For about a third of the 100km race at MMTF, Hisashi Kitamura looked like he was going to genuinely challenge Daved Simpat again after receiving quite a beating by the good old Sabahan at TMBT two months ago. But as they hit the more technical sections, once more Simpat was the stronger one and steadily opened up a gap. Kitamura had to let go, and still had to fight with the surprising Chinese runner Bai Xingzhi for second place. Simpat won MMTF for the second time in his career after 2018. He is clearly back at his best level. Bai Xingzhi outsprinted Kitamura for second place some 45 minutes later. The Japanese runner was nevertheless quite satisified as the gap was much smaller compared to TMBT and his biggest objective is coming up in one month. Another Chinese runner from the Zenone Poles Team, Wang Gang, took fourth ahead of Aqmal Adzmi, who showed once more how much he enjoys MMTF.

The women’s long distance race was dominated by Fu Huarong from China. She ran away from her competitors early on and never slowed down to finish sixth overall! Best of the rest was Malaysia’s ultra specialist Siokhar Lim, who was way ahead of her compatriots, such as Celeste Teo and Rejlen James, who suffered a clear off-day. Hong Kong’s Pui Hung Chan was a great third on the podium. Guan Shin Law was a solid sixth, showing her competitive improvement once more.

On the 50km distance, leader from start to finish despite great pressure from his two main rivals: John Ray Onifa. He stays unbeaten in six ATM races and can look towards the Championship Final with the highest ambitions! Kristian Joergensen was pushing Onifa all race but paid a little price himself at the end, also due to a nutritional oversight. Milton Amat finished the strongest of the three and caught Joergensen for second place just 3’38” behind Onifa! Wilsen Singgin is fourth 39 minutes later - great run by him! Aman Mehla from India was fifth, just a minute behind Wilsen. Great new name on the ATM scene: Aman Mehla.

Aurore Dacier was the fastest woman on the 50km. Based in Singapore, the French runner won by half an hour over Nepal's Rashila Tamang with Korea's Boyoung Jan an impressive third - just a week after scoring third in Ulju Trail 5 Peaks. Chhoki Sherpa took fourth place, which means both the Nepalese who also ran Koboi Malaya earlier in the season are qualified for the ATM Championship Final. The same of course for Boyoung Jan.

MMTF: Daved Simpat & John Ray Onifa unstoppable