ATM Final: Home Team Pilipinas is known!

The home team is known! Team Pilipinas for the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship Final will consist of Arnie Macaneras, Larry Apolinario, Sean Aying, Angelito Vertudazo and Poy Brillantes in the men’s, and Cecille Wael, Irish Glorioso, Emily Raga, Rhea Batac and Julie Ann Morales in the women’s. Last weekend’s Cordillera Mountain Ultra concluded the Filipino ranking for this ATM season, as nobody of the potential contenders is lining up at Izu Trail Journey in Japan this coming Sunday.

Some of the qualified runners were already guaranteed of their team spot before CMU, and underlined why they may also play a very prominent role in the Mount Apo Sky Race on 17 December. Arnie Macaneras has shown increasing form over the past weeks, and Cecille Wael found speed and resilience we had not come to expect from her so late in a season, in which she was accumulating podiums once again without an ATM race win. Both of them have experience on Mount Apo, too. Macaneras lives in Davao and it’s basically his home terrain. Nobody of the ATM Finalists knows the mountain trail better than him. Ces Wael, she ran the 2019 edition of the Mt Apo Sky Race. She came fourth. Post-covid, however, Wael has reached a higher competitive level.

Team Pilipinas is strong overall and will be a great challenger for Team Malaysia and Vietnam, and others, for the ATM Team Title (ranking will be based on race result of best 3 men and best 3 women of the teams). Larry Apolinario may have struggled with his stomach and nutrition in races abroad the past few months, but let’s not forget his dominating display at MUSPO 100 in July and the Sierra Madre Trail (ATM Candidate Race) in May. As it goes in elite sports, today, nobody may be thinking of Apolinario as a potential championship winner…. but wait and he might just as well upset the whole order. Macaneras and Apolinario are in theory the fastest men, and they will be backed up by two more Mindanao talents - Sean Aying and Angelito Vertudazo, and Luzon’s mountain trail expert Poy Brillantes. Brilliantes had a late surge in the rankings thanks to his performances in South Korea at the Ulju Trail 9 Peaks and CMU. Just outside the top 5 we find Koy Grey, who scored very well in both his two comeback races, and Yojong Sacayle, who unfortunately was not in a position to fly to CMU and saw himself being overtaken on points as a result. They are the two reserves in case one of the top 5 cannot make it.

Behind Ces Wael, we find Irish Glorioso - who kind of quietly collected bags of points in four races this season. She never finished outside the top 6 and was 2nd in UTOP in Penang early October. Emily Raga was already qualified before the weekend, too, and decided to take a rest after what was a very busy period for her in the middle of the season. Emily will be well-rested in two weeks, normally, and we are curious to see if she can carry the fast speed she often has shown in the early parts of races towards a longer distance, in this case the 75km of Mt Apo Sky Race. Rhea Batac is always a solid finisher, and when she decides to push can actually challenge for a podium place. Second place in Jember Hills Classic in Indonesia this year was evidence of that. Julie Ann Morales is new to trail running and entered the scene with some impressive results, including a win at The Punisher and third place, just behind Ces Wael, at MUSPO 100. Morales is highly motivated to give it her best at her home race in the outfit of Team Pilipinas by OTSO. On the reserve list for women, we actually have two very strong runners: Aggy Sabanal and Angelie Cabalo. Sabanal did not make the team despite one victory and one second place, because the others had three or more races this season (remember it’s a four-best-count system). Cabalo is the exciting newcomer, who burst onto the ATM scene just ten days ago by winning MMTF 100 as an unknown. Cabalo was still tired from that performance at CMU last Sunday, but nevertheless still got third place. Even if both are not at the start line this year, both Cabalo and Sabanal - back from maternity leave after finishing 2nd in the 2018 ATM Championship - will certainly be Filipino protagonists in ATM next year.