The 10th anniversary of Mantra 116 in Indonesia will see over 4000 runners spread out over various race distance categories this weekend, with the 116km and 68km traditionally the ones offering ATM Championship and Grandmaster Quest points. Mantra is a race with many returnees, either because they first failed to finish and now want to settle a score, or because they just love the high mountain technicality of the race course. The list of victory and podium contenders is almost a mirror copy of last year’s.

The men’s 116km features last year’s winner Yuta Matsuyama and last year’s second place and previous winner Rachmat Septiyanto, as well as other regulars such as Taofik Hidayat (not in the best form recently, though) and Ujang Ahmad Saripudin. But arguably most votes for potential victory ought to go to Hiroyuki Matsuda. A busy bee this season in ATM, he ranks second overall with four big points hauls already. Matsuda won BUTM 100 and BTR Bali 100 as highlights, and in a way that should make Matsuyama worried if he wants to repeat last year’s win. Let’s also keep an eye on Gyojeong Gu from Korea, Scott Pugh from Singapore, Daniel Ortiz from Colombia and Ahmed Bedair from Egypt.

The women’s 116km also sees last year’s 1-2 back on the start list. Japan’s Chizuru Inoue and Vietnam’s Le Thi Hang. Indonesian regulars like Henny Sutanda and Sianti Candra - both winners in the past - , Anggia Noviarta Sari and Yustina Wardhani all will be in the mix for podium as well. But the most interesting participant and victory contender for sure is Singapore’s Dening Lo. Already twice a race winner of Mantra 68, she decided to jump into the deep end at the last minute and try the 116km this weekend! Dening was 3rd in the latest ATM Championship Final in Hong Kong and carries enough speed to even bother most of the male contenders. But 116 is a very long distance, indeed.

Looking at the 68km, multiple former race winner Risqi Kurniawan must be the top favourite, but it’s been a while since he has set the scene on fire. Last May, he DNFd in BTR Bali 100, for example. The same applies for good old Arief Wismoyono, now in his forties. Also a former winner at Mantra, he was our first ever ATM Champion back in 2015. Time flies. Bagus Prastyo and Singapore-based Philippe Daniel are in with a shot, too.

The women’s 68km sees an unfortunate DNS for Hee Joo Jiang, 5th in the 2024 ATM Final, due to passport issues. It seems to leave the door wide open for another victory for Malaysia-based Filipino multisport icon Ritzy Amor. She has just won Gombak 50 and UTSG 80, but here she is again. Zoe Tan from Singapore, second in UTSG 60, and her compatriot Jennifer Lee could eye another podium and who knows we discover a new Indonesian talent, too.

10th anniversary of Mantra 116: Dening Lo aims to disrupt Japanese party!