The return of Akha Trail with Campbell, Timms, Savage etc!

Returning to our series after a 1-year break is Akha Trail in the far north of Thailand, on the border with Myanmar. ‘The Way of Tribes” is Thailand’s only ATM Qualifier this season, but the goods news is that more are to come again in Season 12. Akha Trail still offers a 80km race category as the main event. It’s a challenging mountain jungle course with nearly 6000 metres of elevation gain. Current ATM Champion John Ray Onifa won the race three years ago, and this year another former ATM Champion will try to achieve the same feat: Jeff Campbell, the 2024 ATM Champion.

We know Campbell sometimes likes to leave his own comfort zone and test himself sometimes. Usually with quite a high degree of success, in fact. Akha Trail may also fit into that storyboard, although the weather will have a big influence on the course, as it usually does in Thailand. Campbell has some serious competitive challengers for victory, too. Singapore’s Chris Timms, for example. He has been more at ease with slippery and sliding conditions over the years and is also a winner of UTOP in Penang a few years ago, a race course that probably comes close to what runners will face this Saturday. There are some proven victory and podium runners from the home country as well ,though. Danon Rattanatumrong, Somchai Chaosakorn and Narin Kongsiri, for example. There’s more expat runners, such as Jeremy Ritcey and Evgenii Makarov, who was second in Kalaw Ultra Trail Run in Myanmar last February.

In the women’s 80km race we could see a repeat win for Bangkok-based American Tara Savage. There’s a number of potential challengers, though. Yasuyo Hotta was part of the ATM Championship winning team Japan at the 9 Dragons, and Philippines’ Merionne Dimen was 2nd in Luang Prabang Trail at the start of season 11.

Tara Savage, already a race winner at Akha Trail before

Jeff Campbell looking to add another ATM race win to his record

Chris Timms, can he challenge Campbell if it gets wet and rugged?