Andy Lee Chong Chi and Chong Mei Tze are the two winners of quite a runable Perak Ultra last weekend, the next ATM Candidate Race in Malaysia, organised by the crew of The Great Malaya Trail. The event featured several race categories of which the 100k attracted most attention. Heavy rainfall preceeding the event, however, forced a number of reroutes away from the trails deeper in the rainforest . As such, total distance was about 92km and a much more runable route with quite a bit of tarmac road, which played into the hands of ultra road specialist Chong Mei Tze. She led the race basically all day and won ahead of Siokhar Lim and Norlela Ismail in a very solid 11h06 and fourth overall. Siokhar Lim is a busy bee these days again, having just scored 3rd in last week’s Jagoi Heritage Run in Sarawak, too. Clearly in very good shape with a finish time of 11h27, the technical trail runner and ATM Grandmaster will be a big favourite in her home race next month, Ultimate Trails of Penang (UTOP).

The men’s race turned out to be very exciting with two runners going head-to-head. Japan’s Atsushi Ito and Andy Lee Chong Chi. Initially, Ito appeared to be the fastest of the two, but Lee Chong Chi came back and managed to drop Ito in the latter stages to win in 10h04, three minutes ahead. Impressive running by the duo. Seiji Morofuji completed the podium in third 50 minutes back, also one week after Jagoi.

Special thanks to our ATM reporter in Perak, Mark Jinmin.

The men’s podium: Andy Lee, Atsushi Ito and Seiji Morofuji

The women’s podium: Chong Mei Tze, Siokhar Lim and Norlela Ismail

We are pleased to announce that global beer brand San Miguel will be a popular sponsor at the forthcoming Mount Apo Sky Race, the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship Final event in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur. The Filipino company has its headquarters in Davao and will be refreshing all finishers with their selection of traditional beers, but also their new range of non-alcoholic beverages. The event will have its start and finish line set up at the Playa de Obuza Beach Resort, right next to the ocean, on 17 December.

Companies and brands that wish to sponsor our biggest event of the season are of course welcome to contact Asia Trail Master and Vertical To Sky to find out more about available opportunities. Please click the button below to connect to our dedicated ATM Final Webpage for further information.

Unfortunately, the V Trail in Vang Vieng, Laos, also has to be rescheduled following the earlier postponement of Luang Prabang Trail. The current situation in the country still does not warrant a successful event in November, and the organisers at Green Step have taken the precautionary step to move the V Trail back by a few months to the first weekend of February 2023. This implies it will be one of the first races of Season VIII of the Asia Trail Master Championship series, which may actually be a good thing. The event in Luang Prabang is being planned for its usual September slot in 2023. Laos was one of the new destinations in Asian trail running before the covid pandemic hit us all. In the last edition of V Trail, some local talent emerged as well and we are looking forward to seeing how these talented runners will develop themselves in the coming season.

Along with Ijen Trail in East Java, Indonesia, the two Laos events are currently the only scheduled ATM events not to take place after all. Lantau 70 in Hong Kong may be the fourth casualty of ongoing covid-related restrictions.

For any queries about the postponement , please contact Green Step directly.

You can now register for the Cordillera Mountain Ultra in Tinongdan, near Baguio, on 4 December. One of the classic events in our ATM series is finally making its long anticipated return after the covid crisis. The 50k race on Sunday is still the main event and will be the last chance for most runners to score points in an attempt to enter their country’s national team for the ATM Championship Final taking place two weeks later. The 50k is actually 47k and centred around Mount Ugo and has a whopping 3270hm. When the weather’s good, it is quite a runable mountain trail, though.

To reach the event you need time but your patience will be rewarded. Fly into Manila or Clark, from where event busses take you to Baguio City. Minibusses continue to the race site in Tinongdan, where runners can also book homestay accommodation. More details can be found when clicking on the button below. Further down you can also check our race summary video of the 2019 edition, held in March that season.