Grandmaster Quest points to be scored at Camiguin Island Trail
This weekend the spotlights are on Camiguin Island Trail, just off the northern coast of Mindanao. a popular event by Vertical To Sky - known from The Punisher, Mount Apo Sky Race and others - and is again part of the ATM Grandmaster Quest calendar this season. The race distance to focus on is the 70km.
Camiguin is an island in the Bohol Sea, approximately 10km off the northern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines. The trail event is held out of the island’s and provincial capital Mambajao. The island has some lush green forest reserves, even protected under the ASEAN Heritage Park label. Camiguin also has a rich cultural history and treasures, such as Old Mambajao Fountain and the façade of the Santo Rosario Church in Sagay. This is a mountainous island, which offers the opportunity for some splendid trail running, including some technical mountain sections. The highest peak is Mount Timpoong, which towers a respectable 1500 metres above sea level.
It is one of several events. in Philippines that may become part of our ATM Championship calendar in future, too. The 70km race has well over 3700 elevation gain, which is not to be underestimated.
On the start list this weekend we find nearly 150 runners for the 70km category, which is a good number, Amongst them, Golden 4-star Grandmaster and now on the Trail to Immortality, Masafumi Yamamoto from Japan. Masafumi continues to enjoy the down-to-earth boutique style of trail races and has received a lot of respect from the communities everywhere. Also Bronze 2-star Grandmaster Blanka Wong from Malaysia will be looking to score another GM point on the way to 3-stars. For the battle up front, with MUSPO 100 just one week ago, the start list does not immediately see the biggest of names, which only means we will get to know some new faces again. Arguably, Marjones Abugan will be the one to beat. Jonathan Pido, however, is a former Mount Apo Sky Race winner - all the way back in 2015. Henry Joe Cottillon may also be in podium contention this weekend.
