John Ray Onifa continues to look very much the part these months with another impressive display of speed and technical skill at the 11th edition of Borneo TMBT in Malaysia last Saturday. The Filipino demolished the rest of the competitive field on the 50km and finished in a new course record of 5h27’46”. Singapore-based Vanja Cnops was equally outstanding in the women’s race, albeit slightly slower than her own winning time of last year. From sunrise, the race was held in entirely dry conditions with less cloud cover than desired for many runners, which added to the often underestimated difficulty of this event.

Having already collected wins at MUSPO 100 and Akha 80 in July and August, Onifa was keen to start his first ever TMBT and already quasi ensure his qualification for the ATM Championship Final in December. The 32-year-old was so confident in his own ability, he allowed the returning Bruneian star Sefli Ahar run ahead in the initial 12km. Ahar was one of the great protagonists in the early years of ATM, scoring six race wins between 2016 and 2018 before a combination of professional duties and covid restrictions left him out of the spotlights. No longer the youngest now, Ahar for a while still looked like a serious challenger for Onifa. However, soon after the first aid station, Onifa switched on this engine, left his friend and former teammate Daved Simpat - who was running the 100k (see other news) - and began the chase. First he collected Sabahan Yasbie Ismail who was going well in second, and soon after, by AS 3, he already caught and passed Ahar en route to what would still turn out to be a crushing victory. Onifa was 53 minutes ahead of Ahar at the finish! Both the Bruneian and Ismail were also in their own league, followed by a surprisingly sharp Benardo Linus arriving in fourth place - his best ATM race result ever! Linus was preceeded at the finish by the first woman, Vanja Cnops. The Belgian repeated her win from a year ago, but had a little struggle in the downhills of section two, which largely explained her somewhat slower time. Second ATM win of the season, and sixth in her trail journey. Cnops was third in last year’s ATM Final on Mt Apo, and is looking to do at least one better this time around. More than an hour behind her, we had Philippines’ Angelie Cabalo - the surprising winner of MMTF 100 last year. Initially, Cabalo was running just a few minutes behind Cnops - close enough to be featured in our livestreams including at aid station 2. However, she did have to reduce her pace somewhat while at the same time knowing there was nobody else coming from behind. There was quite a nice competition for third place, though, and it was ‘good old’ Jessica Lintanga who used her many years of racing experience to outrun youngster Shamiera Auther and Kona Laiu to snatch her 10th (!) ATM podium, her first in five years. One of those ten was a 65k race win at Mesastila in Indonesia in 2016. She also beat her younger sisters Adelinah (11th) and Lolita (14th). What happened to Siet Fah Lim? Last year’s winner of TMBT 100 and Penang Eco 100 just two weeks ago, unfortunately, had her day of the month and had to settle for 9th place.

TMBT 50: Masterclass by Onifa and Cnops