Trail running remains a highly delicate activity in many ways and this week was again proof how tough it can be to organise trail running events in the wild, open nature spaces that we all love so much. Indonesia’s Ijen Green Trail has been forced to postpone the event to late November due to forest fires and the ordered total closure of the Ijen Crater Tourism Park for safety reasons, and also Malaysia’s Jagoi Ultra risks to fall victim of the worst haze and air pollution striking Kuching and Sarawak in over a decade. “Deliberate” forest fires in neighbouring Kalimantan are blamed for this annual environmental problem that some years also badly affects even farther away places like Singapore. Several other events in Sarawak have been cancelled already and at the time of writing Alpha Sports Events and its passionate director Josh are hoping the worst will be over come Saturday morning and the Air Pollution Index decreases to the extent an endurance running race can be held without exposing people to significant health risks. Obviously, the local authorities in Sarawak are closely monitoring the situation and will have the last word in the end.

It’s a potential nightmare scenario for quite a few runners who were still hoping to get themselves qualified for the ATM Championship Final in Vietnam next month. Jagoi Ultra is a Championship Qualifier for the first time and attracted a substantial and international field of runners for the 70km race, which is also valid for the Grandmaster Quest of course. No fewer than 50 Filipino runners made the trip to Sarawak, amongst them also Godwin MIrar - the 25-year-old top talent who left it a bit late this season in his attempt to qualify again for the Championship Final . Mirar ranks sixth in the Filipino points ranking with 3 race results, which means he needs to count on someone in the top five declining the opportunity to race for Team Pilipinas in Vietnam. In Philippines, many runners do four races or more during the season, and as always it’s the best four results that count for each runner. Running only three qualifiers is always a gamble in a country with lots of ambitious and competitive athletes.

Also Vietnam’s upcoming talent Sung A Phu needs a Jagoi result to get himself in Team Vietnam, after missing all his country’s own qualifier races earlier in the season. Last weekend, he was 5th in TMBT 50. Japan’s Tomohiro Mizukoshi will be relieved to know that he will remain fifth in his country’s ranking, which means he will be part of the ATM Final for the fifth consecutive time - a feat only very few have accomplished. Singapore’s Deric Lau - another established finalist - is in the same situation as Sung A Phu, as are several runners from Brunei Darussalam.

Quite a few Malaysian runners have also been hoping to still sneak into the top five at the last moment, especially on the women’s side. Celeste Teo and Joyce Yong Hie Ying, for example.

For sure, a final decision on whether the race can go ahead will be taken as late as possible. We will update about what happens on our facebook and other channels.

UPDATE : On Friday evening, following emergency meeting with local and regional authorities , all outdoor sporting activities were suspended, including Jagoi Ultra. The races therefore could not take place.

The last Malaysian ATM Championship Qualifier this season will be Jagoi Ultra in Sarawak on Borneo Island. Organised by Alpha Sports Events and RD Josh, Jagoi Ultra substitutes on the Championship calendar for their other event Silabur Ultra Trail, held in May. The event features a 70km long race for points, and given the distance is also valid for the Grandmaster Quest.

As always, when proven organisers have several events in their portfolio, we like to alternate between them in order to increase variety in the choice of races that matter for competitive-minded trail runners. In fact, Jagoi was an ATM Candidate back in 2023, before the choice in Sarawak fell on Silabur first.

Sarawak has as much rainforest as Sabah, but in general less elevation to conquer. It makes the races different. Still, it’s not flat either as the course profile of the 70km at Jagoi shows: 2500 hm elevation gain is not nothing. Held out of Kampung Serasot, Bau, runners will do a loop that at one point touches the border with Indonesia’s Kalimantan Province. The Jagoi area lies southwest of Kuching, main city in Sarawak and your gateway to the event. There’s shorter distances available as well on the event programme, but for ATM the 70km is your target.

Jagoi Ultra takes place one week after the classic Borneo TMBT Ultra in Sabah. People with more time on their hands could consider a combo. Plenty of things to see and do in Sabah and Sarawak and why not pass by Brunei while you’re there?

Registration is open via the link below. You can also stay up to date on the latest news via the event’s facebook page.

The first ATM Candidate Race in Sarawak on the Malaysian side of Borneo delivered a great classic dual between Hisashi Kitamura and Milton Amat. On paper, the Jagoi Heritage Trail Run of 50km and 1250 hm looked ideal for the Japanese to assert his characteristics as a runner, but Sabah’s Milton Amat turned out not have any issues at all with the set pace and almost made his victory look easy by outgunning Kitamura in the final technical descent to the finish line. A significant psychological victory for Amat, or should we say ‘blow’ for Kitamura, in light of the upcoming Borneo TMBT Ultra 100 - one of the highlights of the ATM Championship season, and a race Kitamura has targettedr to win after a narrow defeat by the same Milton Amat in 2019.

The Jagoi 50k race was not a first edition, but the first time the competitive field was robust. The local organisers and local village community were also delighted to see some of ATM’s top stars taking part in their race - even though no points were up for grabs as it was a candidate race. It rained heavily the afternoon and evening before the race, which turned some of the trail sections muddy and more technical than previously anticipated. Ireland’s Malachy Kirwan - still relatively new at trail running - was struggling with the conditions and in the end had no answer to the pace set by Kitamura from the start. The Karate Kit was quick out of the blocks and tried to put pressure on Milton Amat straightaway. However, the Sabahan remained visibly relaxed and had no issue letting his classic trail rival go in front by 20-30 seconds. For about 20km they were joined by a third runner, in fact. Mark Steacy, also from Ireland and residing in Kuching, was the surprise of the day. Eventually Steacy had to slow down a bit, and saw Wilsen Singgin still catching him and overtaking him in that final descent for third place. Nevertheless, a great new name who will also compete at TMBT 100. Up front, Kitamura felt it coming at the last aid station before going up the longest and toughest hillclimb. Amat was still right on his tail (see video on facebook). Amat took over towards the summit and used his technical downhill superiority to win the race.

The women’s race was dominated by local hero Sally Yap and Sabah’s Mailin Salungin. Both runners stayed side-by-side all race and decided not to sprint it out for the overall win (both won their respective age groups). Afterwards, Salungin was all praise for the youngster Sally Yap, who is one of the new names in Malaysia post-covid. After winning BUTM 100, she will also try to score TMBT 100 in three weeks’ time, and in so doing secure her spot for Team Malaysia at the ATM Championship Final in Philippines on 17 December. An impressive third place in Jagoi went to Grandmaster Siokhar Lim, who was coming very close to the lead duo on the final hillclimb. 50k and 1250 hm are peanuts numbers for Siokhar, who typically excels in the long and tough mountains ultras, but yesterday she showed her general running pace has increased, too. Celeste Teo, third at MMTF 2021, also looked solid in taking fourth place yesterday.

You can replay the race of the leaders via our ATM DTA platform here: (laptop/desktop required)

On our Facebook page, you can find several videos and photos of the race, too.

There have been quite a few ATM Candidates in Malaysia already this season and this Sunday we have the next one, but it’s a rather unique one. The T8 Jagoi Heritage Run is the first trail event with an ATM logo in Sarawak. Originally scheduled for 2020, finally this event can take place roughly one hour south of Kuching. Jagoi features a 50k main race that has attracted some very strong runners from the region. Hisashi Kitamura and Milton Amat, for example, are set to race each other in what could be a great teaser for the big Borneo TMBT 100 clash in three weeks from now. Yet, Jagoi is only half that distance, and seemingly more runable than TMBT with just 1250 hm. Kitamura may thus have an advantage on paper this weekend, but for both ATM stars it is likely to be just a psychological game this weekend. And when two dogs fight for one bone, a third may run away with it. WIlsen Singgin is also at the starting line on Sunday, and also Singapore-based Irishman Malachy Kirwan. For ultra distance specialist Singgin the Jagoi 50 might be a bit too short to assert himself, but for Kirwan this distance and elevation chart looks ideal. Coming from road running, Kirwan suffered a knock of the hammer at the BTR Challenge in Bali to finish fourth, but he will have learnt from that experience and might as well put his name firmly in trail runners’ minds this weekend.

Also the women’s 50k will be an interesting one to follow. Home runner Sally Yap is present, and so are Mailin Salungin, Siokhar Lim, Laslin Sarawi and Celeste Teo - to name a few.

ATM will be covering the race live from Sarawak on our usual channels, and also via our live tracking platform.

Home favourite Sally Yap, number 1 in ATM Malaysia Ranking, will be keen to deliver a good run this Sunday

We are happy to announce our first ever Candidate Race in Sarawak, the Malaysian state to the south of Sabah and Brunei on the island of Borneo. Jagoi Heritage Trail Run is an ambitious project to the benefit of the Bidayuh ethnic group and its 3rd edition is scheduled for 4 October 2020 in Balai Kampung Duyoh.

Organised by Grit Event Management, Jagoi Heritage Trail Run will feature three race distance categories of which the 50km is the main event. Those who prefer shorter can opt for the 20km and 6km races. This is an ancient rainforest trail, but still with elevation gain of nearly 1300 hm for the 50km. This elevation comes very much at the end of the race with the ascent of Bung or Mount Jagoi.

Jagoi Heritage Trail Run takes  place on the Bidayuh ancestral ground of Jagoi located in Bau and is 50km away from the state capital of Sarawak, Kuching. That is also the international gateway. The lead objective of the event is encouraging the local residents to embrace ecotourism as another source of income. Bidayuh is a collective name for several indigenous groups of people living in the southern part of Sarawak. The name “Bidayuh” means “people of the land”. They are the second most numerous group of Dayak tribe after the Iban, and they also have their own language (see YouTube clip below).

For more details on this 2021 ATM Candidate Race, please check the website and join the event’s facebook page.

Those runners with more time on their hands could explore the Jagoi Heritage Trail Run as final preparation for the Malaysian points race in ATM, Ultimate Trails of Penang, the following week.