A few months later than planned after the typhoon-caused cancellation of Mu Cang Chai Ultra Trail in Vietnam last October, but this weekend we will finally crown the successors of Jeff Campbell and Priya Rai as Asia Trail Master Champions. Unless they manage to keep their titles, because both will be competing at the 9 Dragons in Hong Kong during the early hours of Saturday. Following the traditional 50 Miles (84km) course of the popular event, the qualified Season 10 Finalists will start at Rotary Park at the base of Tai Mo Shan, which is CP1 for the regular 9D participants. The ATM Championship Final measures a bit less than 72km and has 3800 metres of elevation gain before finishing at the Tai Po Tau Playground as usual. It’s a tough course in humid conditions, with the renowned Hong Kong staircases and light rain forecast for Saturday. Whoever comes out on top, victory won’t be presented on a silver platter.

Apart from the defending champions Jeff Campbell and Priya Rai , other previous ATM Champions are also keen to become the first two-time winner of our series. Not in the least 2023 Champ John Ray Onifa, long-time resident in Hong Kong and perfectly familiar with the course - having won the 50/50 stage race of 9 Dragons last year, too. Onifa spearheads a very strong Filipino men’s team that also includes 2022 ATM titleholder Arnie Macaneras and up-and-coming stars Godwin Mirar, Kik Suello, Roberto Cain III, Jevie Cagatin and Jomarc Ferrer. . All of them are podium material, but who knows they also run as a team with a masterplan to challenge Campbell and the second home favourite, Lodewijk Vriens. The Dutchman living in Hong Kong was mightily impressive in winning Ultra Fish n Sheep 75km in October last year and is tipped by many as the runner-to-beat on Saturday. Vriens, by the way, won the 50 Miles stage of 9 Dragons two years ago.

While most eyes will be on the trio of Campbell, Onifa and Vriens, we might as well see three other runners claiming the top prizes. Indeed, the men’s field has arguably never been as competitive as this season’s Final. Team Japan will be a serious challenger for Philippines and Hong Kong in the Team Championship thanks to a.o. the participation of Hiroki Kai and Hisashi Kitamura. While the Karate Kit is already highly known in ATM, Hiroki Kai , nicknamed Crazy Karo, is a regular top performer on the world stage who qualified for this season’s Final by virtue of his third place in Izu Trail Journey and second place in UIIT in Korea. Perhaps many won’t see him coming this Saturday and with Kitamura and Shoma Maruyama, who both ran 9 Dragons before, he has two great guides.

Malaysia will be counting on the usual duo of Milton Amat and Wilsen Singgin. Both have been stars on the ATM scene for many years, with Milton already claiming a top 3 championship result twice before. While both may not have the same top speed as the runners mentioned above, the expected tougher weather conditions may play in their favour, both undoubtedly being among the most technically-skilled trail runners in Asia. And then there’s still Alessandro Sherpa and Kristian Joergensen, running for Team Asia Expat, the latter a former winner of the 9 Dragons as well. It’s almost amazing that nobody talks about him, but he certainly knows what to do in this race while keeping in mind “if Campbell can become Champion, then me too!” . To conclude the men’s race preview, a dark horse from Vietnam, Nguyen Phuong Hieu - impressive race winner at Trails des Gombak 100 last June and keen to make a name for himself.

The women’s Final on paper looks a bit more clear-cut. She who wants to become ATM Champion needs to get passed Priya Rai. The still young Nepalese has only become stronger since winning Borneo TMBT in September 2024 and has been knocking on the door of the world stage. Combining competitive trail running with the last year of her university education seems to work really well for her, having seen her performance in Kalaw, Myanmar, just three weeks ago. In that 50km race, she waited patiently in the first half before switching on her engine mercilessly in the second half. Given that her main rivals for the win are unlikely to make it to Hong Kong (Team Nepal unfortunately suffered travel visa problems), Priya may adopt a similar wait-and-see tactic keeping her inexperience running in Hong Kong in mind. She certainly has one serious competitor from the home team to worry about: Man Yee Cheung, who will make her debut as an ATM Finalist. Perhaps better known as a 100 miles runner, Man Yee knows the trails better than anyone of the contenders, with the possible exception of Nepal’s Dilu Limbu, who lives in Hong Kong. Dilu was the winner of the women’s 100km at Gombak last June. Japan has a number of podium challengers, too. Chisato Kario won two races in season 10 and Miho Tsuboi is a highly respected performer in her home country. Plus, there’s Akane Nemoto - already twice on the podium in an ATM Final. The strong female side of Team Japan, with also Yasuyo Hotta and Miki Ueki, will keep Team Pilipinas on their toes this Saturday afternoon in the context of the Team Championship, wherein the finish times of the best three men and best three women count.

Singapore has a hot iron in the fire with Dening Lo. A fast-pace runner who has also upgraded her technical skill set over the past few years, having won a.o. Mantra 68 in Indonesia twice. Just a month ago, Dening looked superb in winning Vietnam Trail Marathon 70km. Outsiders for a top 3 podium spot, but not to be underestimated are Philippines’ Ritzy Amor and Shally Yuson, Thailand’s Siriporn Leumathong and Asia Expat’s Tara Savage.

The race starts at 1 am local time on Saturday early morning, which means for the top runners it will be mainly a nighttime race. The estimated male winner’s timeframe is 9:30-10:00 am. As always, ATM will be livestreaming and updating on its usual channels with focus for video on facebook and youtube, highlights on X and Instagram.

Dening Lo

ATM S10 concludes at The 9 Dragons: finally a 2-time champion?