Jeffery Budin was the surprising but well-deserved winner of Ultimate Trails of Penang 105km last weekend, while local trail hero Siokhar Lim confirmed her current top form with a clear victory in the women’s race. Budin’s success ranks among the greatest upsets in ATM race history. Having been around for a few years in the lower half of the Top 10, Budin rose to the occasion when most of the pre-race favourites weren’t paying attention early in the tough race and went off course. Apparently, a local marshal at an aid station to be used twice in the race, pointed them into the wrong of two directions. But surprisingly, most of the affected runners continued for plenty of kilometers before realising they were on the wrong of two different loops. Others trusted their GPS watches’ warning signals and turned back earlier. It’s a classic unfortunate situation, which ultimately demotivated some of them to throw in the towel all together and DNF. Wilsen Singgin, aware of the opportunity to safeguard his Top 5 spot in the ATM Malaysia ranking that qualifies him for our ATM Championship Final in December, did continue his race, however. According to Thimo Kilberth, who had a slow start with “blocked legs” due to a delayed travel from Europe, Singgin probably was only 40th when he saw him and rejoined an out-and-back section of the proper race course.

Meanwhile, Jeffery Budin, Seiji Morofuji, Ben Lee Ben Siong and Nem Chee Ng found themselves in the lead of the race with about 75 km still to go. This is where Budin earned his victory. He didn’t go the wrong way, suddenly found himself in a race leading position, then managed to stay cool and focused, ran with determination while, arguably, unlocking powers he did not realise he had himself, and brought it home in style. Not only is it Budin’s first ATM race victory, it’s even his first podium finish! A wonderful story for the humble and talented Malaysian, who has been supported by Sportlicious Malaysia for a few years already and who reportedly has very little chances to do any real training for races. Could this be a game changer for Budin? In any case, having been a busy bee in ATM already, his Top 5 spot in the ATM Malaysia ranking seems secure and Budin can expect to be part of his country’s team in the Final on Mount Apo.

The very experienced and solid competitor Seiji Morofuji was trying and hanging on about ten minutes back for most of the race, but eventually cracked and even still had the resurgent Wilsen Singgin pass him in the last three kilometers. Singgin’s Strava record read 121 km after the race, indicating he had been off course for a total of about 16 km… That’s 16 km of tough, technical hilly rainforest terrain. Kudos to the Sabahan for not giving up, his reward is big: it is actually his first ATM podium of the season after 3 fourth places earlier. Morofuji was all smiles, too. For the KL-based Japanese runner it was his second ATM podium finish after Merapoh Trail in 2019. His qualification for Team Japan at the ATM Final also seems secure. Pre-race favourite Thimo Kilberth eventually arrived in 7th place and was nevertheless a happy finisher.

Lem Chee Ng was in contention for the podium, too, but missed out by just 11 minutes. He crossed the finish line together with Siokhar Lim, who proved how much progress in running pace she has made since 2019. Being one of the most technically skilled female trail runners, Siokhar Lim, with this kind of form, could be a podium contender at the ATM Championship Final. The women’s podium was completed by Philippines’ Irish Glorioso, who ran a remarkable race herself, overtaking Thailand’s Siriporn Leumathong in the final sections. Both scored their first ATM podiums, and Glorioso even placed herself in contention for the ATM Philippines Top 5.

Masafumi Yamamoto was another high profile finisher at UTOP, because the Ho Chi Minh City-based trail runner collected his 20th Grandmaster Quest point, and therefore has joined Hisashi KItamura as a 4-star ATM Grandmaster. Miri’s Yvette Chong Mi Chin accomplished her Grandmaster Quest, too, with her fifth ultra finish of 2022, following MMTF in 2019. And also Lim Jyh Horng completed his Quest at UTOP! Jyh Horng started with three races in 2019, the points of which are still valid this year, and added Cameron Ultra, Ultra Trail Chiang Mai and UTOP to it. Congratulations to all three great trail runners!

UTOP: Upset win for Jeffery Budin