As in BUTM 100 early March, the Sabah runners Gustin Tiam and Rejlen James were fastest in the 100k long ultra of Silabur Cave Trail in Kampung Bedang, just under two hours drive east of Kuching near the Kalimantan border. After being ahead early on, good old Gustin tolerated the company of Hijazi Rija and Haziq Asyraf until the dying moments of the race. That’s 1000 ATM points in the bag out of two races, Gustin is on the way to qualification for Team Malaysia in the ATM Championship Final by the looks of it! The same goes for Rejlen James, who had to dig a little deeper to score the win last weekend, even though she also looked very composed and in control of proceedings. Still, Hong Kong’s Rachel Chan, ATM Finalist last year and 7th in the Siksorogo Lawu race, proved to be in great shape and was challenging James. Rachel loved the runable terrain in the hot weather and was even leading after the first third of the race. When the trails turned more technical and muddy, James felt more at ease and took command. Rachel did well to keep second place, ahead of Adelinah Lintanga, who at some point seemed to be closing in - as she did in BUTM in March, too. However, stomach cramps stopped Lintanga’s hunt. In fourth and not far behind was local hero Celeste Teo in what was a very spirited effort from her. Siriporn Leumathong overtook India’s Ashwini Bhat in the last 10k for fifth place.

Very high temperatures characterised the first day of the 100k race, before rainshowers gave the 126 participating runners a welcome relief on Saturday evening and night. The downside was, of course, that the trails also became much muddier and therefore more slippery. Experienced trail runners suddenly also had to cope with unexpected blisters.

Temperatures were a lot cooler on Sunday morning for the 50k and the shorter distances. Jeffery Budin, returning from a competition break, felt great and immediately set the pace with his teammate Mohd Sulhan. The duo would create a big gap towards the rest with Singapore-based Richard Hall Jr in third place. Budin’s pace was too high for Sulhan, and so he scored his 2nd ATM race victory after UTOP 100 in 2022. What a good rest can do with some runners!

The women’s 50k was exciting to follow with a number of runners genuinely contesting the win and the podium places. Singapore’s Dening Lo went ahead with youngster Shamiera Auther, until the latter had a slip that caused a small gap between them. Deeper into the race, just when Dening Lo had thought she had the victory in the bag, Auther reappeared. Still, the Singaporean proved too quick and took her first ATM race win. Behind Auther, there was a nice battle between Lolita Lintanga and Kona Liau, but at the end it was Singapore’s Joy Sim who had the last laugh and the fastest dash to the finish. Sim was delighted with her first ATM race podium, the just as young Lolita Lintanga had to settle for her second fourth place in a row.

Silabur: Gustin Tiam and Rejlen James grab 2nd win of 2024