The 4th Malaysian points race in the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship series provides an opportunity for a few competitive runners to bring themselves in a more comfortable position towards qualification for the ATM Final in December. Team Malaysia is certainly one of the tougher teams to get a spot on, given the vast elevated level of trail runners in the country. Race favourite for the tough but beautiful UTOP 100km race on Penang island is Wilsen Singgin, a busy bee and always at his best on tough courses. Singgin will be running his fourth ATM points race of the season and with another good result would basically be assured of qualification. This year’s points ranking is based on a ‘best-four-count system’. Singgin and Mount Apo also sounds like a good match!

Buff Epic Ultimate Trails of Penang is organised by Endurance Nature, the event management team around Malaysian ultra legend Seow Kong Ng and Allan Lee. ATM followers know their other, older, event Penang Eco in Bukit Mertajam already very well. Before covid-19 hit, it had been agreed that we would be alternating Penang Eco with UTOP as ATM points race event in the coming years. It has taken longer than expected, but finally we will now have UTOP making its debut on our ATM Championship calendar. Runners who have done it already, argue that UTOP is a step-up in terms of trail technicality but the overall difficulty is counterbalanced by incredible vistas of the island and the ocean around it. Some even claim UTOP 100 is on paper the toughest trail race in Malaysia.

The dominator of Borneo TMBT Ultra 100, fellow Sabahan Milton Amat, is sitting this weekend out and will thus not add any points to his total. Amat currently has 1000 points out of two races and can be overtaken by Jeffery Budin and Bernardo Linus, both also competing in their fourth race of the year in Penang. Malaysian points leader Muhammad Affindi, like Amat, won’t be running this weekend.

Wilsen Singgin probably needs to watch out most for Aqmal Adzmi at UTOP 100. The tall runner is very keen on earning a spot on Team Malaysia as well and this weekend’s race could give him a great shot at collecting a podium and a big points haul for that purpose. Not entirely satisfied with his performance at TMBT three weeks ago, Adzmi had barely crossed the finish line and already talked about UTOP that night. What can Sarawak’s Abang Jamadi do on a technical 100k? Jamadi is probably best known as a 50k podium competitor, but will be going for it tomorrow on the double distance. 2017 ATM Champion Steven Ong features on the start list as well, but having recently completed TOR in Italy he is reportedly changing to the 60k race category, which at UTOP does not provide any points for the ATM ranking. Ong has had global event ambitions this year and is not a factor in this year’s ATM Championship. Andy Lee and Jack Oh are outsiders for a podium spot this weekend, and last but not least also Thimo Kilberth. The Bali-based German is returning from a stint in Germany, where he a.o. ran the Cologne Marathon, and will be testing his resilience on the 100 km in Penang. Kilberth has been competing almost primarily on Indonesian trails, so UTOP is also a bit of a step into the unknown for him. Similar with Wilsen Singgin, it’s his fourth ATM race of the season so his qualification for Team Indonesia will be cast in stone if he finishes. Another Indonesian, Abdul Rahman Muhammad Ishak, is currently sitting third in his country’s points ranking and is also doing his fourth ATM race already. Not immediately a podium contender, but a decent race finisher nonetheless who has been collecting points left and right this season while some of his better-known compatriots have been idle.

In the women’s race we can probably expect a battle for the win between Halimatun Sa’adiah, one of the exciting newcomers on the scene this year, and Grandmaster Siokhar Lim, who is running at home. Can the youngster keep the very experienced and ultra distance specialist behind as the finish line approaches? We already know from Cameron Ultra that Sa’adiah can grit her teeth together if she must, but we have also seen a very fresh-looking and consistently strong SIokhar Lim over the past couple of months. We can imagine she’d like to win UTOP this time.

Looking at the Malaysian ATM ranking, points leader Sally Yap is absent but quite safe with 1400 points in 3 races. For Sa’adiah it’s her fourth race, so she should normally be assured of qualification after this weekend, too. The numbers 3 and 4 are also competing for the fourth time: Norlela Ismail and Chong Mi Chin. That will put some pressure on others who are currently just with two or one race behind their name.

After UTOP 100, there are still many points races left this season. In Malaysia itself, of course MMTF 100 and 50 is still around the corner in Taiping on 19 November.

UTOP 100 takes place on the island proper and is genuinely tougher than it may look at first sight!

“Mr 4th place” this year. Can 2021 Malaysia Trail Master Champion Wilsen Singgin finally get on the ATM podium this weekend… and why not even win the race?

Halimatun Sa’adiah has been making a name for herself this season. Can she claim her first race win this weekend?

Aqmal Adzmi is looking for a better run than TMBT three weeks ago. If he finds his best legs, watch out!

Grandmaster Siokhar Lim : it’s her home race this weekend

Back from Germany, Thimo Kilberth will be eyeing a great result on unfamiliar territory

Season VII of the Asia Trail Master Championship series is currently in full swing and the tension towards the winner-takes-all Final race between qualified runners in national country teams has been building up gradually. Nevertheless, the start of the new Season VIII is not that far away neither. As usual, there’s five weeks between the end and the beginning. The ATM event calendar for 2023 is taking shape bit by bit, not as fast as we would like but it seems the nature of today’s world to have a shorter horizon to work with. In fact, several event organisers are still waiting for official permits by their local or regional authorities. In total, the ATM Championship calendar will again feature between 25 and maximum 30 points races in which runners can score points for the Championship qualification and/or for their Grandmaster Quest. The complete calendar will be revealed in due course, but for planning purposes we are happy to reveal the first four events that will open proceedings in 2023.

The new season will begin with four weekends-in-a-row. Thailand has the honour of having the opener with the classic Ultra Trail Koh Chang - UTKC - event in the south of the country and reachable via Bangkok, on the weekend of 21-22 January 2023. As usual, both the 100km and the 70km race categories will offer ATM points. One week later we move to Bandung in West Java, Indonesia, for Tahura Trail. Another classic and very popular for trail runners who prefer a shorter race distance (42 km) or for those wishing to prep themselves for longer races afterwards. Going into February, we find the V Trail in Laos on the schedule. A new date in the early season for the tough and technical race of 85km around Vang Vieng in the south of the country. From Laos we will head to Manila for the first Filipino race of the 2023 season and it’s a new entry on our Championship calendar: Santa Ines Mountain Adventure. A pretty spicy 80km in the Rizal mountains east of the Manila metropole, a successful Candidate Race last April.

After this quartet of events, we will have a break for two weeks until the new Candidate Race in Brunei, the Simpur Ultra Run on 25 February. Looking into early March, we can expect the traditional first Vietnamese points race event on the calendar: Dalat Ultra Trail, which should be officially announced soon.

Stay tuned for more updates on the 2023 ATM Calendar coming very soon.

We are happy to announce Matanao Mountain Marathon as a new ATM Candidate Race in Mindanao, southern Philippines, on 22 October this month. The event is set up by the well-known team of Vertical To Sky and Doi Calbes, and is supported by the local government to showcase the highlights of Matanao, famous for its beautiful caves, hidden gems of waterfalls, and scenic peaks & ridges.

The event has two race categories: a trail ‘marathon’ of 42 km and a ‘half marathon’ of 21 km. The start is at 4:30 am and 5:30 am respectively, so just a little while before sunrise. The course is nearly entirely offroad and on proper trails leading to caves and scenic waterfalls.

To reach Matanao from outside Mindanao, you fly to Davao. Then from Davao City to Matanao it will only take 2 hours drive or around 90 kilometers, then from Matanao proper another 30 minutes drive going up to the mountains or our venue at the Tourism Building, Sitio Talambato, Barangay Asbang. .

Matanao is also only 30kms away from Digos City, so if you’re coming from Davao City or General Santos City you can also take a bus going to Digos City, then from Digos we have lots of alternative way going to Matanao –by motorcycle, habal-habal, jeepney, etc., then from Matanao proper going to the venue at Barangay Asbang we will arrange transportation to all participants.

All details can be checked via the event’s facebook page.

The covid crisis clearly has not had much impact on the running velocity of Jeff Campbell. At last Sunday’s Ferei Dark 45 event on Hong Kong’s Maclehose Trail in the New Territories, Campbell dominated proceedings from start to finish and scored his fourth ATM points race victory in 5h05’. It was the first ATM points race in Hong Kong since The 9 Dragons in February 2019. The Canadian-born was of course quite familiar with the trails, but the fact it was a night race brought an element of uncertainty. In the end, it did not matter. Australian T8 manager David Longo was a very solid second, half an hour behind Campbell, but 23 minutes ahead of his company’s co-founder and reigning ATM Champion John Ellis. Ellis struggled in the early parts of the race with breathing issues on a very hot and humid night in Hong Kong. Never to be underestimated, however, Ellis fought back once again and managed to score the podium by overtaking Dennis Theodosis and Roy Chun Wa Tong in the dying moments of the race that finished in Tsuen Kam Au after more than 3000 metres of elevation gain.

The women’s race was actually more exciting to follow with lots of changing positions at the front. Natalie Webster looked like she could win it, yet Meg Sterling narrowly managed to outsprint her towards the end in 7h49. The podium was completed by Ka Yin Tong.

David Longo impressed with an unthreatened second place behind Campbell but ahead of Ellis and co

A difficult start, but still a podium for John Ellis on what is a short distance for his liking

Ferei Dark 45 was the first ATM points race in Hong Kong since early 2019

It’s been three-and-a-half years since the last edition of The 9 Dragons took place, the last ATM points race in Hong Kong. The cosmopolitan city had already been in socio-political turmoil before covid-19 struck , and still today, Hong Kong is struggling to find its feet in an ever-complex world. Once heralded as the heart of Asian trail running, Hong Kong started its season last month oncemore with hardly any trail event properly scheduled. Permits are issued at the very last minute, causing throbbing headaches for event organisers, who try to keep their legacies and their businesses alive. Today, any race above 50 km still has virtually no chance of going ahead. Covid infections remain too big a concern for the authorities. Yet, mandatory quarantine-upon-arrival in Hong Kong has recently been abolished. That means residents can now travel abroad again without too much hassle upon return. The door is open.

Local organisers make do with what they are permitted to. XTE Events is one of the city’s long-standing companies and is happy to announce two of their events going ahead this month. Starting with Ferei Dark 45 this Sunday, start at midnight. A 45k race on the Maclehose Trail that will see the return-in-action of John Ellis, still the reigning Asia Trail Master Champion. Ellis had zero incentive to try and defend his ATM title in 2020, but now we are two years further down the line and his hunger is very much back. This weekend’s 45k race is normally too short and too fast for him, but the Australian sounds keen to give his best and get his ATM campaign in gear. As a former ATM champion, Ellis only needs to score two ATM race finishes to get a wild card for the ATM Championship Final in December. For the Ellis of 2019, the Mount Apo Sky Race 75k is not an impossible task, especially given that race tactics will likely play a significant role there. To underline his ambition to try and renew his ATM title, Ellis has already booked a plane ticket to Davao himself..

At Ferei Dark 45 this Sunday early morning, Ellis will not rank as the top favourite to win the race. Amongst others, there are Jeff Campbell and Ryan Whelan on the start list. Campbell is as keen as Ellis to deliver a great showing in ATM this season. A former double winner of Tahura Trail in Indonesia and also Sungai Menyala in Malaysia, Campbell is moving up to 70k in a fortnight when he is scheduled to race in Vietnam. Similar to Singapore-based Belgian Vanja Cnops in the women’s competition, Campbell has been almost unbeatable over 30-50k race distances. But his competitive performance going beyond that distance is less certain. If he qualifies for the ATM FInal as part of Team Asia Expat, the speedster is likely going to be the first male runner reaching the foot of Mount Apo.

But this weekend, he has Ryan Whelan to worry about first. Whelan has been the coming-man for a few years, the covid pandemic not helping him. He won UTKC 70k in Thailand in February 2020, which could later turn out to be a milestone in his progress as a competitive trail runner. Whelan was fast during our 7 Missions virtual event in January 2021 and we are all looking forward to seeing his performance this weekend.

Given it’s been well over three years, we are bound to discover some new Hong Kong names appearing this month as well. Ferei Dark 45 and Ultramarathon de Sai Kung in three weeks on 22 October will be closely followed, indeed.

Jeff Campbell will embark on a rather busy schedule with Dark 45 this weekend and VJM 70 in two weeks