Pain and beauty at UTOP 100

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