The last 100 miler of the season takes place in Hong Kong this year with HK 168. A big run through the New Territories with start and finish in Tai Mei Tuk. This one is very tough as it has almost 12.000 meters of elevation gain. The cut-off time is 46 hours and the race starts already on Friday at 6 pm.

One of the runners to watch out for is Japan’s Hisashi Kitamura, currently sixth in the Asia Trail Master Championship. Kitamura has been improving steadily throughout the year to the extent he has become a podium candidate in every race he starts. For Kitamura there’s more on the line this weekend as well. Should he win HK 168, he would jump ahead of his compatriot Tomohiro Mizukoshi in the Asia Trail Master ranking and become the first Japanese.

HK 168 typically features a strong field of mainland Chinese runners as well, along with some of Hong Kong’s best ultrarunners. Thanks to Race Timing Solutions and Dot track Asia, it will be possible to follow the race live online. Several runners, including Kitamura, have a GPS tracking device on them to follow their positions.

Trackers by Dottrack Asia:

http://live.dottrack.asia/xtehk168/

Leaderboard RTS

http://results.racetimingsolutions.com/live.aspx?CId=16387&RId=6298

Hisashi Kitamura was on the podium already three times this season. Can he score a win this weekend?

After five podium places - including two at CM50 Ultra - Kristian Joergensen has won his first ever Asia Trail Master points race last weekend. In Clark, the Philippines-based Dane was clearly the strongest in the 8th edition of CM50 Ultra, finishing more than 40 minutes ahead of Japan’s Tomohiro Mizukoshi. The Tokyo runner therefore lost 50 important championship points, which unfortunately has put him out of contention for this year’s ATM championship title. Mizukoshi is highly likely to end the season in third, although a top result at Izu Trail Journey could still propel him ahead of Salva Rambla. For Joergensen it was his third ATM race of the year after scoring second places in Rizal Mountain Run and Borneo TMBT Ultra.

Triple CM50 winner Manolito Divina was also in the mix early on in the race, which started at nighttime. But the 2016 ATM champion is still chasing his best form after taking many months off running. ‘Tolitz’ slowed down in the second half of the race. Carlo Chiong and Joseph Gentileo kept the Filipino honours high in the men’s race with a third and fourth place ahead of Spain’s Ander Iza Rekakoetxea. To note was the excellent performance of 2-star Grandmaster Aleksis Capili. A big fan of CM50, Capili produced his fastest run to date and came in as eighth, but having Rekakoetxea within his sight!

In the women’s race we had an unexpected winner, Cheryl Navarro. Insiders had noted she could finish close as, after all, she won the 60km B-race of CM50 a year ago. As it happened, Navarro was a lot quicker than the rest and even finished inside the overall top ten. Let’s see if she will feature more often in other ATM points races next season! Malaysia’s Jassica Lintanga continued her fine form of this season with another podium placing as second. Lintanga also jumps into the top five of the ATM Championship. The final step on the podium was for Cecile Wael. Aggy Sabanal did not have her best race last weekend and had to be content with 8th place. It means Sabanal stays third behind Sri Wahyuni in the ATM championship. She has another chance to get second in Izu Trail Journey in 2 weeks.

Kristian Joergensen dominated the CM50 race this year

The Trail Blazer race in Singapore had not stolen its name: the shortest and fastest points race in the Asia Trail Master Championship series this season produced a great direct battle between championship leader Alessandro Sherpa and Spanish challenger Salva Rambla. While many local runners toed the starting line as well, nobody was able to keep up with the leading duo over the 26 km distance, partially on slippery trails. Sherpa and Rambla know each other quite well after they jointly ran to victory in the V Trail in Laos a month ago, but in Singapore no gifts were handed out. After a great dual, Salva Rambla had the quickest dash to the finish line and won the race, keeping his Asia Trail Master Championship ambitions very much alive. Sherpa was second some 30 seconds later and nevertheless happy as he still increased his total ATM points tally by another 25 points.

The final two weeks of the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship series but still four points races to go. On Sunday, the new COMPRESSPORT Trail Blazer in Singapore and the traditional CM50 Ultra in Philippines will already shed a big light on who the ultimate championship challengers are this year, and -who knows- maybe it will all be decided already! Both points leaders in the championship will be running, too, albeit with different motivations.

Ruth Theresia has accumulated such an advantage over the other women by winning three back-to-back races in Indonesia in September and October, only a mathematical possibility remained for some other race winners of this season to still overtake her on points. But time has run out. Carole Fuchs will be doing Izu Trail Journey on 9 December, but that won’t be enough to catch Theresia. Corinne Williams has decided to end her season after Borneo TMBT Ultra due to other life commitments. Singapore’s Evelyn Lek - who burst onto the scene by winning both Magnificent Merapoh Trail 100 and Vietnam Mountain Marathon 100 - will compete in her home race this Sunday, but even if she wins it and follows up with Izu and HK 168, she cannot reach the 2650 total points tally set by Ruth Theresia. The leading lady of the renowned Bandung Explorer Team can therefore rest on her laurels and enjoy her second participation in CM50 Ultra supporting her friends. Ironically, exactly one year ago, Ruth lost her chance to become ATM champion in this same race after a great battle with Kim Matthews. While Ruth has emphasised not to look for her at the front of this weekend’s race, another finish would mean her 16th Grandmaster race finish! At the end of 2018, she is the only runner who is a 3-Star Grandmaster!

Who can we expect to compete for the race victory in Clark? Plenty of good local athletes on the start list, such as Aggy Sabanal, Melanie Hingpit, Ann Pulanco and Khaterina Visperas. Sabanal, who is also scheduled to run in Japan in 2 weeks, will be eyeing the first runner-up position in the ATM Championship behind Theresia. In addition, there is the in-form Malaysian Jassica Lintanga. The Sabahan runner will aim to score another podium - and who knows a first ever ATM points race win - and in so doing cement a top five ranking in the 2018 ATM Championship.

The men’s race in Clark will see Manolito Divina in action for the second time this season after his comeback on the ATM tour in Plataran X Trail Bali. He will be competing against tough guys like Spaniard Ander Iza Rekakoetxea, and other Filipino top runners such as Jared Teves, Joeffrey Camara, Ray Cabanig, Arnold Lozano, Aleksis Capili, Kyle Antolin and Felmer Hiponia. In the context of the ATM Championship, eyes will be cast on Japan’s Tomohiro Mizukoshi first and foremost. He is ranked second behind Sherpa, and still has potential to challenge leader Alessandro Sherpa on points by improving on his ‘worst’ results of the season. Mizukoshi is currently 210 points behind, but a win in CM50 could reduce that gap to 110. And in 2 weeks there is his home race, Izu Trail Journey, where last year he ran very well, too. More runners to watch out for in Philippines are Sungsik Joh and Kristian Joergensen, the Manila-based Dane, who ran a fantastic Borneo TMBT early September. A Joergensen in that kind of form will be a serious contender for the race victory in Clark as well.

While Mizukoshi will be trying to catch up with Sherpa, the Italian himself will do his utmost to further increase the gap in the new Trail Blazer race in Singapore. Previously Sherpa had announced an end to his season to allow his injuries to heal properly, but he clearly feels his points margin is not wide enough to sit back and relax. Attack is always the best defence, as they say in sports. The name of the Singapore race is not a coincidence: the 25 km will be very fast for a trail race, of course aided by the fact that the nation state does not have any serious elevation gain to speak of. Sherpa has a great running speed, but how much will his knee and ankle hamper him? In addition, Spain’s Salva Rambla will be giving him a run for his money, too. Rambla himself is not entirely out of the Championship neither, especially should he win this Sundays’s Trail Blazer. Furthermore, in an atypical and non-technical trail race like this one we can expect several road runners to appear who may upset the normal order of things. In any case, while Ruth Theresia can prepare for a big celebration party on Sunday, Sherpa is unlikely to find himself in that situation already.

Dawn at CM50 is always something magical

Some of you might have wondered how come there hasn’t been more news about the next 2019 season of Asia Trail Master yet. The reason is simple: because we still focus very much on the remaining races of this year’s championship, but also because we are revamping the website and communication platforms for next year. After four years - and three years using the current design - we felt the time has come for a change and upgrade, if you feel. The new website and all details about the 2019 ATM Championship series will be revealed immediately after the Izu Trail Journey in Japan, final race of the season on 9 December.

In the mean time, you can of course already prepare and - especially - secure yourself a spot for the first set of fantastic races in our 2019 calendar: Tahura Trail (Indonesia), The 9 Dragons Ultra (Hong Kong), Pilipinas Akyathlon (Philippines), Cordillera Mountain Ultra (Philippines) and Dalat Ultra Trail (Vietnam).

The phenomenal success of Dalat Ultra Trail in Southern Vietnam has not escaped our attention at Asia Trail Master, and we are therefore happy to announce that the 2019 edition, scheduled for 16 March, will be the Vietnam SuperTrail in the Asia Trail Master Championship series! Dalat Ultra Trail is expecting 3500 runners next season, split up over four race distances, and the 70 km is the one that matters for the Asia Trail Master Championship contenders and those on the Grandmaster Quest.

DUT, as the event is known in its abridged form, received a major boost in participant numbers this year and runners proclaimed themselves to be very happy with the event weekend in the cool Central Highland city, roughly in-between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Nha Trang (the famous beach resort area). The 70 km makes one big loop through pine forests and coffee plantations and is generally quite runnable. Nevertheless, these are the Central Highlands, so you can also expect 2000m of elevation gain.

Registration numbers went through the roof very quickly as soon as they opened. For the 70k, runners are also advised to sign up quickly online via : https://123go.vn/dalatultratrail/checkout

Dalat Ultra Trail will therefore be the 3rd SuperTrail of the 2019 Asia Trail Master Championship, after The 9 Dragons Ultra in Hong Kong on 1/2 February and Cordillera Mountain Ultra in Philippines on 10 March. Penang Eco will again be the Malaysia SuperTrail, but this time takes place on the third weekend of June following the muslim Holy Month. In Thailand, the SuperTrail label goes to Ultra Trail Chiang Rai after the decision was made that UTKC cannot be held next year. The decision on the Indonesia and Japan SuperTrail is yet to be taken.

This weekend it is finally happening: the first major international trail running event in Laos! The V Trail in Vang Vien is organised by the established crew of Teelakow in Thailand and is the first event of a scheduled four in 2019. The V Trail offers a very selective and technical course on most distances, not in the least the 85k ultra.

As this is a new sport in a new destination, most of the runners come from outside Laos. Quite impressive therefore that the start list features almost 800 names! Among them is also Asia Trail Master Championship leader Alessandro Sherpa. The Italian returns four weeks after struggling to a place of honour in the Plataran X Trail Bali with injury. Last week, Tomohiro Mizukoshi failed to hop ahead of him in the standings at Fifty Mapawa, but Sherpa is certainly hot home yet. The men’s championship remains open with several candidates remaining for the title. In fact, due to his many SuperTrail performances this season, Sabah’s Milton Amat is in a very strong position, although he still needs to deliver one big result this season to grab his option on the championship title.

At V Trail, Sherpa will be facing competition from amongst others Salva Rambla and Michael McLean. The former had a string of podium finishes in Indonesia before a DNF due to overheating at UT Chiang Rai 2 weeks ago. The Spaniard is keen to set that straight in Laos, although on paper the course might not be as suitable for him. McLean on the other hand does well on technical trails and has something to make up after a rather unexpected early DNF at UTCR 230. Also Thailand’s Wasin Mangkholmalee is a podium candidate this weekend, after finishing fifth in that same 230 km Ultra Trail Chiang Rai race.

In the women’s, we may have a Malaysian top favourite in Siokhar Lim, who was, amongst other results, second in Penang Eco 100 last May. Lim is also ranked 9th in the current ATM championship and can move into the top five if she delivers a good performance in Laos.