra Trail Mount Damavand (postponed to August 2019) and Tam Dao Mountain Trail (postponed to later date) not taking place this month, the ATM Championship is taking a one-month-break now until the Mantra Summits Challenge in Malang, East Java, Indonesia on 14/15 July. That one promises to be another cracker with a very technical mountain course of 75 km and 5500 hm. 

The women's podium this year

The 3rd edition of Echigo Country Trail will see close to a thousand runners strike down in the Oguni Forest Reserve of Nagaoka in Japan’s countryside. This is one of the most colourful events in our series, thanks to the overwhelming hospitality of the local people, and the expert organisation and direction by local professional runner Hiroaki Matsunaga. On Sunday, there’s again a 52 km race on the menu: runable for the most part, but with some very technical hills nonetheless to break the rhythm and test runners’ resilience. 

As this is a race in Japan, obviously Japanese runners are top favourite to score the podium spots. But one woman could actually upset the natural order of things. Thailand-based Carole Fuchs from France will be doing her second ATM points race of the season, and after her demonstration during the Cordillera Mountain Ultra in Philippines last March it is hard not to see her at least on the podium on Sunday. One thing that could of course hamper Fuchs this weekend is that she hasn’t done much specific running training since CMU. Instead, she - successfully - climbed Mount Everest! Japan’s Tomoko Ueno was 4th last year in this race, can she improve this season to grab a top three? 

Back from Mount Everest: Carole Fuchs

In the men’s, we can expect anything to happen. Jun Kaise is always a favourite on home soil in this part of Japan, Niigata. A few weeks ago, the sympathetic firefighter again won the short an crispy Kushigata Wind Trail. Clearly in shape, can he do better than his third place in Echigo from last year. Jun Kaise was also the best ranked Japanese runner in the 2017 Asia Trail Master Championship. 

Speaking of which, another Japanese runner can propel himself into the top spot of this year’s ATM championship! Tomohiro Mizukoshi from Tokyo has been a very busy bee traveling and racing in Malaysia and South Korea as well as Kushigata. Mizukoshi is third in the standings with 1510 points now with four race results in bag already. Echigo will be his fifth race and he will be the first of the top male runners to reach the fifth level. He needs 265 points to overtake points leader Pablo Diago Gonzales, which corresponds to a place in the top 14 on Sunday. If Mizukoshi succeeds, it would be the first time a Japanese runner is on top of the ATM championship ranking. 

For the race win, Mizukoshi - a good road runner as he showed during Penang Eco 100 - will be up against other big names in Japan such as Sota Ogawa and Kazufumi Ose. Ogawa had a DNF in Penang due to heat and stomach issues, and will be keen to set something straight this weekend. Ogawa has also planned Mantra Summits Challenge next month and wants to compete for the championship. Kazufumi Ose already has 500 championship points in the bag this season: he was second in the 50/50 of The 9 Dragons in Hong Kong last February. 

As usual, we will be reporting live on our social media channels from Nagaoka and the Echigo Country Trail. 

You can also follow action here with a webcam:

https://oguni.love/events/echigo-country-trail

Sota Ogawa and Tomohiro Mizukoshi finds themselves together again this weekend

One of the most anticipated new events at the end of this year is the Malaysia Ultra Trail Festival. A rather bombastic title for a new event and the slogan "lose your mind, discover your soul" adds even more flavour and - especially - intrigue. However, organiser Ewegene Tan and his experienced crew know very well what they are putting up in the city of Taiping in Perak, north of Kuala Lumpur. From 30 November to 2 December, trail runners can truly expect a trail feast. What's more, the event has been granted the 2019 ATM Candidate Race label. 

Malaysia Ultra Trail festival will be held in Taiping Town which sits on a coastal plain at the foothills of the Bintang Range. Taiping is located about 48km northwest of Ipoh, the capital of Perak. It is connected with Kuala Lumpur and Putrayaja by highway, and if you are driving, you could even consider getting there quicker starting from Penang. 

The 1st edition of this highly anticipated new event take runners through 15 / 30 / 70KM of pristine trails around Taiping with elevation gain of approx 1000m, 2000m and 4000m  respectively. The 70 km long distance race is obviously the one that will receive most attention from our Asia Trail Master point of view. Looking at the figures, 4000hm for 70k, that's a tough one, so you need to have some reserves in the tank after a long year of running. The race will give each and every runner a chance of a lifetime to experience up to 6 different trails going up and down the iconic Maxwell Hill (5 of which are not normally open to the public on any given day). 

Centre point of the long distance race is indeed Maxwell Hill, named after William George Maxwell, who was the British Assistant Resident in Perak. Also known locally as Bukit Larut, it is a hill resort founded in 1884. As such, it is the oldest hill resort in Malaysia. It is approximately 1440m above sea level. Bukit Larut and Taiping also receive some limelight for being the wettest places in Peninsular Malaysia. The high amount of rainfall has led to a fertile collection of flora and century-old rain trees in the Taiping Lake Garden.

The name of the event indicates it, and yes, MUTF will be more than just a trail race. It will be a trail party! After the event, runners and their companions can get together to discuss their experiences over some delicious food and drinks at the after party. 

The official website for registration and information is: http://mutf.my

The final weekend of the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship will again consist of two events where the final points for this season can be gathered: Ultra Trail Panoramic in Pai, Thailand on 7/8 December, followed by Izu Trail Journey on the Izu Peninsula in Japan on Sunday, 9 December. Upon conclusion of these two events, we know who succeed Steven Ong and Kim Matthews as the male and female champion in the Asia Trail Master Championship. 

Different from last year, we are introducing an added rule to the points distribution at these two events to allow for a fair conclusion to the championship and to offer runners a fair choice between the two events. The new rule is:

“Only runners who have scored points in minimum two ATM races during the 2018 season will receive ATM Championship points for their respective result in UT Panoramic 100 miles or 100k,  or Izu Trail Journey 72k.” 

In other words, the total race results of both Thai and Japanese events will be filtered, and only runners for whom UT Panoramic or Izu Trail Journey is the third ATM points race of the season will be retained and given championship points. 

Practical example: runner A finishes 9th in Izu Trail Journey. However, the runners in 2nd and 4th place have not done any other race in ATM this year, and the runner in 5th place has only done one before Izu Trail Journey. They are taken out of the list, and runner A gets points equivalent to 5th place. 

By introducing this added rule, runners in contention for the  ATM championship title can freely choose their final race without worrying about the competitive level of the potential local participants. 

Please note that Izu Trail Journey is of course the Japan SuperTrail, meaning 50 bonus points for the relevant finishers. Relevant finishers on the 100 miles of UT Panoramic likewise score the 100-miles bonus, i.e. also 50 points. 

To be clear, this concerns the ATM Championship only and not the Grandmaster Quest. All finishers of the UT Panoramic 100 miles and 100k races, as well as Izu Trail Journey 72k will score a point for their individual Grandmaster challenge.