Mantra 116 spoke Japanese this year as both winners of the brutal mountain trail across Welirang and Arjuno in Malang, East Java, come from the land of the rising sun. Yuta Matsuyama, already second once, took the lead by himself as co-leader Jeff Campbell, the reigning ATM Champion, pulled out at km 68. Former winner Rachmat Septiyanto could not catch him towards the end and settled for second place with Filipino Jomarc Ferrer a strong third.

In the women’s race, Chizuru Inoue proved to be faster than Vietnam’s ultra legend Le Thi Hang and equally experienced Indonesians Septiana Nia Swastika and Sianti Candra.

With the start usually at night, trail runners enjoyed the most magnificent views of Gunung Welirang, above 3000m, by sunrise. One week after finishing second in UTSG 50 in Singapore, Campbell left his comfort zone to try out the technical Mantra trails for the first time. He started well and set the pace together with Yuta Matsuyama, a regular in ATM and on his day good for podium and victory. Already twice winner of UT Chiang Mai and this season’s Luang Prabang Ultra Trail, Matsuyama had to come back to Mantra to try and do better than second place last year. He was certainly ‘on call’, and just pursued his journey when Campbell retired citing “my legs went away” . The question was whether Septiyanto would catch Matsuyama, but not so this year for the runner from Central Java, also a specialist for these type of long mountains ultras. Jomarc Ferrer, ATM Finalist for Philippines last year and again running strong this season, climbed up the leaderboard in the second half and snatched podium.

In the women’s race, Le Thi Hang arguably took a too easy approach early on, while Chizuru Inoue went out strongly. Septiana Nia Swastika also was unable to bridge the initial gap to the Japanese runner, but will be happy with third ahead of Sianti Candra, who had a tough day on the trails.

On the 68km, runners from Reunion island claimed the spotlights. Well-known Marcelle Puy, set Welirang alight as she was reportedly first overall on the summit! Unfortunately, she later missed a course marking sign and went the wrong way, following which she decided to DNF. First place hence went to Singapore’s Dening Lo, already winner of this race a year ago. She finished clearly ahead of another Reunion athlete, Alexandra Assoumi and third -placed Azarin Putri from Indonesia.

In the men’s race we witnessed a tight and exciting battle between Christopher Camachet, from Reunion, and the relentless former ATM Champion Arief Wismoyono. The duo battled it out nearly the entire race and were never really more than ten minutes apart. But Wismoyono was unable to catch Camachet, not even in his specialty - the descent. A little less than half an hour later, Abdul Aziz Dermawan continued his fine form of late by taking third on the podium ahead of Malaysia’s Muhammad Faris - winner in Gombak just twee weeks ago - and Taofik Hidayat, from Bandung in West Java.

Mantra 116 was the penultimate Indonesian points race in Season 10 of the Asia Trail Master Championship. The last one is Ijen Mountain Marathon on the first weekend of September, also the last race before the Championship Final in Vietnam on 4 October.

An annual high mountain trail classic already in our series, Mantra 116 in East Java’s Malang again promises to offer some exciting racing this weekend. Both the 116km and 68km points races begin at the same time this year, at midnight tonight, and the longest category is blessed with the presence of the reigning ATM Champion Jeff Campbell. Barely six days after finishing second in UTSG 50, Campbell goes out of his comfort zone for the second time this year after V Trail in Laos. Known for years as a very fast but a technically less-skilled trail runner than the Onifas, Amats and Sherpas of this region, it is admirable and commendable for others to see Campbell still trying out new things and challenging himself to this great extent. And of course, wherever he starts he is among the top favourites no matter what. 

He certainly won’t get his 12th ATM race victory on a silver platter. Among the contenders are local Indonesian long ultra stars such as Rachmat Septiyanto and Yusuf Aprian, both already winners in Mantra in the past. Yuta Matsuyama may find the colder temperatures in this race very much to his liking. Java-based Colombian Daniel Ortiz is also running and followers of ATM may remember he was the first winner in Season 10, at Dieng Trail Run back in late September. Another Indonesia-based expat, from Egypt, is Ahmed Bedair, who is also often competing for the prizes. Filipino ATM Finalist last year Jomarc Ferrer knows what a tough long ultra is, too. Ferrer has just scored two fourth places in H1 (100 Miles) and Point Trail Ultra 70, both against top competition so he is in fine shape. Bandung’s Hilman Maulana to our knowledge is making his debut on the 116 at Mantra, after having scored podiums on the 68k in the past few years. 

The women’s 116k was long dominated and even attempted by just one woman, Shindy Patricia. But more and more women have been trying the long ultra and also this year we have quite a few on the start list. Sianti Candra may be the top favourite, but there’s also Vietnam’s Le Thi Hang. As Vietnam’s long ultra specialist, she may give Candra a tough time for the win. Septiana Nia Swastika and Novita Wulandari are two more known contenders. 

In the women’s 68km, last year’s winner Dening Lo from Singapore will be trying to repeat her accomplishment this Saturday. ATM overall points leader Ritzy Amor was supposed to be one of her main challengers, but reports from Malang say that Ritzy could not fly to Indonesia. Malaysia’s Halimatun Sa’adiah was second behind Dening Lo a year ago, and is also running again together with her compatriot Lynda Marylyn. Let’s see if someone from the local Indonesian side can pull of a surprise. 

It’s a big start field on the 68km and we are bound to see some new names popping up the leadeboard. Malaysia’s Muhammad Faris could be one to challenge Bandung star Arief Wismoyono for the win. Faris has just won Gombak 50 in impressive style, and he also ran Mantra before. Taofik Hidayat cannot be underestimated, but was struggling in this year’s Bali BTR. 

ATM will be reporting live from Mantra 116 starting on Friday evening.

One week after UTSG 50, Jeff Campbell is back in action already and bravely starts mantra 116

Dening Lo: one of the top favourites on the 68km women

MUhammad Faris was an impressive 50k winner at Gombak two weeks ago

Ritzy Amor is busy bee this season: the overall points leader starts her 6th ATM race. She won her last one.

Rachmat Septiyanto can use all his Mantra experience to again finish on top of the podium

Nia Swastika is one of the favourites in the women’s 116km

Also Thang Hoang Huu from Vietnam is back in Mantra this weekend

Last weekend’s successful BTR Ultra event in Bali, Indonesia, saw the first ever ATM points race victory for upcoming long ultra talent Roberto Cain III (The Third). The Filipino was dominant in the tough 105km ultra across Bali’s three famous mountains Batur, Agung and Abang. He was already first on the summit of Batur before sunset on Friday evening, and kept his advantage throughout the night. In the early hours of Saturday morning, Cain III even still increased the gap to his nearest competitors underlining his superiority. Pre-race favourites like Arief Wismoyono never featured at the very front and later would even DNF. Earlier this ATM season, Roberto Cain III had already taken 2nd in Mount Kalatungan Ultra and 4th in Sierra Madre Trail Ultra. Good results, but this Bali victory really means a step up for him - particularly as it’s not even at home in Philippines. His finish time was 17h52, which proved the hard nature of this 100k and 7200hm course. In fact, runners were even lucky it was cloudy and not that hot for most of the event, set by the Batur Lake.

Almost an hour behind Cain III, Wai Hung Mok from Hong Kong grabbed second in his ATM debut. He was running most of the race with Java’s Akhmad Nizar, but had the edge in the final ten kilometres. Nizar somehow has a subscription on third places in ATM races. Nevertheless, it was third achievement of the current season and he is basically already guaranteed of qualification for Team Indonesia in the ATM Championship Final in Vietnam on 4 October. In 2023, Nizar finished 8th in the Final. Behind Wai Hung Mok and Akhmad Nizar, it was Malaysia’s Yih Huan Sua , always good in Indonesia, with Philippines’ Maynard Encormal, having a superb performance just a week after taking a 3rd podium spot in the Mt Ugo Marathon. Yusuf Aprian made a nice comeback to the scene after a long injury break with sixth place. He was followed by Egypt’s well-known Ahmed Bedair, who had made a fast start with Cain III on Batur.

The women’s 100km ultra was dominated by Hong Kong’s Man Yee Cheung. Just two weeks after her miler on Fuji in Japan, the tall Hong Kong star seemed pretty well recovered and was a class on her own in Bali. She took her victory, her second in ATM after VMM 100 in 2023, as fifth overall in 21h13. Earlier this year she also finished second in the 9 Dragons. With a total of 950 ATM Championship points in two races, she might have already done enough to qualify for the Championship Final in Vietnam this season.

Behind her, it was a fantastic second place for Thailand’s Siriporn Leumathong. She was almost the entire race in second and held off a long list of other regular ATM race podium contenders. Last season, she was a surprising 9th in the ATM Championship Final at Borneo TMBT. Indonesia’s Devi Devi claimed the third step on the podium. Earlier on Saturday morning, Ruth Theresia - who was on podium course - stepped out of the race with severe stomach cramps. Another pre-race favourite, Adelinah Lintanga, had a tough day but managed to get some ATM points for 8th place. Singapore’s Wei Xinshuang finished fourth and Malayia’s Law Guan Shin fifth. Then it was Japan’s Yasuyo Hotta followed by Anne Maridol (Philippines), Risa Kamiya (Japan), Adelinah Lintanga(Malaysia) and Nia Septiana. Syarifah Hamzah, who was 4th in Penang just two weeks ago, dropped down to 11th place in the last part of the race.

In the BTR 60k race, Hong Kong-based Dutchman Lodewijk Vriens scored his first ATM race win of the season in 8h37. Vriens was challenged initially by the newcomer from Ambon in the Moluccas, Haidar Ali Lestaluhu, but then took the advantage in the black lava field. After 4th in VUM in March, a good win for Vriens - one of the potential dark horses for the Championship this season.

He was followed by several of Indonesia’s ‘new generation’ runners. In second place was Sobari Herdiana, a good 20 minutes behind Vriens. Third on the podium, Ujang Ahmad Ahmad and Sobiri Haerudin took fourth place. Bali-based German Thimo Kilberth, now 50, was a fantastic fifth after a brilliant second half of the race. Kilberth showed once more what focus and dedication to a goal can do. His fourth successive qualification for the Championship Final is nearly a given already. Abdul Aziz Dermawan was seventh, ahead of Agus Juprit and Luis Alvelais - also on a good day. Malachy Kirwan was a DNS and Taofik Hidayat had a rough day to finish in 14th.

In the women’s, Singapore-based Belgian Vanja Cnops took her 9th ATM race win and 2nd of the season, but only just so! Indonesian newcomer in ATM, Gita Harmoni, came closer and closer and stranded just 1’40” behind Cnops, the vice-ATM Champion of the past two years. What an introduction to Gita Harmoni, who is from Yogyakarta in Indonesia. Vanja Cnops required no less than 10h38 to win this 60k race across Batur and Abang, which was her longest race ever - yes, read that again. For Gita it was a step up in competition level after starting trail running in 2022.

France’s Manon Bourdoge was a happy third. she was followed in the finish by New Zealand’s Charlotte van der Lee, who managed to get ahead of Malaysia’s Shamiera Auther in the final 8 km. Lolita Lintanga and an injured Ritzy Amor were next. Ritzy retakes the overall ATM points lead from her Filipino compatriot Angelie Cabalo. Local Dian Pradina was eighth and Halimatun Sa’adiah ninth.

The next Indonesian points race event in the ATM Championship series is Mantra 116 on the first weekend of July. Later in early September, there’s also still the Ijen Mountain Marathon.

Runner in the black lava of Batur

Thimo Kilberth: fantastic fifth place on the 60

Newcomer in ATM: Gita Harmoni

Lovers of the high mountains and technical trails every year look forward to early July, because that’s when Mantra 116 is on. The Indonesian event in Malang, East Java, remains for many the toughest challenge in the Asia Trail Master series, at least if you are going for the ‘signature race’, the 116km. 7400 metres of elevation gain is not the most, but those metres are hard to conquer at Mantra, and even the long descents do not provide a lot of relaxation. Still, the 116 route has been made a bit more palatable compared to the first years with the removal of the out-and-back section on Mahapena after the two main peaks Welirang and Arjuno. Runners have 33 hours of time to complete the course.

As always, runners score ATM Championship points and Grandmaster Quest points on two distance categories at Mantra: 116km and 68km.

The 116 journey starts and finishes at the event centre at Kaliandra Eco Resort (770 above sea level). Immediately after the start, runners climb to the peak of Mt. Welirang (3156 mdpl), then descend to Cangar (1600 mdpl) to climb back up again towards the peak of Mt. Arjuno (3339 mdpl). For safety reasons, the runners should reach the peak of Mt. Arjuno before 15.00 o’clock, to ensure the downhill from Mt. Arjuno is not done in the dark. For those who didn’t manage to reach the peak before 15:00, they will go down with the sweeper team towards the evacuation point. The race, however, will enter a long downhill to Bukit Kuneer at 55km point, the location of the first dropbag point. The trail continues passing Budug Asu towards UB Forest, until arriving at Wonosari at 88km point, the location of the second dropbag point. The sting is in the tail at Mantra 116, the route to Sepilar Temple features a technical and tough climb followed by a steep downhill. Afterwards, the finish line beckons.

The 70km course, named “The Double Summits” and technically measured at 68km, begins with hiking to the summit of Mt. Welirang and then onto the summit of Mt. Arjuno. After that, this route takes you down towards Mahapena, passing the beautiful Lincing savannah before continuing to Budug Asu and Wonosari Tea Estate. Finally, it’s Sepilar Temple in the last climb segment before the finish. While just under 70km, this race course has 5000m of elevation gain, which means all finishers can score a Grandmaster point as well. The cutoff time at the finish back at Kaliandra Eco Resort is set at 22 hours. The last couple of years, this race has been the playground of Indonesia’s Risqi Kurniawan - winning in 2023 and 2024.

Registration for Mantra 116 is open and can be done via the official website, linked below. Needless to say this is an event to prepare well for.

Gateway to Mantra 116 is Surabaya, unless you can fly domestic to Malang directly. From Surabaya, it’s a two hour drive to the Kaliandra Eco Resort. Information on logistics is also available on the website.

We are delighted to announce that the Ijen Green Trail event in Indonesia is joining the Asia Trail Master Championship calendar on 6/7 September with the Ijen Mountain Marathon race. This race is 50km in distance and includes the ascent of the fantastic Ijen volcano. The event has been organised successfully for several years already out of Banyuwangi in East Java. Ijen Mountain Marathon will be the last points race in Season 10, and thus the last chance for runners seeking last-minute qualification for the Championship Final one month later in early October.

The Ijen volcano has a long history in ATM. From 2015 to 2019 inclusive, Ijen Trail Running was one of the more remote yet more popular races on our calendar for international runners especially. That event, however, was by a different organiser and held out of Bondowoso, which is the regency to the west of Banyuwangi. The covid crisis meant the end of that event, but Ijen Green Trail has managed to survive - also because Banyuwangi is one of Indonesia’s hot spots in tourism development. You cannot go further east on Java island, and Banyuwangi City is just a short ferry ride away from Bali. As such, international runners can also consider flying into Bali and travel by bus/car/ferry to the event. Or by domestic flight. Banyuwangi has a small airport with connections to Jakarta, Denpasar and Surabaya as well.

The 50km on the programme is new and the precise course map and details will be made available soon. Those familiar with Ijen volcano mountain and the surrounding trails know that one should expect runable terrain, unlike many other big mountain ultras in Indonesia.

Indonesia is very fond of Instagram, so most event information can be found there on the Ijen Green Trail page (link below).

The 10th anniversary edition of Tahura Trail in Bandung, Indonesia, saw the ‘older’ established guard comprehensively take the measure of the young guns in the 42km ATM Championship points race. Alessandro Sherpa scored his 7th ever ATM race victory and Vanja Cnops collected her 8th in the women’s category. Both have been around for many years now and behind them were 2015 ATM Champion Arief Wismoyono and 2018 ATM Champion Ruth Theresia. Risqi Kurniawan suffered a leg injury and finished outside the top 25.

The course of Tahura Trail had been completely redesigned for its first edition in five years. Heavy rainfall already in the days preceding the event turned many sections into a severe mudfest, which was certainly not to everyone’s liking or expectation. Luckily, at least on race day there was a pause in precipitation. Tough and technical running conditions, perhaps it was therefore no coincidence that those with more trail experience took the biggest prizes at the end. Sherpa is even a former mountainbiker and Cnops a former national team cross country runner in the typical muddy fields in Belgium. Bandung runners Ruth Theresia and Arief Wismoyono are also among the most technically-skilled trail runners, and in the case of Wismoyono it was even a mightily impressive feat to finish second just about three minutes behind Sherpa. Now over 40, Wismoyono had not looked this fast and competitive in several years. For Sherpa it was his second consecutive victory in Indonesia, after Bali Ultra 50 last August. In third place came Ujang Ahmad Saripudin, a newcomer on the ATM scene. He did great finishing just eleven minutes behind the winner, and nearly fourteen minutes ahead of the likes of Akhmad Nizar, Muhammad Faris from Malaysia, Taofik Hidayat, Mikdarulloh and Sobiri Haerudin. In ninth place we had a great run by Thimo Kilberth, another good old trail runner who exceeded expectations. Consider he finished ahead of Sobari Herdiana and Risqi Kurniawan. The latter, the top favourite before the race, still hung on the leaders early, but then faded away citing pain in his legs. Another former podium placer at Tahura, Margono, also settled for just 23rd place. ATM regulars Luis Alvelais and Abang Jamadi Rosli finished in 13th and 15th, respectively.

Vanja Cnops was, as expected, too fast for the other women. Fitta Emike Sari ran a great race competing with Ruth Theresia for second place. Previously, Sari had already scored a second place in Mantra 116 in 2023, so her performance in the hard conditions in Bandung did not fall out of the blue sky. Theresia ultimately took the upper hand at the end, but Sari came in just a minute later.

The next Indonesian points race on the ATM Championship calendar is BTR in Bali on the second weekend of May. That event, returning to ATM for the first time since 2022, offers 100k and 60k options for runners seeking qualification for the Season 10’s ATM Championship Final in early October.

After a long five years interruption, the 10th edition of Indonesia’s most popular trail event in terms of participation numbers is back. Tahura Trail in Bandung was a genuine classic medium distance trail race before the covid crisis, and over 3500 runners will celebrate its return this weekend. Among them are many competitive runners for the 40km as well, hoping to score a podium finish and a good haul of ATM Championship points. Indonesia’s Risqi Kurniawan will face his usual local challengers, but also a.o. Alessandro Sherpa - who has already been 2nd (2020) and 3rd (2018) in this race before. In the women’s 40km, we have local hero and former ATM Champion Ruth Theresia and Singapore-based Vanja Cnops.

Taman Hutan Raya Tahura Ir. H. Juanda is the full name of the park where the event takes place, just outside the city centre of Bandung, one of Indonesia’s biggest cities in West Java. It’s a popular weekend destination where you can just go and relax, or engage in all kinds of outdoor activities. The trail race is not the longest at 40km, also not the toughest, but it’s always been exciting to follow. Weather plays an important role - this year’s edition could be more wet and muddy than the last two in 2020 and 2019 - , but it’s a course where each runner can find sections to his or her liking. It’s varied, but you better still have a solid running pace - as the race’s record indicates. Jeff Campbell won here twice and Mohamed Affindi scored his first ATM race victory here in 2019. Many ATM Champions have won Tahura, but our reigning champions will not. Lunar new year is close and Jeff Campbell and Priya Rai have other priorities in the coming weeks.

However, 2018 Champion Alessandro Sherpa is in with a good shot, although he himself downplays his chances for this Saturday morning. Sherpa had an up-and-down 2024 trail year, mainly due to a stubborn injury. It’s been rather quiet in the past few months, but two weeks ago, Sherpa felt some good vibes again in a road marathon in Malaysia. The competition in Tahura is for real, of course. Not many Indonesian men have actually won the race, and this time it feels like everyone is there. Risqi Kurniawan typically has the edge on medium distance course, but runners like Sobari Herdiana, Sobiri, Margono and Dedy Yusuf will certainly give it their all. And so will Bandung heroes Arief Wismoyono and Taofik Hidayat. Also in the field this Saturday: Luis Alvelais and Thimo Kilberth.

In the women’s 40k race, Vanja Cnops will be looking for her 8th ATM race victory after a winless 2024 in our series. The Singapore-based Belgian should love both the distance and the course in Bandung, so she is the logical top favourite. It’s her first race in Season 10, so she can open her points account with a maximum haul. We are also happy to see Ruth Theresia on the start list of her home race. Still the most successful female runner in our series ever with 11 race wins, and a true ambassador for the sport in Indonesia. Yustina Wardhani is another podium candidate, she was 9th in the 2023 ATM Championship Final.

Asia Trail Master will be reporting live from Tahura Trail all day on Saturday from 5:45 am local time onwards. The 40km is scheduled to be flagged off at 6 am.

Risqi Kurniawan is the top favourite amongst the Indonesian runners

Sherpa returns to Tahura : 3d in 2018, 2nd in 2020, victory in 2025?

Vanja Cnops can add another Indonesian race win to her record this Saturday

It has been five long years but - at last - the very popular Indonesian event Tahura Trail in Bandung is returning to the trail and Asia Trail Master Championship calendar. The 10th anniversary edition is scheduled for 25 January 2025 with a brand new course of 40km for Championship points, along a wide range of shorter distances for the less ambitious. Before covid struck, Tahura Trail was by numbers the most popular trail event in Indonesia and the traditional opener of the ATM season. It’s one of the shortest points races on the calendar, but it has always been an exciting one to follow with loads of fast runners taking part.

Our reigning ATM Champion, Jeff Campbell, has won it twice already, in fact. Including the last edition in 2020. Other winners in Tahura’s rich history are Tahira Najmunisaa, Kim Matthews, Mohamed Affindi, Asuka Nakajima and Charlotte Taquet.

The 40km course has nearly 1300m of elevation gain and is a great mixture of runable and technical sections. When it’s dry it’s fast, when it’s been raining it’s muddy and tougher than one would expect. It is the training ground for many of Bandung’s well-known trail runners, not in the least our former ATM Champions Ruth Theresia and Arief Wismoyono.

Tahura is the name of the large park next to the city of Bandung in West Java. It’s also a place for weekend retreats with lots of nice restaurants and coffee & teahouses. There is an airport in Bandung with a few international flights, but nowadays the journey from Jakarta to Bandung has also become much faster thanks to a high-speed train.

Registration has opened already , please go to the official website of Tahura Trail.

Tahura Trail : Running Back In Time

Indonesia’s top trail runners Risqi Kurniawan and Shindy Patricia collected their fifth and seventh ATM race victories, respectively, at the great Broder 50 event in East Java’s Bromo desert. Both elites finished clearly ahead of a solid field and underlined their ambitions for this season’s ATM Championship. Broder 50 consisted of two loops of 25km in the famous ‘desert’ around the Bromo volcano. A runable race that nevertheless got tough due the gale winds that struck runners in the second loop.

Risqi Kurniawan had an up-and-down year so far, plagued by injury, but very much looked in control again last Saturday. Competitors such as Akhmad Nizar, Muhammad Faris, Ma’Mun Khariri, Thimo Kilberth and Yuki Naotori all ran great races, but had to tolerate Kurniawan running away in the distance from early on. The battle for second place was exciting. Malaysia’s Faris was arguable most impressive in showing a fast running pace and keeping up with Khariri - winner of Mantra 116 and second in Bali 80 this year - and Nizar (ATM Finalist 2023 , finishing 8th at Siksorogo, and ‘eternal second’ behind Kurniawan. Towards the end, an injury-hampered Nizar still managed to score another second place, but Faris did complete the podium ahead of Khariri. Sponsored and coached by Team Ole Athletic, this was a great step-up in performance level for the Malaysian. Bali-based German Thimo Kilberth started his Season 10 campaign in style with fifth overall and first in the ‘veteran’ category. He stayed ahead of Japan’s Naotori.

Shindy Patricia was a late addition to the start list, showing up just one week after an unfortunate DNF in a mountain race in Sabah. Seemingly out for revenge on herself, she left the other women no chance. The East Javanese trail star took her seventh career win in ATM, after sitting out Season 9 to focus on road and marathon runs. Shindy is back with a bang! As with the men, the women’s race for second was interesting to follow. Malaysia-based Filipino Ritzy Amor , who joined the aforementioned Team Ole Athletic , looked set to grab the first runner-up spot, but was overtaken towards the end by the surprisingly quick Azarine Putri , also from East Java. In fourth, we had Indonesia’s Masrifah and Canada’s Isabelle Bedard. Pre-race favourite Lynda Marylyn DNFd after the first loop, running in fourth place, citing difficulties breathing after inhaling a lot of dust after the wind picked up strongly.

Broder 50 is a typically scenic Indonesian trail race organised by the Mantra team from Malang. However, as most other trail races in the country tend to be tough, technical to very technical, this one is runable, making for an interesting change.

The early part of Season 10 in our Asia Trail Master Championship series continues in East Java, Indonesia, this weekend with a new entry on our calendar. The second edition of Broder 50 is the latest event produced and directed by the well-established Mantra 116 team and takes place in the legendary Bromo desert. As the event title suggests, Broder 50 has a 50km main race category - the one that matters for runners who wish to score points for the ATM Championship ranking, which leads to potential qualification for the Championship Final in September 2025. The race starts at 3am on Saturday morning.

The early part of Season 10 in our Asia Trail Master Championship series continues in East Java, Indonesia, this weekend with a new entry on our calendar. The second edition of Broder 50 is the latest event produced and directed by the well-established Mantra 116 team and takes place in the legendary Bromo desert. As the event title suggests, Broder 50 has a 50km main race category - the one that matters for runners who wish to score points for the ATM Championship ranking, which leads to potential qualification for the Championship Final in September 2025. The race starts at 3am on Saturday morning.

A few of Indonesia’s usual top performers feature on the start list. First and foremost Risqi Kurniawan, who has been basically undefeated on the medium trail distance in his home country for quite a while now. Injury plagued him a few months ago, but in July the T8 runner still managed to take another victory at Mantra 65k. Broder 50 is normally a runable trail and this could place a few other competitors within striking distance. Akhmad Nizar is never that far behind Risqi and maybe on a good day he can put up a challenge in Bromo. In Indonesia there’s always runners who appear from nowhere on the top of the race leaderboard, so maybe we get to know some new faces as well. Bali-based Thimo Kilberth is in any case also a lover of runable trails where he can use his inherent running speed to get close to the podium. Malaysia’s Ole Athletic runner Muhammad Faris Azhari will also be a contender for the top 3 in the men’s race.

From the same team but coming from Sabah is Lynda Marylyn, Championship Finalist at Borneo TMBT last month. On paper, she has a great opportunity to score her first ATM race victory at Broder 50. Lynda, nicknamed ‘Butet’, is an upcoming young talent in Malaysia who has become increasingly competitive in the course of the past year. Other contenders are expected to be local Indonesian runners and Canada’s Isabelle Bedard.

ATM will be reporting live from Broder 50 on our usual channels.

The 50km course

The famous Bromo desert

Risqi Kurniawan

Lynda 'Butet' Marylyn

The scenic Dieng Trail Run in Central Java, Indonesia, opened season 10 of the ATM Championship and as expected saw a number of new faces enter into the spotlights. Yogyakarta-based Colombian Edixon Daniel was clearly the fastest runner on the 60km points race distance, winning comfortably in a time of 9h32. The 60km was held mainly at nighttime, which was probably a bit unfortunate given the majestic views one could enjoy in this part of Central Java. Daniel led almost from start to finish and saw Singapore-based Humberto Baeza take second place , and Asril Rozzaq third place on the podium. Baeza is reportedly a newbie in trail and is said to be one to watch in the coming months. Rozzag sprained his ankle early into the race, but managed to hold on. The trails were quite dry and hard-packed, making for a runable course.

The women’s 60k race saw Bali’s Endang Suryani Borupayung take victory ahead of West Sulawesi’s Fauziah and Christyo Widorukhi . Borupayong’s finishing time was just above 15h. Let’s not forget there were over 4000 metres of elevation gain to be conquered also.

One week after the thrilling conclusion of our Championship’s ninth season at Borneo TMBT Ultra in Malaysia, we already shift our attention to Indonesia for the opening of the next season, Season 10. Dieng Trail Run in Central Java gets the honour this year of opening the new series , which will again lead to a ranking hierarchy that determines qualification for next year’s ATM Final. Season 10 is indeed expected to cover again a full year, contrary to the 9+ months shortened season that just ended.

No amendments to the points regulations for Season 10, the top 25 men and women in each valid race score points. At the end of the season, each runner’s best four results will be taken into account.

At Dieng this weekend, that race to focus on is the 60 km category. This is a challenging course, with the hardest part coming into the second half. No fewer than 4000m of elevation gain need to be conquered. Runners will be at high altitude and often above the clouds. ‘Dieng’ literally translates as ‘abode of the Gods’ and that says all you need to know about this collection of small ancient temples set in the remarkable volcanic landscape of the Dieng Plateau. The misty location, sulphurous springs and colored lakes truly make this a place of natural wonder and cultural significance. The event carries an important ecological message as well , and is establishing itself as one of Southeast Asia’s unique ‘boutique’ events.

The start list does not feature a lot of big names, which can also not be expected one week after the Championship Final. We are therefore bound to discover new names this weekend. Rachmat Septiyanto and Ma’Mun Khariri are two of Indonesia’s ultra trail stars, but both signed up for the 100km category, which only provides a Grandmaster point for finishers. Two star GM Rija Gubes from Malaysia and also Georgy Mimi Chu are also on the 100k start list. Let’s see if, in particular, Khariri wishes to change distance last-minute. For the Mantra 116 winner in July, it would be a great start of his points campaign.

ATM will be reporting from Dieng Trail Run throughout Saturday and Sunday on our usual channels.

Ma Mun Khariri is one of Indonesia’s emerging trail stars