A doubleheader weekend in ATM before a month’s break, as we are ending a very busy event period that began in early January. Jumla Rara Ultra takes place in remote western Nepal , and in Indonesia we have one of the country’s flagship trail events: BTR Ultra on the island of Bali. BTR has returned to the ATM calendar for the first time since 2022 and is de facto replacing Bali Ultra this season, the other event that has been postponed from August to a later date to be announced soon and in any case will be outside the framework of our current Championship season. Long-term followers of ATM know that BTR today is not the same as BTR 2022: the Mount Batur volcano is still the highlight, but the main race categories are now fully matured. Runners will embark on 60k and even a 100k journey, both distances offering ATM Championship points for the Top 25 in the race results. 100k finishers also collect a Grandmaster point. The question, though: how many finishers will be there on the 100k?

The 100k starts on Friday afternoon at 4 pm and is, in fact, 106km long for well over 7200 metres of elevation gain. Given the climatic conditions of Bali, this is what many would indeed call ‘brutal’, and in any case a serious test of physical and mental strength. With that in mind, it is both remarkable and admirable that Indonesia’s female trail star and 2018 ATM Champion Ruth Theresia has chosen BTR 100 as her 20th long ultra in ATM, or in other words, the race that may crown her as a 4-star Golden Grandmaster!

Ruth Theresia is still among the favourites to win the women’s race as well, of course. Not competing as often as she did pre-corona, the Bandung runner has been opting for a more balanced approach to trail running with more shorter distance races following some injuries and ailments. But when she starts a race, she is never far from victory as shown this season again at Tahura Trail, where she came second behind Vanja Cnops. BTR 100 is hardly comparable and Ruth will be using her experience and thinking back on her numerous successes in gruelling races of the past to push her forward. Especially in the last hours of the race during the daytime heat on Saturday, when many participants are expected to get a knock of the hammer.

Plenty of other contenders for victory in the women’s 100km, by the way. Other local Indonesian runners such as Septiana Nia Swastika, Sandra Cianti and Yustina Wardhani have all earned kudos in these type of races over the years. Mostly out of the region’s and ATM’s spotlights, however, as Indonesian trail runners have not been competing a lot in the region since corona. Several international runners can eye victory as well this weekend. Starting perhaps with Man Yee Cheung from Hong Kong, second in the 9 Dragons this year already. Two weeks ago, however, Man Yee won the 100 Miler on Fuji in Japan and so it remains to be seen how fresh and recovered she is from that. Japan’s Risa Kamiya won Prenn Trail Summit 180km in Dalat last December. Thailand’s Siriporn Leumathong always performs well when it gets long and tough. Ninth in the ATM Final 2024, let’s not forget. One of those trail runners who suddenly seems to find an extra gear when motivated to compete. From Philippines, Anna Rongavilla could pull of a surprise and why not one of the many Malaysians in the race? Genre 2-star Grandmaster Adelinah Lintanga or Guan Shin Law? Lintanga has scored nice victories in 100 milers before in tropical climate, and coming from Sabah she won’t be that disturbed by it. The dark horse comes from China, although based in Singapore: Xinshuang Wei.

The men’s 100km will see many of the usual Indonesian long ultra specialists square off, with 2015 ATM Champion and 2-star Grandmaster Arief Wismoyono still labeled as the man-to-beat on this type of terrain and distance. Now 40, Wismoyono can still set a surprising pace as he showed in Tahura Trail in January, finishing not far behind winner Alessandro Sherpa. While Risqi Kurniawan -absent this weekend - kind of claimed the title of ‘fastest Indonesian’ on the medium distance, Wismoyono remains the benchmark on the long ones. Up to younger contenders such as Akhmad Nizar, Dedy Yusuf, Hilman Maulana and Yusuf Aprian to make a statement this weekend. Of those, Nizar is arguably the one with the most experience running against international competitors. He also finished 8th in the 2023 ATM Final. This season he has already banked 825 ATM points and is looking good for a new qualification into Team Indonesia for this year’s Championship Final in Vietnam on 4 October. Incidentally, Arief Wismoyono can also collect his wild card as former champion this weekend, provided he finishes the race.

As in the women’s, there is a big Malaysian contingent to challenge the Indonesians in Bali. Many Grandmasters who can surprise on any given day, plus proven podium runners such as Yih Huan Sua. Also the Filipinos throw some tough irons in the fire. Roberto Cain III, for example. Or Maynard Encormal, who still finished 3rd at Mt Ugo Marathon last weekend.

Looking at the 60k , there are perhaps two more clearer favourites for the race win in the men’s and women’s competition: Lodewijk Vriens, from the Netherlands but based in Hong Kong, and the aforementioned Vanja Cnops, from Belgium but residing in Singapore and winner of BTR 30k in 2022. Whoever wants to win the 60k this Saturday will need to pass them. Vriens is also not unknown in ATM. He won the first stage of 9 Dragons 50/.50 last year, and this season he finished 4th in Vietnam Ultra Marathon 70. Reportedly motivated to qualify for the ATM Final this season, Vriens is hoping for a good showing in Bali. It’s a very long start list so runners may fly under the radar, but potential competitors for Vriens are Indonesians Taofik Hidayat, Sobiri Haerudin, Sobari Herdiana and Nizar Surydratama. Plus, Singapore-based Irishman Malachy Kirwan, Hong Kong-based Mexican Luis Alvelais and last-but-not-least Vietnam’s Nhon Trong. The latter used to be a 50k specialist before focusing on the long trail distances, but has recently again been trying to find back his old speed. Nhon is prone to ‘overheating’ , though, as we also saw in Penang two weeks ago.

Vanja Cnops has returned to Asia from the European Marathon Championships in Belgium, where she finished a respectable 25th place in 2h52. If her recovery went as planned, she could very well be flying this Saturday. For Cnops it would be her 9th ATM race win in a journey that also placed her on the ATM Championship podium three consecutive times (3rd in 2022, 2nd in 2023 and 2024). Scoring a win or a good result may provide her with enough points already to give it another go in Vietnam in October. Her expected rivals for the victory on Saturday are Philippines’ Ritzy Amor, Malaysia’s Shamiera Auther and Indonesia’s Henny Sutanda.

BTR Bali: spectacular racing expected around Mt Batur