Hisashi Kitamura takes 12th ATM race win in shortened Minamiaso Caldera Trail

Very wet and windy weather forced the event organisers of Minamiaso Caldera Trail to make the difficult decision of shortening the 50km race to two loops of the 18km short distance course for 36km in total. Most of the single trails had turned into a total mudfest and with safety in mind, it proved to be the only solution in order to at least have a trail race. Minamiaso is a new entry on the ATM Championship calendar, taking place in Kyushu close to Kumamoto City and 100km from Fukuoka.

Several strong runners at the start line, as usual in Japan, and in the end it was ATM regular Hisashi Kitamura who scored his 12th ATM race victory during his trail journey. It was close, however, as the younger Hideaki Hori managed to stay within one minute. Kitamura finished in a time of 3h51. Both runners were 20 minutes ahead of third placed Ryosuke Ooya and Kentaro Takano. Important ATM points for Kitamura, who now again looks certain to be part of Team Japan in the next ATM Championship Final in Vietnam in October. Also Kentaro Takano is very much in the mix for a spot in Team Japan, which would be his first qualification. As is Tomohiro Mizukoshi, of course. He scored an important 8th place as well, despite the tough conditions that do not suit his trail capabilities very much.

The women’s race saw three runners finish within 11 minutes of each other. Asami Furuse won in 4h37, seventh overall. Arika Ito and Kirari Oi were second and third. Chisato Kario, part of the ATM Championship winning team at 9 Dragons and multiple race winner in ATM, struggled a bit to finish in 7th place. Another Top 10 finisher of the latest ATM Final, Hong Kong’s Kimmy Leung took 12th. In fact, another Hong Konger, Wong Ki Chun finished ahead in fifth place.

The next ATM Championship Qualifier in Japan is Shiga Kogen 100 near Nagano at the end of August.

Hong Kong’s Wong Ki Chun finished fifth in the female race

ATM Season 10 Top 10 Finisher Kimmy Leung finished 12th