The Magnificent Baling in northern Malaysia’s Kedah State has grown into one of the country largest trail running events in terms of participation numbers with over 4000 runners spread out over five distance categories. The flagship TMB 100, or 100km, is part of our Grandmaster Quest calendar for the second year in a row. Baling offers a runable course when dry - which it was all weekend this time around - giving newbies to long ultra trail running a great opportunity to finish a 100k race for the first time. However, the sting is in the tail, as the toughest part with one significant hill climb and a few more bumps come in the last 30km.

The male and female race winners finished just five minutes apart. Karim Ibrahim was too fast in the last climbing section for Ritzy Amor to take an overall victory in 13h30. Ibrahim scored a nice 4th place at Trail des Gombak last month also. Grandmaster Ritzy Amor is keeping a very busy race schedule, but nevertheless was 1h36 faster than her own best time in Baling last year (when she carried an injury, though). Muhammad Azamuddin Nurdin was second male in the finish in 13h47. Senee Seesen was third man on the podium a few minutes behind him. In second place in the women’s race was Grandmaster Siokhar Lim, last week still overall winner of Tampin Transnaning Ultra 100! Guan Shin Law completed the podium in third place.

It’s the high season for Malaysian trail runners now and in a few weeks there’s more chances for Grandmaster Quest chasers in Pahang Eco, and afterwards Borneo TMBT Ultra and Jagoi Ultra - all still this season.

Karim Ibrahim had to dig deep to catch Ritzy Amor again on the last hillclimb and win the race overall

Muhammad Azamuddin Nurdin took third overall not so far behind the top duo

Trail runners looking to score an extra Grandmaster point on their records had a great opportunity at Tampin Transnaning Ultra in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, last weekend. Meanwhile a traditional annual event, the event takes place on a renowned loop of 34 km with seven hill summits in it. Participants could choose between two or three loops to score a Grandmaster point, given the 2 loops, i.e. 68km, has more than 4500 hm of elevation gain - similar to e.g. Mantra 68 in Indonesia a few weeks ago. Tamping Transnaning Ultra thus caters for technically skilled mountain trail runners with a strong endurance basis.

It’s the kind of long ultra that Grandmaster Siokhar Lim truly enjoys and excels at. Once again, she proved that by finishing the 102km race as overall winner in a time of 28h01! She finished ahead of Golden Grandmaster Kenneth Mun Keat Yow (30h19), but he had another thing on his mind last weekend: becoming Legend! A few weeks after Philippines’ Mario Yap, the Malaysian trail runner has become the second runner overall to become an ATM Legend, the new milestone created and announced last January for those who have scored four Grandmaster stars. To become Legend, Golden Grandmasters are required to collect 500 points - i.e. 500 kilometers - in at least five different countries. For Kenneth, finishing Transnaning 102km meant ‘mission accomplished’ (more in separate news announcement).

Interestingly, also third place overall on the 102km went to a female runner: Cheng Yutong finished the tough race just a few minutes behind Kenneth Mun Keat Yow. Amongst the runners who completed three loops was also 2-star Grandmaster David Khoo.

On the 68km or 2-loop race, we saw an outstanding competitive performance by Adam Danial, a new name on the ATM circuit. Danial managed to finish in an amazing time of 12h28, which was 3h30 quicker than second-place Henry Joe Cottilon from Philippines, who everyone knows is a solid competitor himself. Low Keng Sin took third on the podium, finishing slightly ahead of female race winner Ang Yee Mei in 16h23. 2-star Grandmaster Beng Siong Lee was next in 16h33. Siow Yen Wong and Chee Lai Lim were second and third female in the 68km race. A number of other Grandmasters fulfilled the challenge, such as Jyh Horng Lim, Swee Boon Lee and Yuen Loong Ho.

It’s trail running’s high season in Malaysia right now and already next weekend there’s another event on the Grandmaster Quest calendar: the Magnificent Baling in Kedah towards the north of peninsular Malaysia. An event that has grown to become one of the best attended trail events in the country.

Siokhar Lim - fastest overall on the 102km! Photo credit: II Image

2-star Grandmaster David Khoo and Golden Grandmaster Kenneth Mun Keat Yow, now ATM Legend! Photo credit: II Image

Tampin Transnaning Ultra, brought to you by Himalaya Sports, has moved two months forward on the trail calendar and is taking place again this weekend. It’s one of the toughest trail challenges in peninsular Malaysia. A race over several loops through the heart of Transnaning, featuring seven peaks in 34 km. Start and finish of the event is at the Tampin Water Park in Negeri Sembilan. Finishers can score a Grandmaster Quest point if they finish the Ultra race of 68km (4800 hm!) or the Challenger race of 102km (7200hm)

On the start list several known runners and Grandmasters seeking to add another point to their records. Including Golden Grandmaster Kenneth Mun Keat Yow, who is already on the Trail to Immortality. Also 2-star Grandmasters David Khoo and Siokhar Lim - long time no see - are expected to run the challenger course of just over 100km. 2-star Grandmaster Beng Siong Lee and Ang Yee Mei are familiar names on the 68km Ultra start list.

The official website of Tampin Transnaning Ultra describes the route very well: “ Starting from Tampin Water Park, runners begin by taking on the outer segments of the Trans Naning route. This opening section serves as the warm-up, but make no mistake, it is no easy start. Over the first 14km, runners will face more than 600m of elevation gain, with rolling hills on tarmac and forest access roads through the rural foothills. Along the way, runners will pass Kolam Marine A.R.M and the rustic Malaysian kampung landscape before reaching Gunung Datuk Foothill where the real adventure begins. From there, the next 20km reveals the true heart of Trans Naning: a rugged traverse along the southern spine of the Titiwangsa Range, summiting all seven (7) iconic peaks:

• Gunung Datuk

• Gunung Rembau

• Gunung Gagak

• Puncak 701

• Puncak 705

• Gunung Tampin Utara

• Gunung Tampin Selatan

Tamping Transnaning Ultra could become an ATM Championship Qualifier in the near future. It will therefore again be interesting to see how the race unfolds this weekend.

Kenneth Mun Keat Yow is on the Trail to Immortality

David Khoo is a 2-star Grandmaster

2-star Grandmaster Siokhar LIm

2-star Grandmaster Beng Siong Lee is aiming for the 68km this weekend

This weekend the focus is on Malaysia with two serious events taking place on both sides of the large country. In peninsular Malaysia, trail runners can score a Grandmaster point at Tampin Transnaning Ultra (see separate preview), while in Sabah, East Malaysia, there’s points up for grabs at KAR Ultra for both the ATM Championship points ranking and the Grandmaster Quest. It’s a 10-year-anniversary for KAR Ultra and the organisers are celebrating this milestone with a redesigned race programme featuring 100 Miles and 80 km categories. After the Borneo Miler in 2023, it will be the second time a ‘miler’ is held in Sabah.

The longest ultra already starts on Friday mid-afternoon and that is for a reason, of course. Running 100 Miles in the tropical conditions of Sabah is a tough matter. Cut-off times are moderate, however, and that has attracted a very large starting field. Lots of hope amongst many, in other words. When we look at the start list, two names pop out as obvious favourites for the race win: the inevitable Wilsen Singgin and the new, younger, Sabahan trail star Oswald Maikol. The latter still did an ultra race last week so we need to see if he has recovered enough. Singgin is no stranger to milers and even mega distances of over 200km. In the last couple of years, he has been focusing a bit more on the 50k races and developing his running speed, however. Last year’s KAR 110 race winner Azmil Saripudin could be the duo’s leading challenger. Nor Mansor Bin Muhammad Saleh and Feliks Aten are going well the past few months and Jainuddin Sainuddin had a great season 10 in ATM, both could be seen as a podium contenders, too, amongst several other experienced 100 miles runners. Haziq Asyraf is another dark horse in the race.

In the women’s race there’s no Rejlen James (maternity leave), which gives opportunities to established long ultra runners such as Celeste Teo, Jamilah Durat and Manila’s Ann Jilian Pulanco to score a win or at least a podium. And what about youngster Shamiera Auther on her 100 miles debut?

The 80km race category is serious in its own right. Willy Wilson Jafry could be the man to beat in this distance. Lots of people on the start list and we are bound to discover new local talent. Also the women’s competition seems very open with no clear favourite for victory.

ATM will be reporting live from KAR Ultra all weekend.

Wilsen Singgin: logical favourite for the 100 Miles win this weekend

Oswald Maikol: on the start list of the 100 Miles

Grandmaster Celeste Teo from Sarawak: one of the favourites to win the KAR 100 Miles

Ann Jilian Pulanco: lover of mega ultras

The 5th edition of Trail des Gombak in Selangor, Malaysia, not only featured a new race venue at the MPS Stadium, but also a completely redesigned trail route. That new course turned out to be a lot tougher than the previous one, to the surprise of many repeat participants. The heavy thunderstorm the afternoon before the 2am start and another one on Saturday afternoon made sure the technicality of some jungle sections skyrocketed to the extent that sliding your way down the slopes on all fours was the only way to go. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but at the same the beloved kind of trail experience for others. Ritzy Amor loved it and was therefore an undisturbed repeat winner of the Gombak 50k race. The KL-based Filipino, who finished 6th in the latest ATM Championship Final at the 9 Dragons in Hong Kong, shows no signs of overtraining as she continues to combine long distance running with other sports activities. In the lead from start to finish on Saturday, and finishing 10th overall in 8h23. Japan’s Akane Nemoto had to settle for second just like last year, and that was also the maximum she could hope for. Nemoto actually had a solid performance herself, given she also gave other runners such as Ryehana Rajap (2nd in BUTM 50 in April) , Chong Mei Tze and Siao Ai Lim no chance to challenge her for second place.

The men’s 50km - actually 47km - also delivered a clear winner in Kristjan Chapman, from Iceland but living in Kuala Lumpur, too. Having learnt from his dehydration at UTSG, where he lost a podium in the last 10km of the race, Chapman did not get over-excited when China’s Wang Xiang took off like a bullet in the early road section of the race before they hit the first uphill climb. Chapman then reeled him in quite quickly on the technical and muddy parts, closely followed by strong Indonesian Fahmil Mamel, who made his international debut at TDG. malaysian runners Syahmim Nazmy and Amuniddin Musa kept themselves within range for a long time, but never caught the two front runners in the end. Chapman, knowing the second part of the course very well, extended the gap to Mamel for his first win in ATM in a time of 6h38. Mamel, from North Sumatra, scored second in7h02. Nazmy third in 7h26. Behind Musa in fourth, it was good to see Amir Zaki again in fifth. Zaki is returning to competitive trail running after a 2-year break.

The 100km race, actually 95km, consisted of two loops of the 47km route. A genuine challenge that saw most of the +100 participants DNF, eventually. Up front, it was Amierul Amin, who led more or less from start to finish. The Malaysian runner was never really comfortable, however, as Indonesian Ma’Mun Khariri, a former Mantra 116 winner, and new name Feliks Aten from Sabah kept the gap smallish until the last couple of hours. Amin finishing time of 17h31 indicates what a tough course Gombak has become. Amin was an ATM Finalist in 2023, but this was his first ever race victory in our series.

Amazingly, Ma’Mun Khariri still got much closer to Amin. He finished only 10 minutes later, after cutting his deficit in half during the last 7km of the race. Nice detail: Khariri just got released from 6 days hospital a week ago following a poisonous snake bite… It’s his second great race result in an ATM Qualifier this season, so his chances for championship qualification are high, indeed. Feliks Aten took third place. He was in the mix for podium throughout and only had to drop his pace towards the end of the race. His podium spot is well-deserved. Ibrahim Karim still put pressure on Aten’s podium spot as he crossed the line just a few minutes later. Amir Saipol Bahri was fifth.

The women’s 100 km saw Grandmaster Celeste Teo and Ang Yee Mei running together the whole day. They jointly returned to the stadium in 24h41. For Ang Yee Mei it was the second podium in a row, she also came second in BTR Ultra in Bali last month. In third place was Vietnam’s Nguyen Ngoc Phuong in 29h12. In her come back from injury, Japanese runner Tamae Harada claimed fourth place ahead of Chan Chin Chin.

The next ATM Championship Qualifier in Malaysia is KAR Ultra in Sabah at the end of next month. The next event of Projek Hijo is Trail des Lenggeng at the end of November, a new entry on our Grandmaster Quest calendar.

Season XI of the Asia Trail Master Championship continues this weekend in peninsular Malaysia with Trail des Gombak. Organised by the team of Projek Hijo, ’TDG’ takes place in Selangor near the Batu Caves tourist attraction close to Kuala Lumpur and is a championship qualifier event for the second consecutive season. Both the 100km and 50km races matter for those seeking points. Grandmaster Quest runners can of course also score a point by finishing the 100. 

The routes have been redesigned for this edition and also the event venue has switched to the bigger Stadium Selayang. Participants are looking at a nighttime start with the 100 scheduled to be flagged off at 2 am and the 50km at 4 am. 

The start lists look very decent in both quantity and quality. Yet, the Aonijie Gombak 100 race also has no outspoken race favourites in both male and female categories. As in the Penang Sky Race two months ago, a chance for one of many to grab a prestigious victory. Amierul Amin should be close to victory, he was an ATM Finalist for Malaysia in 2023 and has only become stronger on the long ultra since. It’s his first race under ATM in quite a while, though. Aqmal Adzmi is always a contender, and so are Lee Minxiang, Assrul Aminur, Tuan Haffandi Tuan Ismail and Indonesia’s Ma’Mun Khariri, a previous winner at Mantra 116. It’s not often the new generation of Indonesia’s ‘elite’ runners travel abroad, so it’s in any case already good to see his name on the start list. 

Female contenders on the 100k include Ang Yee Mei, who was second in BTR Ultra in Bali last month already. She will be up against Celeste Teo from Sarawak, always good for at least a podium, Norlela Ismail, Japan’s Tamae Harada and why not Faherina Mohd Esa, also known as Ryna. Perhaps more an ultra cyclist than ultra runner these days, but the stamina is certainly still there. 

On the 50km, we can expect a nice battle for victory between the likes of Mohamad Syahmim Nazmy, Kristjan Chapman, Amir Zaki and Indonesians Slamet Riyadi and Fahmil Mamel. Also Hong Kongers Luis Gonzales and Jeremy Ritcey will be in the mix for podium.

The 50km for women can see a repeat of last year’s race with Ritzy Amor back in it against Japan’s Akane Nemoto. Both also just ran UTSG in Singapore a fortnight ago, but with different fortunes. Amor easily won the 80km, while Nemoto broke down in the final 15km of her 60km race that she was leading. Other contenders will be Chong Mei Tze, Siao Ai Lim, Lynil Martinez, Halimatun Sa’adiah and last but not least the surprising newcomer on the competitive scene in Malaysia, Ryehana Rajap. A young runner who came second in BUTM in April, ahead of some well-established competition runners.

ATM will be reporting live from Trail des Gombak from the start to the finish on Saturday via our usual channels. If you are on a laptop, we have an aggregate feed here: https://www.asiatrailmaster.com/atm-live/livefeed compiling everything from facebook, instagram, youtube and X plus background information.

Muhammad Faris won the men’s 50k last year in impressive style

Ritzy Amor took her first ATM race victory at Gombak 50k last year, ahead of e.g. Akane Nemoto

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.

Meanwhile a traditional event in the ATM series, Silabur Ultra Trail in Sarawak, Malaysia, featured on our Grandmaster Quest calendar last weekend. The 100 km race attracted a lot of runners from several countries, many with the objective of scoring another Grandmaster point. A large group of 30 runners from Davao in Mindanao, Philippines, even made the trip over to Borneo Island. Quite a few chose Silabur as their mandatory international event, necessary to complete each level of the Grandmaster Quest. And a few also became an official ATM Grandmaster, as separate announcements show on our socials.

The 100 km race in itself saw two runners reaching the finish line together as ‘winners’: Azmil Saripudin and Azman Salama did the course in a time of 14h29. Silabur is not known for its elevation, but the heat of day is slowing a lot of people down. The passage through the famous cave complex always comes as a welcome and cooling relief. I Hsaing Huang was third on the podium just five minutes later.

Joyce Yong Hie Ying was quickest woman last weekend in a time of 18h32. Eight minutes faster than Ana Fe Gamo. Noor Hafizah Zubaidi took third spot on the podium.

Silabur Ultra Trail is starting a rotation scheme with Jagoi Ultra by the same organiser, Alpha Sports Events, for a place on the ATM Championship calendar. This season, it’s Jagoi Ultra 70 early September that also gives runners a chance to score ATM Championship points alongside a Grandmaster Quest point. In fact, Jagoi will be the last championship qualifier in Malaysia this season before the Final in Vietnam on 3 October.

Merapoh Rainforest Trail in Pahang, Malaysia, is a new entry on the ATM Grandmaster Quest calendar this season and took place last weekend. The popular event is the follow-up of TMMT, which was an annual ATM Championship Qualifier from 2016 to 2019. Since then, the event has introduced a 100 Miles category and attracted a considerable number of participants: 140. Amazingly, 80 of these also managed to complete the course. Admittedly, the 42h cut-off time is generous, but still. At the front, we saw a great competitive performance by Mohd Fazlie Bin Rosli, winning the men’s race in 22h12’13”. He was three hours faster than Muhammad Adil Adham Bin Khairul Fata. In third place overall was the winning lady: Ritzy Amor. The Kuala Lumpur-based multisport athlete, 7th in the recent ATM Championship Final, ran her first ever official 100 miles trail, but is no stranger to mega distances. She finished Merapoh in 25h58. China’s Liang Jun was fourth in the finish as third male on the podium. He was followed by the next two women, indicating a strong female field: India’s Ashwini Bhat completed the first level of her Grandmaster Quest and finished in second place in the race in a time of 28h33. Ashwini is the first ever female Grandmaster from India. Behind her and third female on the podium was China’s Hu Xiaoqin.

The event also featured a 100km on the programme, obviously also a valid distance for the Grandmaster Quest. Fastest male runner was Adam Danial Bin Zailani in 12h19. He was about 20 minutes ahead of Assrul Aminur and 56 ahead of Mohamad Aiman Haikal Bin Mohd Zani.

The women’s 100km was a very close competition between four runners! In the end, Kar Lyn Tan won the battle in 16h55, just half a minute ahead of Aliah Ismail. In third place, Zoey Wong Yin Hong from Singapore - only five minutes behind the winner, together with her compatriot Stephanie Lim.

Photo: Merapoh Rainforest Trail FB

The competition at Penang Sky Race in Malaysia last weekend was expected to be open with a rather prestigious race win up for grabs for many competitive-minded runners. With ‘veteran’ Andy Lee and Singapore’s relative newcomer Zoe Tan Xinyi we had two runners who indeed took the opportunity with both hands.

Andy Lee has been around the scene for many years and it is great to see him on the top step of an ATM Qualifier race. He finished the race, again in very hot conditions, in 6h18. That was just four minutes ahead of the surprising and late-charging Anjeluis Palja in second place. In third on the podium we found Mustaffa Mohd Khairul Anuar. A trio of European passport holders took the next spots, with North Macedonian Antonio Karanfilofski, Spain’s Jorge Vilanova and Penang-resident and well-known Alex Tilley.

The women’s race saw the emergence of a new SIngaporean runner. Zoe Tan Xinyi turned out to be too strong for the rest of the field, of which new Grandmaster Avegail Depanay was second-fastest. Zoe Tan finished in 7h29, Depanay in 7h55. The third spot on the podium went to Canada’s Jennifer Lee.

The next Malaysian ATM Championship Qualifer is Trail des Gombak in Selangor, close to KL, in June.

Top 6:

1. Andy Lee (MAS) 6h18

2. Anjeluis Palja (MAS) 6h22

3. Mustaffa Mohd Khairul Anuar (MAS) 6h30

4. Antonio Karanfilofski (MKD) 6h42

5. Jorge Vilanova (ESP) 6h48

6. Alex Tilley (GBR) 6h48

Top 5 Women:

1. Zoe Tan Xinyi (SGP) 7h29

2. Avegail Depanay (PHI) 7h55

3. Jennifer Lee (CAN) 8h30

4. Cheng Yutong (SGP) 8h38

5. Krystal Khaw (MAS) 8h48

Season XI of the Asia Trail Master Championship continues this weekend with the Penang Sky Race in Malaysia. One of the absolute highlights of the season last year, we are again looking forward to a great battle on the steep and tough hills around Penang’s capital city Georgetown. Perhaps without the absolute top elites like Hau Ha and Priya Rai this time and without some of the country’s own stars like the Sabahans who just did BUTM, the event may instead put the spotlights on runners who seize the opportunity.

In the men’s 50km we look out for the performances of Wont Kudin from Sabah, Tuan Hafandi Tuan Ismail, Spain’s Jorge Vilanova, Jack Oh, Abdul Rahman and Singapore’s Dias Cao, but most arguably Alex Tilley will get top votes for a potential race win. Tilley is a Penang resident and ran the race also last year.

In the women’s race, let’s watch out for Canada’s Jennifer Lee, Philippines’ Avegail Depanay - who just became Grandmaster - and Golden Grandmaster Yvette Chong Mi Chin.

ATM will be reporting live from Penang Sky Race 50 as of 3 am on Saturday.

Even for Sabahan standards, the 10th anniversary edition of Borneo Ultra Trail Marathon was extremely hot. However, it did not stop many runners from producing remarkable performances around Kiulu, roughly one hour away from Kota Kinabalu. On the 55k local hero Wilsen Singgin and Japan’s Chisato Kario proved their pre-race favourite status was legit, while on the 105k another Japanese runner - Hiroyuki Matsuda - and Singapore-based Filipino Mia Revilla took top honours.

Blue sky most of the day and no rainfall whatsoever was a big contrast with last year’s edition of BUTM. Trails were dry and therefore favoured those with high running pace. Hiroyuki Matsuda, based in Indonesia, felt like a fish in the water, apparently. Immediately taking the bull by the horns, he quickly took the lead of the 105km runners and was even mingling with the front pack of the 55k participants, who all started together at sunrise (over 650 in total). Matsuda already collected 750 ATM Championship points this season, courtesy of two solid fifth places in Tahura Trail and 9 Dragons, but for him to immediately put pressure on the likes of local hero Milton Amat, Willy Wilson, Andrew Farmers and Bernardo Linus was quite surprising. Initial fears that he would blow up beyond halfway turned out to be unjustified: nobody ever saw him again and he finished in a strong time of 14h23. Milton Amat placed his foot wrong just before halfway distance, resulting in a torn shoe and a bleeding foot. Wisely, he decided not to continue for another 50k and DNFd. An unfortunate experience for Milton, who often struggles to get enough races in to qualify for the ATM Championship Final. Luckily for him, there’s still several qualifier races in Malaysia in the next months. In the end, it was Bernardo Linus - also from Sabah - who grabbed a strong second place - his best ever race result in a long ultra. Linus has worked hard to reach this level of performance on a 100k distance and he was obviously delighted. Willy Wilson also continued to develop as a regular podium contender with third place, just a few minutes later.

In the women’s 105km, Adelinah Lintanga finally wanted to add a BUTM victory to her record. Contrary to in many other races, she pressed the speed button from the get-go and reached the first checkpoint after 12km in the leading position. Mia Revilla - originally from Davao but already living in Singapore for 12 years - was a few minutes behind. On the way to the next CP, Revilla caught up with Lintanga and pressed forward. The latter initially resisted, but by km 70 started to struggle with stomach cramps that eventually even led her to an uncharacteristic DNF. Revilla seemed to have the win in the bag, but also for her it was tough going in the end. She finished in 21h05, 49 minutes ahead of a strong Joyce Yong Hie Jing, and Harlin Richard in third, not so much ahead of Silver Grandmaster Ellen Yin Kwan Cheng from Hong Kong.

Using his vast experience accumulated the last eight years, Wilsen Singgin joined a number of other contenders early on and then pushed the throttle on the most critical uphill section halfway into the race. Nobody had an answer, but a few were certainly not giving up easily. Sheron Sariman was only a few minutes behind at the 42km mark, and he was quickly followed by Unai Garmendia - on holiday in Malaysia coming from the Basque Country in Northwestern Spain. In the descent to the checkpoint, Garmendia suffered quite a tumble, but he escaped unhurt. Christantine Mattan and David Roipin were also not too far back. 2023 Borneo Miler winner Amir Zaki, on his comeback to the racing scene, did very well and would eventually finish 8th. In the last 13km, Singgin extended his advantage to the rest and reached the finish in a good time of 6h20. Unai Garmendia came in 18 minutes later and Sheron Sariman third in 6h51.

Japan’s Chisato Kario is quickly making a name for herself in Southeast Asia. Winner of the Mount Ugo Marathon in Philippines last year (ahead of Angelie Cabalo) and of UTSG in Singapore, Kario finished 5th in the Season 10 Championship Final at the 9 Dragons. But last Saturday, she looked much more at ease with the trails in Sabah than in Hong Kong. Running together with some of the top guys, she was unthreatened for victory and finished seventh overall in 7h55. Behind her, it was quite a toss up between several proven competitors and new name Ryehana Rajap, also Sabahan. While Halimatun Sa’adiah - returning to ATM after a long break - , former BUTM winner Shamiera Auther and Lolita Lintanga were expected to take the first runner-up positions behind Kario, it was instead Rajap who emerged second in the finish in 9h13. Sa’adiah completed the podium in third, ahead of Lintanga and Auther.

The next Malaysian ATM Championship qualifier is Penang Sky Race 50km on 25 April. Grandmaster Quest chasers can focus on Merapoh Trail, returning to the ATM calendar, one week later.