Confident Milton Amat unbeatable in 10th anniversary of TMBT

After two covid-related cancellations, Borneo Ultra Trails could finally celebrate its 10th anniversary of TMBT - its flagship trail running event and a Southeast Asian classic taking place around Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, East Malaysia. For months, competitive trail running enthusiasts were looking forward to the 109km race, which promised to be a second big battle between local hero Milton Amat and the colourful Japanese challenger Hisashi Kitamura. In 2019 they created a thriller at the end, ultimately won by Amat. Kitamura wanted revenge this season. Both ATM protagonists had been performing exceptionally well in the course of 2022, but Kitamura showed signs of fatigue in his previous two races. It was a foreboding, and indeed, Kitamura did not have the pace last Saturday to even follow Milton Amat, who already went solo on the way to CP 2. Milton’s early move resulted in his third win at TMBT after 2017 and 2019. A very dominant run and a finish time of 15h15 approx for the 109k course this year. Despite now being 40 years of age, the forever modest Milton seems to be in the best shape of his life. On current form, he will certainly be one of the men to beat in the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship Final on Mt Apo in Philippines on 17 December! Not only does the Sabahan hero have the technical mountain skills, he has added extra running pace and an incredible dose of self-confidence. Last Saturday morning, he started totally at ease somewhere halfway the field of approx 1000 runners on the 100k and 50k race categories, while Hisashi KItamura and the other pre-race favourites immediately set the pace from the gun. The Sabahan then quietly ran his way to the front and took the lead in one go. He quickly built a gap towards his main competitors for the race victory, and when they suddenly came very close again at CP 8 (km 75) - he said because it was very hot in the afternoon, but also because he had received no pressure from the others - he just shifted to a higher gear again. Incredible stuff.

Hisashi Kitamura was happy to finish second on a day with 'bad legs'. He nevertheless fought bravely for another ATM podium. Kuala Lumpur-based Yakov Kozlov was a great third place on the podium, matching the pace of Kitamura and the others from the beginning. Kozlov is a former race winner in ATM, fastest in Tengri Ultra Trail in Kazakhstan in 2018, a race sadly no longer part of our series. Another Sabah star, Wilsen Singgin scored his third fourth place of the ATM season. He was followed by Ireland's Mark Steacy, who did well and proved that his 3rd place in the Jagoi Heritage race three weeks ago was no coincidence.

Below and on our ATM facebook page, you can find lots of videos, interviews and photos taken during the race. A few are pasted here below.

The women’s 109k race was won by ‘roadie’ Siet Fah Lim from Sarawak in 22h13. She was in front basically all day, as much as BUTM race winner Sally Yap, also from Sarawak, tried to catch her later on. The 53-minute gap at the finish made it clear that Siet Fah Lim was the strongest. Her first ATM race victory. In third place, only 14 minutes behind Sally Yap was 2021 Malaysia Trail Master Champion Izzah Hazirah, who is clearly getting back in top shape now. Norlela Ismail came fourth.

For the first time, also the 50km race on the TMBT programme provided points for our Championship ranking. The men’s race developed into a great competition between Pierre-Victor Morales, the surprising Yasbie Ismail, Muhamad Affindi and Sapirin Sumping. When the newbie Yasbie Ismail pushed hard halfway through the race, the group - also containing women’s star Vanja Cnops - splintered up. At the last checkpoint, however, Yasbie Ismail looked to be tiring and KL-based Frenchman Pierre Victor Morales caught him. Affindi and Sumping would be contesting third place. Morales and Ismail went head-to-head in the final very tough 10km, and it was the expat who reached the uphill finish line first. His first ATM race victory after some great showings in our virtual events at the beginning of this decade. Ismail held onto second and Affindi came in third, another podium for him and a now almost guaranteed entry into Team Malaysia for our ATM Final in December. Jude Maikol still managed to get ahead of Sumping to take fourth. That became third, however, as Yasbie Ismail received a time penalty at the renowned harsh post-finish mandatory gear check at TMBT. His hard-fought second place went up in smoke and he got relegated to sixth. Nobody contests the necessity of mandatory gear checks, but should it really be done after the finish line?

Vanja Cnops was in a league of her own in the women’s 50km. She finished 5th overall in a classy field.Law Guan Shin and Megan Davies were second and third on the podium , each with very nice runs of their own.