Malaysia has discovered a new trail running star in Daved Simpat as the 33-year-old local won Borneo 100 TMBT around the southern slopes of Mount Kinabalu in 15:05:05. Simpat, part of the Champion System Adventure Team most known for its cycling exploits, had never run beyond 50 km and claimed the race lead only towards the very end as he passed Singapore-based Indian runner Ullas Narayana. 

Simpat eventually ran an advantage of together of 11'32" to take victory in front of his home crowd. Narayana had run a smart race himself by not overdoing things in the first half. He got into the lead by the penultimate checkpoint in Keranaan, but could not hold off Simpat. Only three weeks ago Narayana managed to get 8th place in the Mount Rinjani Ultra (MRU) on Lombok, which means that he is leaping to 3rd place in the 2015 Asia Trail Master ranking with 732 points. Simpat collects 500 points for his win (400 performance points + 100 distance points). 

Norway's Jan Nilsen was the third runner who saw chances of glory during the tough and hot race, during which the runners also had to cope with heavy rainfall at some point. Nilsen faded in the final 20 kilometres, but his third place was never in danger. Regis Cabaret and Gaspard Dessy, two runners who had an opportunity to propel themselves to the top of the Asia Trail Master ranking, enjoyed a fine start of the race before they dropped back in the order at later checkpoints.  Cabaret, who had come fourth in MRU, ran out of fuel entirely and suffered from dehydration in the second part. He would not make it to the finish line on this occasion. Great Britain's Fintan West scored 25th yesterday and moves up to the top 15 of the 2015 Asia Trail Master ranking with 538 points behind his name. 

The women's race witness an incredible performance by Australia's Joanna Kruk. Not only did Kruk finish over 3 hours-and-a-half ahead of second-placed Deborah Chinn (USA), she crossed the line fifth overall in 16:58:16! The podium was completed by Malaysia's Chong Hsiao Shiang.  Important from an Asia Trail Master point of view was the fourth place of Tan Seow Ping. Malaysian but now residing in Hong Kong, Tan Seow Ping was third in UT HK earlier this year and now again scored 400 points last weekend. She thus grabs the overall lead in the 2015 championship with 900 in total, 325 more than Yuen Kit Shan. 

2015 Borneo 100 TMBT champion Daved Simpat

Top 10 Borneo 100 TMBT

Men:

1. Daved Simpat (MAS) 15:15:05
2. Ullas Narayana (IND) 15:26:37
3. Jan Nilsen (NOR) 15:50:16
4. Munintaran Sundran (MAS) 16:55:38
5. Michael Galligan (USA) 17:14:15
6. Ahmadul Tahir (MAS) 17:35:48
7. Phairat Varasin (THA) 17:38:10
8. Joshua Hengen (USA) 18:13:58
9. Pierre-Henry Coppere (FRA) 18:36:40
10.Soh Hian Lim (MAS) 18:40:48

Women

1. Joanna Kruk (AUS) 16:58:16
2. Deborah Chinn (USA) 20:33:15
3. Chong Hsiao Shiang (MAS) 20:57:11
4. Tan Seow Ping (MAS) 22:09:23
5. Siow Yun Mee (MAS) 22:28:14
6. Lim Mun Yin (MAS) 23:32:06
7. Leana Savenkova (SIN) 24:48:09
8. Pakanee Prutphakdee (THA) 25:16:16
9. Evergreen Edward (MAS) 26:07:18
10.Linda Poong (MAS) 26:31:04

Mount Kinabalu

It's UTMB time in France, but a top weekend is coming up for trail runners and the Asia Trail Master series in Malaysia as well. The country's most renowned race is on in Sabah - the Borneo 100 - The Most Beautiful Thing (TMBT) - and in western Malaysia the inaugural Epic Valley Ecotrail 100 looks set for a great start. What's more, we may get a change in leadership in the women's Asia Trail Master ranking as a few starters are ready to challenge Yuen Kit Shan's 575 points tally!

The Borneo TMBT Ultra Trail Marathon, organised by the Sabah Adventure Challenge crew, is having its 5th edition already on Saturday and will celebrate a new participation record of over 1300 runners spread over 4 distances. As per our regulations, only the two longest distances, 100km and 55km, qualify for scoring Asia Trail Master ranking points. All finishers on the 100km also get 1 point for their quest to become an Asia Trail Grandmaster (6 points in 2 calendar years). 

In Asia, this is certainly one of those epic races and arguably among the genuine classics already. TMBT takes runners from Lingkubang to Kundasang on the western and southern slopes of Mount Kinabalu, via paths in and around native dusun villages few people ever get to experience. The route does not include a summit climb, but is more than tough enough. Not only is there a 5305m elevation gain to be conquered, runners also need to deal with tropical humidity, dense vegetation and even keep an eye on the clock as there is a 30-hour cut off time. A physical and mental challenge with clearly a high appeal factor for people in the still very young Malaysian trail running scene. 318 athletes will attempt the 100km run this weekend. 

Among them also Tan Seow Ping, third in the women's Ultra Trail Hong Kong earlier this year and therefore 8th in the current Asia Trail Master ranking with 500 points,  75 points less than Hong Kong's Yuen Kit Shan. The local Malaysian runner has a great opportunity to claim the lead in the ranking: she only needs to finish the race to score 100 distance points. However, Tan Seow Ping should also keep an eye out for Indonesia's Ina Budiyarni, recently winner of the Rinjani Altitude Run on Lombok. Budiyarni herself can move ahead of Yuen Kit Shan if she crosses the finish line in the top five this weekend.  

Xie Zhangrong's lead in the men's ranking is theoretically also threatened this weekend, but it would take a victory for Belgium's Gaspard Dessy to remove him from the top spot. Dessy was third in the Gede Pangrango Marathon last May and can certainly make a big leap forward, just like France's Regis Cabaret and Great Britain's Fintan West, all of whom have already scored top five spots in Asia Trail Master races in the course of the year. 

On the other side of the country, in peninsular Malaysia and Penang, Endurance Nature is organising the first edition of the Malaysia Epic Valley Eco 100, also an official 2016 Asia Trail Master Candidate Race. A course that presents its own elevation difficulties but that is certainly quite suited for pure distance runners with several long flattish sections. As described very nicely on the event website:

The route will start from the eco village of Sungai Lembu, taking runners through oil palm plantations, rubber plantations, pineapple plantations, several Malay kampungs, Chinese new villages and Indian temples, paddy fields and of course the challenging hills of Tokun.  This is a race which will showcase the typical Malaysian geographical, social and cultural heritage (...). During the race, the runners will be sampling the local cuisines in the food and drinks provided at the aid stations along the course of the race.

Our media partner Action Asia has just released its September/October issue, including coverage of the latest Asia Trail Master races in Indonesia and Mongolia. Available throughout Southeast Asia, for further inquiries please contact Fion Chan in Hong Kong. 

Trail running in Indonesia has taken off seriously this year, as illustrated with four entries in the Asia Trail Master series, and another fifth event is looking to become part of the series next year. Ijen Trail Running was organised for the first time in Bondowoso, East Java, last weekend and of course had Ijen volcano as its core feature.

On offer in this Candidate Race were 70km, 30km and 10km distances. The long distance was won by Bandung Explorer duo Alan Maulana and Arief Wismoyono, with Hadi Firmansyah completing the podium. Wismoyono  just won the Mount Rinjani Ultra two weeks ago and is said to be focussing on Bromo Tengger Semeru in November as well. If he keeps up this level of form, he could be a favourite to win the first Asia Trail Master championship. 

The 30km race was won by Moh Soni Prasetyo in the men's, and Sara Manurong in the women's. With runners from the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom also on the 30k podium, Ijen Trail running did attract a number of international athletes already. 

Numbers 1 and 2 in the men's 70km flanked by the  winner of the women's 30km. 

Courtesy of Ijen Trail Running

Courtesy of Ijen Trail Running

Courtesy of Ijen Trail Running

Courtesy of Ijen Trail Running

Arief Wismoyono gave the Indonesian trail running community something to cheer about as he became the first local winner of the country’s most renowned trail race, Mount Rinjani Ultra (MRU) on Lombok Island. Hailing from Bandung in Java, the 31-year-old Wismoyono held off a late charge by Hong Kong’s Kwok Lun Ng to cross the finish line in 13 hours and 9 minutes and 39 seconds (gun time). Switzerland’s Caroline Roehrl claimed the women’s title in just over 17 hours, making the difference on the climb up Mount Rinjani. 

450 participants from 38 countries travelled to Senaru, the traditional gateway town for multi day trekking trips on Gunung Rinjani, the active volcano that towers high above the small island at 3726m. MRU may only be 52km in distance, but it has a massive 5800 metres of elevation gain. As if that were not enough by itself, the organiser - Indonesian outdoor hero Hendra Wiyaya - also imposes a strict cut-off time of 22 hours. The DNF quota was very high in the first two editions of the event, and it was no different this year with only 34 out of 183 effective starters beating the challenge. All finishers of course score points for the 2015 Asia Trail Master ranking, and by exception - given the event's high degree of difficulty - also get 1 point for their quest to be come an Asia Trail Grandmaster (6 points required within 2 years). 

Participants were greatly rewarded for their efforts by fantastic views at the peak of the crater lake and even of Gunung Agung on Bali. In addition, there was the enthusiasm and appreciation of the local community. The start of MRU was at 10 p.m., which means that most runners had just reached or were on the way to the peak of Rinjani come sunrise. Those who competed in the 21km shorter Rinjani Altitude Run (RAR) could still look forward to the gorgeous sight of the volcano crater lake at 2600m as well.

Arief Wismoyono is on a roll this year, as he also won the Tambora 200 ultra race on Sumbawa last April. With two more big Indonesian races coming up in the Asia Trail Master series this year, Wismoyono has a good chance to finish high in the championship at the end of the year. His winning time at MRU is not a course record, though,as American Thomas Zachary achieved 12:44 in 2014. Similarly, Caroline Roehrl was half an hour short of the female best mark set by Nora Senn from Hong Kong, i.e. 16:30. 

“This is one of the toughest races out there, and very technical. People usually trek for three days on this volcano” said Pablo Diago, based in Singapore and third on the podium. “It is a bit crazy, but that is why we are here!” Women’s champion Caroline Roehrl was happy but totally empty at the finish. “I ran out of gas in the final part of the summit climb. It was so painful afterwards...” She kept an advantage of 49 minutes over the duo Woon Ping Leung and Lam Lai Po. 

26-year-old Caroline Roehrl was the fastest woman after a rocket climb up Mount Rinjani

The short distance race was won by Hong Kong-based Spaniard Daniel Perez and by local star Ina Budiyarni from Java in the women’s. 

Top results 52 km MRU:

1. Arief Wismoyono 13:09
2. Kwok Lun Ng 13:17
3. Pablo Diago 14:44
4. Regis Cabaret 15:17
5. Alan Maulana 15:57
6. Emmanuel Abade 16:25
7. Anthony Leung Kin Yang 16:33
8. Ullas Narayana 16:52
9. Fandi Ahmad 17:00
10. Caroline Roehrl 17:01
14. Woon Ping Leung 17:51
15. Lam Lai Po 17:51

Daniel Perez was unstoppable on the 21km Rinjani Altitude Run (RAR)

Podium of the women's RAR race with winner Ina Budiyarni in the middle. 

The 17th edition of Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset in the Hovsgol National Park saw a domestic winner on the 100km course. Tumenbayar Shagdar arrived solo at the finish in a time of 11:54., 46 minutes ahead of Spain's Fernando Gonzalez Rodriguez. Fastest woman was Aurelia Veyre from France, though based in South Korea, in 15:16.

As usual a field of close to 100 runners undertook the long trip to the remote national park in the northwest of Mongolia and spend a short week of holiday there. For many people the experience of a lifetime. This year's winner, Shagdar, had previously scored a few podium places on the marathon (42km) distance of this event. His move up to the ultra distance has now given him his first win in a solid time as well. Second-placed Gonzalez Rodriguez is an experienced trailrunner with UTMB and others on his record already. He lost some time as he missed a marker at some point, but the gap to Shagdar was clear nevertheless. 

Top results:

Men 100km:
1. Tumenbayar Shagdar 11:54
2. Fernando Gonzalez Rodriguez 12:40
3. Andrew Eastwood 14:29
4. Michael Hill 14:36
5. James Ferguson 15:16

Women 100km:
1. Aurelia Veyre  15:16
2. Laurel Pardue 16:33
3. Tracy Masuda 17:09

Men 42 km
1. Tuguldur Tselmegsaikhan  5:11

Women 42km
1. Jennifer Pasiciel 5:57

The Mount Rinjani Ultra trail race is arguably the best known Indonesian race on the calendar, and not only because of the outstanding views on the summit of the 3726m high volcano, but also because of the DNF numbers in the first two editions of the race. The climb up and descent of the volcano is tough - there's no other word for it with over 5500m elevation gain in 52km  - and combined with the tropical climate and high altitude makes this a challenge for every single participant. 

Last year only 22% of the 212 starters managed to complete the 52km race within the cut-off time of 22 hours! This year even more people will try and complete this feat, and score Asia Trail Master points in the process. Mount Rinjani is one of these iconic volcanoes in the world, which has become a popular destination for adventurous trekkers. It sits high on Lombok, a small island to the east of Bali. Views on the summit are breathtaking and make for popular computer wallpapers. 

Participants this weekend an also take part in our Instagram competition to win a free race entry to the Bromo Tengger Semeru event in East Java from 6 to 8 November. To have a chance to win, runners need to submit a photo of themselves wearing an Asia Trail Master gadget using the hashtag #asiatrail and the @asiatrailmaster mention. 

Mount Rinjani Ultra, organised by FOneSport and its Indonesian trail running hero Hendra Wijaya, is the second of four Indonesian races on our 2015 calendar. The first race, Gede Pangrango Marathon near Jakarta in West Java, was won by local runner Jumardi. Later this month there is also a 2016 Candidate Race, the Ijen Trail, on 22 August, and then there is Mesastila Ultra Challenge on 10 October and Bromo Tengger Semeru in November. 

With the 17th edition (who says trail running is a young sport?) of the Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset race in Hovsgol National Park, the second half of the inaugural Asia Trail Master series gets underway. The race labels itself as "the world's most beautiful 42 and 100km trail run", and runners who have been there tend to go along with that statement. For sure, this race takes place far away from what one calls 'civilisation'. 

The Hovsgol National Park in far northwestern Mongolia is so far away from capital city Ulaanbaatar, participants in the MS2S race are required to plan a week's holiday. The reward is stunningly beautiful and peaceful landscape, and a true feeling of 'being away'. Moreover, participants are supporting the Ecoleap Foundation, which aims to protect the natural pristine environment of the National Park, as well as educate and guide locals and tourists how to do so. 

Its remoteness restricts overall participant numbers, but nevertheless Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset is a classic and winning it a highlight on any trail runner's record. Finishers on the 100km and 42km courses will score a substantial number of Asia Trail Master points, and the 100km course qualifies as a point for runner's quest to obtain Grandmaster status. 

In the current 2015 rankings, China's Xie Zhangrong is still in the lead ahead of GlobalLimits Heritage Site Runner Patrick Singh and Yan Longfei, and in the women's it is still UTHK winner Yuen Kit Shan ahead of Marcia Zhou and Veronique Messina. 

An absolute highlight on the trail running calendar in the Philippines, and one of the Asia Trail Master series' pioneers. Official registration for the 50 miles or the 60 km race is closing within the next two weeks. Clark is easy-to-get-to from various parts of Asia, as it has an airport.