For about a third of the 100km race at MMTF, Hisashi Kitamura looked like he was going to genuinely challenge Daved Simpat again after receiving quite a beating by the good old Sabahan at TMBT two months ago. But as they hit the more technical sections, once more Simpat was the stronger one and steadily opened up a gap. Kitamura had to let go, and still had to fight with the surprising Chinese runner Bai Xingzhi for second place. Simpat won MMTF for the second time in his career after 2018. He is clearly back at his best level. Bai Xingzhi outsprinted Kitamura for second place some 45 minutes later. The Japanese runner was nevertheless quite satisified as the gap was much smaller compared to TMBT and his biggest objective is coming up in one month. Another Chinese runner from the Zenone Poles Team, Wang Gang, took fourth ahead of Aqmal Adzmi, who showed once more how much he enjoys MMTF.

The women’s long distance race was dominated by Fu Huarong from China. She ran away from her competitors early on and never slowed down to finish sixth overall! Best of the rest was Malaysia’s ultra specialist Siokhar Lim, who was way ahead of her compatriots, such as Celeste Teo and Rejlen James, who suffered a clear off-day. Hong Kong’s Pui Hung Chan was a great third on the podium. Guan Shin Law was a solid sixth, showing her competitive improvement once more.

On the 50km distance, leader from start to finish despite great pressure from his two main rivals: John Ray Onifa. He stays unbeaten in six ATM races and can look towards the Championship Final with the highest ambitions! Kristian Joergensen was pushing Onifa all race but paid a little price himself at the end, also due to a nutritional oversight. Milton Amat finished the strongest of the three and caught Joergensen for second place just 3’38” behind Onifa! Wilsen Singgin is fourth 39 minutes later - great run by him! Aman Mehla from India was fifth, just a minute behind Wilsen. Great new name on the ATM scene: Aman Mehla.

Aurore Dacier was the fastest woman on the 50km. Based in Singapore, the French runner won by half an hour over Nepal's Rashila Tamang with Korea's Boyoung Jan an impressive third - just a week after scoring third in Ulju Trail 5 Peaks. Chhoki Sherpa took fourth place, which means both the Nepalese who also ran Koboi Malaya earlier in the season are qualified for the ATM Championship Final. The same of course for Boyoung Jan.

China’s Fu Huarong - dominant winner in the women’s 100km

MMTF in Taiping is on this weekend and the event has already confirmed its recently achieved status as the biggest Malaysian trail running event alongside Borneo TMBT Ultra. Close to 3000 runners will be taking part across the various race categories, of which the 100km and 50km require our utmost attention. A wealth of Asian trail talent on the start lists, in particular of the 50km with an expected clash between John Ray Onifa - unbeaten in five ATM races this season -, Kristian Joergensen - unbeaten at MMTF -, and Milton Amat - Malaysia’s current most competitive runner and vice-ATM champion 2022.

And if those three top stars somehow suffer a bad day, there’s a long list of others who will very quickly pick up the spoils: Amir Zaki, Wilsen Singgin, Chris Timms, Sapirin and Safrey Sumping, Yakov Kozlov, Jeffery Budin and so on! This is undoubtedly the most competitive 50k of the current ATM season and just one month before the ATM Championship conclusion in Indonesia. Whoever wins will get a major mental boost. Onifa and Joergensen actually just went head-to-head at VMM 50k in September. The Philippines-based Dane attacked halfway through the race, but Onifa managed to come back and win by just a couple of minutes. Last year in Taiping, Onifa ran a superb 50k race, but so did Joergensen twice already in 2019 and 2022 on the 100k. This is the dual at MMTF that betting companies can make money of. And Milton Amat, who has had a more quiet Asian season this year, might just as well profit from the other two’s healthy rivalry. Ever since the end of covid, Amat has proven several times that his pure running pace has increased significantly compared to 2018-2019. All three are also not afraid of heavy rain with its mud thumping and trail surfing. Rain and MMTF, remember, go hand-in-hand.

Taiping is the wettest city in Malaysia and this was underlined again in the build-up towards this weekend’s event. Runners should expect rain, but an extreme situation like last year whereby the 100k had to be stopped seems unlikely.

That 100k will also be very exciting, featuring the rematch between this year’s TMBT winner Daved Simpat and Hisashi Kitamura. Simpat surprised many by easily outrunning the now Tokyo-based Karate Kit last September. The Sabahan is also a former winner of MMTF, in 2018 - the first edition. An uphill task for Kitamura, for whom a wet race is normally not to his advantage either. His biggest season’s goal comes next month at the ATM Final , so in any case we should see a glimpse of the dominant Kitamura from early to mid last year. As on the 50km, there’s plenty of other men with podium ambitions, or more. Another Japanese UGLOW runner, Yuta Matsuyama is a double race winner of Ultra Trail Chiang Mai 100. That race’s nickname is “kiss the rain” , so Matsuyama for sure won’t be intimidated by the excepted trail conditions at MMTF. Nobuhito Kobu, Jin Heng Oh, Amierul Amin are other names to watch out for, and who knows the Chinese trio from Team Zenone Poles in Hangzhou causes an upset.

In the women’s 100km we can look forward to a first real meeting between new Sabah star Rejlen James, winner of the Borneo Ultra Triple (BUTM 100, Borneo Miler, TMBT 100) this season, and Siokhar Lim - widely considered the benchmark in Malaysia for the long and tough trails. James will be among the top favourites next month for the women’s ATM Championship title, based on her performances this season. A win over Siokhar Lim at MMTF would only emphasise that further. Kanna Suzuki from Japan and Fu Huarong may get involved in the race for victory, too. Other podium contenders are Celeste Teo - the only Malaysian woman already guaranteed of a spot on her country’s team for the ATM Final - Norlela Ismail, Halimatun Sa’adiah, Law Guan Shin and Qheiza Wiranda Edelwise. For the Malaysians like Ismail and Sa’adiah it will be important to finish as close to the podium as possible in order to have a chance for ATM Final qualification.

The same applies for Jess Lintanga, who threw herself back in the mix during the summer with two solid results, and in particular third place at TMBT 50. If the The Team Kolumpa ace can repeat that level of performance at MMTF 50, she could still leapfrog others and jump into the top 5 of the ATM ranking. There is some serious competition, however. The Nepalese duo of Rashila Tamang and Chhiok Sherpa are back in Malaysia after their great results in Koboi Malaya Classic back in May. That was a flat race, this one should suit the mountain girls even more. Izzah Hazirah, Chong Mei Tze and Siao Ai Lim may also have a few words to speak in the battle for podium, and so does Korea’s Boyoung Jan - who features on the start list despite having just scored third place in Ulju 5 Peaks last week.

A lot to look forward and we will be keeping you up-to-date on our usual ATM channels as Mark and Richard are in Taiping.

Last year Kristian Joergensen and Milton Amat finished together on the 100km. This weekend they both run the 50km.

Rashila Tamang won Koboi Malaya Classic last May

Chhiok Sherpa took third place in Koboi. The much hillier MMTF should suit her better

Wilsen Singgin needs a top result to get into Team Malaysia for the ATM Final

Jess Lintanga was 3rd in her home race TMBT and could get herself qualified for Team Malaysia

Jeffery Budin was 2nd in UTCR two weeks ago, which boosted his ATM ranking and qualification chances a lot.

What to expect from Kitamura at MMTF?

The Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping has quickly established itself as the leading trail running event in Malaysia alongside the older classic Borneo TMBT Ultra. Also in 2023, MMTF will be the final points race event in the Asia Trail Master Championship season on the weekend of 4/5 November. Competitive runners can score potentially vital points to qualify for the ATM Final on both the 100km and 50km race categories. Shorter distances and a Vertical Kilometre are also part of the overall event programme.

The Esplanade in Taiping will be the host venue once again for the start and finish of the races that run through wild and pristine rainforest around the city. Taiping is accessible via bus and/or train once you land in Kuala Lumpur or Penang. Accommodation options are plentiful, but bear in mind the events attract between 2000 and 3000 runners, so do do not leave your booking too late.

MMTF has 5300 hm of elevation gain for the 100km and nearly 3000 hm for the 50km. These figures may not appear excessive, but if the trails get wet - and it does rain a lot in Taiping - the races often turn out to be much tougher than one would think beforehand. Bukit Larut, aka Maxwell Hill, is kind of the main feature of the long distance race courses. 100k runners will climb it twice but from different sides.

Taiping now also has a Basecamp for trail runners and hikers, managed by MMTF Consultant in the person of Ewegene Tan, allowing people to come and train on the trails nearly throughout the year.

Registration for MMTF is already open. All details, as well as mandatory gear requirements and logistics, can be checked on the official website below.

Last season Kristian Joergensen (who won in 2019) and Milton Amat crossed the line together

This year’s finisher tee

There were quite a few Asian star runners at MMTF, but arguably John Ray Onifa was the one who stood out and impressed the most with his dominating performance in the 50k race. He was of course the top favourite, but to beat Daved Simpat by over 32 minutes, Arnie Macaneras by 1 hour and 10 minutes (!), Koi Grey by 1h 23 and Muhamad Affindi by 1h40 on essentially a 47 km course, was a true masterclass. It’s Onifa’s 4th career ATM race victory, scoring one every year since 2017. The Filipino runs mainly on the global stage, otherwise he would still be a serious contender for the Asia Trail Master Championship title.

Behind him, Simpat showed once more that 2022 has been a good year for him. The ‘original’ Sabahan trail star, now well in his forties, even earned his spot in Team Malaysia for the ATM Finals (to be confirmed once the MMTF 100k results are official). For Davao’s Macaneras, qualification for his country’s team is not yet guaranteed but 3rd was a great step in that direction. He is running this coming weekend’s Cordillera Mountain Ultra next to ensure his spot for the Finals in his home area. It was very nice to see Koi Grey back in action last weekend, and he did not miss his comeback. Fourth place and 12 minutes behind Macaneras is truly solid. Alessandro Sherpa also made his comeback in Asia, but reportedly just followed his training and preparation plan for the ATM Finals. Sherpa ran with fellow-T8 ambassador Ezster Csillag as they crossed the finish line behind Koi Grey. That shows you how fast Csillag is, of course. She is one of the three top favourites for the women’s ATM Championship title alongside Vanja Cnops and Hau Ha.

Kristian Joergensen and Milton Amat ruled on the 100km race category, which turned out to be ‘just’ 90 km in fact. While many were hoping to see a great battle between them for the prestigious race victory, they decided to cross the line together. The same happened almost two hours later with the very strong Aqmal Adzmi, who always does well at MMTF, and last year’s winner Wilsen Singgin. Singapore-based Chris Timms was next, just 12 minutes behind them. Remarkable performance by Timms. Milton Amat secured his spot on Team Malaysia, where he will be joined by Wilsen Singgin - who was already qualified before MMTF, just like Muhamad Affindi. For Adzmi, he will just come short on points as Daved Simpat, Amir Zaki and Beng Siong Lee also collected again in their fourth race of the season. Adzmi will be one of the reserves, however, in case one of the qualifiers cannot make it.

It has no major impact on the ATM rankings this time, but our regulations state that joint finishes will not be considered and a distinction must be made when awarding points. Because no clear distinction could be made at the last checkpoint of the race neither, Joergensen and Amat’s points will be rounded down to 450 (=2nd place) instead of 500 (winners), and the same applies for Adzmi and Singgin (400 points = 4th place, instead of 425 = 3rd place). The ATM Championship has had this rule for ‘joint finishes’ since the beginning (see ‘general notes’ on our ATM points system page).

The women’s 100k saw a surprising winner in Angelie Cabalo from the Philippines. Her country delivered a great string of results all weekend and it was obvious also in this race category with 4 Filipinos in the top 6, 3 in the top 4. Majo Liao returned to the ATM scene for the first time since many years and managed to stay just ahead of Malaysia’s Sally Yap for second place. The gap to Cabalo was 25 minutes. Cecille Wael was fourth, well ahead of last year’s winner Izzah Hazirah.

The MMTF races were stopped for safety reasons on late Saturday afternoon following a very heavy downpour. The big majority of 100k runners were still out on the course, and therefore only 7 women reached the finish line. Irish Glorioso and Thailand’s Siriporn Leumathong were the last ones. The MMTF race director decided the others will be marked as finishers. Official results are pending.

Ezster Csillag was unbeatable in the women’s 50k

No sprint to see who’s best: Kristian Joergensen and Milton Amat cross the finish together

Philippines’ Angelie Cabalo was the surprise winner of the women’s 100km

This weekend we have an unanticipated doubleheader in the Asia Trail Master Championship series. Malnad Ultra in Karnatika is the first points race event in India, and TNF Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping is arguably the most competitive 100k race and 50k race of the season so far. Originally scheduled for last weekend, MMTF had to postpone by one week due to Malaysia’s General Elections, which caused quite a stir in the community. While many people, such as global elite runner Pau Capell, could not change their travel plans so last-minute, plenty of others found a way to still be there this Saturday. For many competitive Asians, MMTF is seen as the second-to-last opportunity to score enough points to get into their national country team at the ATM Final in Philippines next month.

This may be the case for 2019 MMTF race winner Kristian Joergensen also. Joergensen has had a solid year on the global scene, and now added both MMTF and Cordillera Mountain Ultra to his programme in order to try and qualify for the Mount Apo Sky Race in Davao on 17 December. Joergensen would immediately be a top contender for the ATM title, too. Another expat, and former ATM Champion in 2018, Alessandro Sherpa, is also back in Asia and keen to get his name on the board this weekend. Sherpa has been running in Italy and Europe for two years, and it will be interesting to see how he fares back in the hot and humid conditions of Southeast Asia. As a former champion, Sherpa only needs to finish two ATM races to get qualified for the Final, and reportedly that race on Mt Apo is also the only thing on his mind - competitively speaking. At MMTF, Sherpa will run the 50k to get the machine rolling.

Joergensen will have some challengers to repeat his victory from meanwhile three years ago, a megaperformance that turned him into the top trail performer he is now known as. Not in the least from Sabah’s Milton Amat, arguably the one-to-beat in Malaysia’s ultras this year. Amat needs the MMTF race to secure his spot in Team Malaysia, ironically enough. He has run often, but only two ATM points races (BUTM and TMBT), which is leaving him vulnerable against the many other Malaysians who are battling to get inside the country’s top 5 in the ATM rankings - based on a ‘best-four-count’ system. Wilsen Singgin, Muhamad Affindi and Jeffery Budin have already secured their team spot. Amat will be competing with mainly Amir Zaki, Ben Siong Lee, Daved Simpat and Akmal Adzmi for the two remaining spots. Amir Zaki is in great shape these days, having just won Doi Nhok Trail in Thailand, and Akmal Adzmi has always run very well at MMTF. Nevertheless, if Milton Amat can duplicate his performance from, say TMBT, he will be safe and in fact a top favourite to win the ATM Championship, too. Mount Apo is the kind of technical mountain terrain that will suit pure mountain runners.

Two more serious victory contenders on the 100k this weekend come from the Philippines: Larry Apolinario and Arnie Macaneras. Also in the Philippines, it’s a tight fight to get inside the country’s Top 5. Current points leader and MUSPO 100 winner Apolinario seems safe, as long as he finishes the race this weekend. It will only be his second race outside his home country. His first was VMM 100k last September, where he ran together with Hau Ha and Gaetan Morizur until halfway his stomach let him down. He did well to keep going and finish the race, which gave him the additional ATM points to now be leading the ranking. Macaneras on the other hand finds himself on the back foot after a DNF in MUSPO 100. The Davao ace returned with a second place behind Hisashi Kitamura in The Punisher 80 in August, but those 450 points of just 1 race are currently insufficient and places him behind Sean Aying (also at MMTF), Yojong Sacayle, Angelito Vertudazo and Poy Brillantes. Macaneras is a brilliant performer on technical trails, though, and expect a strong challenge from him to win MMTF 100 and lift himself into Team Pilipinas for his home race on Mount Apo.

We mentioned Hisashi Kitamura just now, but unfortunately the Karate Kit will not be competing this weekend in either the 100k or 50k race. Kitamura got badly sick during VJM last month - covid - and has seen his training schedule completely gone up in smoke. Already qualified a while ago for Team Japan, he does not want to risk anything and try to recover in time to be at his best at the ATM Championship Final - his main goal this season from the beginning.

A serious dark horse is Indonesia’s Arief Wismoyono, the 2015 ATM Champion who this season returned to peak form and showed that with a highly impressive win at Mantra Summits Challenge. This is Wismoyono’s first international in a long time, and it will be interesting to see how he fares. Similar with Milton Amat, Wismoyono will be a serious contender on the Mount Apo course next month. Akmad Nizar is another talented Indonesian who can cause an upset this weekend.

Other podium contenders on the 100k this weekend will be Singapore’s Deric Lau, Japan’s Seiji Morofuji and Sabah’s Safrey Sumping.

Looking at the 50k race, double ATM race winner this year Muhamad Affindi will be up against Daved Simpat and John Ray Onifa - the latter probably the man-to-beat. Onifa does not run a lot of races under ATM, but when he does he either wins or is very close to winning. One of his Filipino countrymen, Koy Grey, will return to trail racing for the first time since covid and his excellent 2019 season, in which he was one of the greatest stars. Let’s also watch out for Frenchman Herve Huguenot, a revelation at Cameron Ultra. Another great run could potentially even push him into Team Asia Expat for the ATM Final.

In the women’s races we will especially be looking at the performance of Hong Kong-based Hungarian Ezster Csillag, who recently scored 4th in the World Championships and who has her eyes set on the ATM title next month. Csillag won Ultramarathon de Sai Kung in October and MMTF 50k will be her second ATM race of the season.

On the women’s 100km we will see the best of Malaysia competing in the same race. Sally Yap, Halimatun Saaidah and Norlela Ismail are already guaranteed of their ATM Final qualification, and at MMTF they will face stern competiton from the likes of Adelinah Lintanga -back from Nepal- and 2021 MMTF race winner Izzah Hazirah, and also some strong runners from Philippines and Singapore. Cecile Wael will be at the start, along with Majo Liao - back from a long absence on the ATM scene - Irish Glorioso and Janet Halcon. Vincere Zeng is Singapore’s female number one at the moment, following her victory at Cameron Ultra. Can she repeat that feat in Taiping? It will certainly be interesting to see how she fares this weekend, also with a view to Mount Apo, which should suit her mountain skills very well. Let’s also keep an eye out on Thailand’s Siriporn Leumathing, who was a podium placer at UTOP, too, just a good month ago.

Alessandro Sherpa returns to Asia and the ATM scene for the first time since winning the ATM Candidate in Vietnam in early February 2020

Milton Amat has been dominant in Malaysia in the last months. Can he challenge Joergensen and co this weekend as well?

Second international outing for Filipino coming-man Larry Apolinario this weekend

Akmal Adzmi has always gone well in Taiping. What can he do this time?

Sally Yap became the woman-to-beat in Malaysian ultras this season

Ezster Csillag came back to Asia with a bang a couple of months ago and targets the ATM title

Norlela Ismail proves that consistency can get you a long way in the ATM Championship series

Wilsen Singgin and Izzah Hazirah crowned themselves as the 2021 Malaysia Trail Master Champions in the winner-takes-all 84km long race at the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival (MMTF) in Taiping. The event was the first major mass participation trail event in the country in more than 20 months, and saw 1500 participants follow a strict safety protocol to finally be able to enjoy a proper trail running competition again.

While Izzah Hazirah ran solo in the lead for nearly the entire race, Wilsen Singgin had to deal with his fellow-Sabahan Daved Simpat. A winner of this race in 2018, Simpat wanted to reconnect with his old form after injury hampered him considerably in 2019. However, Simpat is no longer the youngest of elite runners and Singgin was ready to fight after his surge to the top of the ATM scene was interrupted by covid. Indeed, Singgin was the hottest newcomer two seasons ago and even a 230k race winner at Ultra Trail Chiang Rai in Thailand. As runners took off at 6 am, Simpat immediately set the pace and, as usual, was in no mood to wait for anyone. Singgin hung on, Hisashi KItamura tried but could not. The KL-based Japanese vice-Asia Trail Master champion in 2019 already said at RPC on Friday that all the covid-related uncertainties and lack of races meant he is not yet in peak form. Joining in the mix up front were Akmal Adzmi and Yusof Eskandar, and initially also 2017 ATM champion Steven Ong.

Coming down from Maxwell Hill, the toughest section of the race course, just over half way distance, Singgin decided to up the ante and dropped SImpat by a few minutes. It turned out to be the decisive gap, as Singgin built further on it on the ensuing second ascent. Simpat realised his younger adversary was too fast and let go. At the finish, the gap had grown to about 40 minutes. In fact, Simpat only had 5 minutes advantage left over Akmal Adzmi and Kitamura, the latter battling hard to get that third podium spot. However, all the good things that were said about Adzmi’s current form before the race turned out be hundred percent true. Adzmi held on by some 40 seconds and grabbed his first ATM race podium spot! Sazuziam Bin Zakaria completed the men’s top five.

Wilsen Singgin’s finishing time was 10:59:46, which is impressive. While slower than Kristian Joergensen, race dominator in 2019, it was 13 minutes faster than then-second placed Alessandro Sherpa. Admittedly, this year’s race course was almost 5 km shorter, but the conditions last weekend were much wetter.

In the women’s race, Adelinah Lintanga tried to catch up with Izzah Hazirah for a while and limited the damage, until it became clear it was to no avail. Lintanga remained strong to grab second place ahead of the surprising Celeste Teo. Ultra road specialist Chong Mei Tze took fourth and Lynn Law fifth.

It was Hazirah’s second victory at MMTF after 2018. Her finishing time was one hour faster than when she finished 4th in 2019… proving she has not been sitting around during the pandemic.

Watch our video footage of the MMTF event on our facebook and YouTube channels.

Izzah Hazirah and Wilsen Singgin win the 2021 Malaysia Trail Master Championship at MMTF in Taiping

Leechmania. Nearly everyone had to cope with those bloody suckers during the race, elite or non-elite

Hisashi Kitamura fought hard, but came just too late for a third place

Exciting up-and-comer: Akmal Adzmi was 11th in 2019, and secured 3rd place on the podium this time!

Tomorrow’s Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping in the State of Perak will be as usual very tough, but most runners will forget about the pain and the difficulty of climbing up-and-down the wet jungle trails of Maxwell Hill. Such is the joy today at race pack collection at the Esplanade that, finally, there is a real race on again! Event organiser Ewegene Tan has not had an easy time over the past months to make his prime trail event happen this weekend, with Malaysia having only recently relaxed covid-related restrictions. There’s a strict safety & mitigation protocol to follow for anyone involved in the event - runners, event staff, volunteers -, which causes extra pressure and stress, but what matters most now is: the race is on!

For most participants it will be a step in the dark, no matter what. Most of even the most experienced trail runners in Malaysia have not been in a competiton for nearly two years. Will the established guard complete the podium once again, or will we see the emergence of fresh, young and new talents?

MMTF ranks among the toughest races on the Asia Trail Master calendar. Its main race, the 84km - this year 80 km, in fact - is a serious test of physical and mental strength. The respectable elevation gain number of 4610 hm does not tell the whole story. It’s steep at times, it’s narrow, it’s wet, it’s pure rainforest. At the 2019 ATM Final here, most elites were completely drained at the finish. Hisashi Kitamura not in the least…

The first runner-up in the 2019 ATM Championship will be back on Saturday, but for him it is also a major question mark how good his current form is. In our pre-race chat (see our social media channels and upcoming live broadcast), Kitamura downplayed his chances of success and instead will focus on enjoying the trails after 22 months of no competition. The path to victory will lead passed some other Malayia-based trail stars such as 2018 MMTF race winner Daved Simpat and Wilsen Singgen, both from Sabah on Borneo island. An important race for Simpat, as that victory three years ago was the last time we saw him at his best. Injury plagued him in 2019, resulting in DNFs at Borneo TMBT Ultra and MMTF that year. Meanwhile no longer the youngest elite runner, the ever-friendly Simpat will certainly give it his best tomorrow to reclaim the top step of the podium. What can Wilsen Singgen do about that? Singgen was the up-and-coming Sabahan in 2019, after coming back from a serious dehydration episode at Moon 100 in Thailand, which left him hospitalised. Wilsen bounced back with a strong race win at the 230 km long Ultra Trail Chiang Rai, his first ever under the ATM umbrella. How has he coped with the corona pandemic? In any case, Wilsen Singgen was incredibly enthousiastic when he found out he could race again!

The top-ranked Sabahan in the ATM Championship two years ago, Milton Amat, will not be running tomorrow. But Steven Ong is. The 2017 ATM Champion has kept himself very busy with running around his country Malaysia. He must be in top shape endurance-wise, the question is: has his body recovered already enough to compete with the younger trail runners on Taiping’s technical terrain. Yet, when the body refuses, Steven Ong can always still rely on his tactical race brain, which brought him plenty of success in his championship-winning year in ATM.

Other podium candidates for the men’s race are expected to be Seiji Morofuji, Yuzof Ezkandar and Aqmal Adzmi. The latter, 11th in this race in 2019, is said to have improved significantly as a trail runner during the corona crisis..

The winner of the 80km race will also be celebrated as the 2021 Malaysia Trail Master champion.

The women’s race is equally open on paper. Izzah Hazirah might be considered the top favourite, given her 2018 win at MMTF, and her 4th place a year later. Hazirah loves tough mountain trails. In fact, the tougher the better and the higher her placing in the race results. The runner from Team Malatra might face strong competition from Penang Eco 100 miles winner Adelinah Lintanga. That miler was a break-through race win for Narna, and today - two and-a-half years later - she will be keen to add MMTF to her record. And then there’s Chong Mei Tze, arguably the fastest ultra runner on road in the list of female participants. On the technical trails, she has been on or around the podium for a couple of years, but an ATM race win has eluded her so far. HOKA ambassador Chong Mei Tze might also still be in a recovery phase after a long ultra two months ago. And yet, if she starts tomorrow’s 80k trail she must feel confident enough. Let’s also pay attention to Alyssa Ong, Lynn Law and Lynil Martinez as podium candidates.

ATM is on-site in Taiping and will be providing race coverage throughout the day. A livestream broadcast on our facebook and youtube channels is being planned for the afternoon and the arrival of the race winners.

ATM 2019 vice-champion Hisashi Kitamura downplays his chances for victory tomorrow after a long break

Chong Mei Tze has been a contender for some time in ATM races, time for a win?

Daved Simpat, winner of MMTF 2018. Can he return to that sort of form tomorrow?

2017 ATM Champion Steven Ong: always a force to be reckoned with. Did we mention his tactical brain?

Next week is the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival, for the first time in two years. For many runners it will be the first race after well over one-and-a-half years, and we are looking forward to seeing everyone again! The 2021 edition of MMTF obviously still comes with strict covid-19-related protocols, but at least we will have that feeling again of toeing a start line with hundreds of likeminded runners and adventurers. Participants are requested to read-up on the protocol before traveling to Taiping to avoid unpleasant surprises. Please check the MMTF event channels for the latest information.

Meanwhile, why don’t we take a look back at the documentary video produced after the 2019 event. It was a brilliant apotheosis of the Asia Trail Master Championship season. John Ellis and Veronika Vadovicova crowned themselves as ATM Champions, while Kristian Joergensen won the race in convincing style. After that performance, one wondered who was going to beat Joergensen in ATM 2020… but alas, we will never know.

MMTF is the last race of the year on our calendar. The male and female winners will be heralded as the Malaysia Trail Master champions of 2021. It’s a winner-takes-all race.

Good news coming from Malaysia in the past few days. Covid-related restrictions are being eased in a number of sectors and places, and the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival, aka MMTF, has received an official go-ahead signal for the event to take place on its original date of 17 to 19 December. The event team in Taiping has obtained the respective support and approvals from all parties concerned, most notably from Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia (KBS).

Following the big success of the 2019 edition, MMTF was once again chosen to be the Asia Trail Master Championship Final for the 2020/21 season. Unfortunately, the global corona pandemic has thrown a spanner in the works and, as announced in September, the Championship was declared suspended after none of the points races had been able to take place in the course of this year. This coming December, MMTF is also still likely to be run by Malaysia residents-only.

Still, it’s great news that - along with Batur Trail Challenge in Indonesia and Ultra Trail Panoramic in Thailand - we seem set to conclude this most difficult of years for the mass participation industry with a number of ‘real’ races.

To add extra flavour, it has been agreed that the 84 km longest race on the MMTF programme will be presented as the Malaysia Trail Master Championship. A winner-takes-all race, for the first time in the history of ATM, to stimulate the Malaysian elites after two years of quasi inactivity. Both male and female race winners will claim the title of ‘2021 Malaysia Trail Master’ and earn the right to free registration to any ATM points race in next year’s 2022 Championship series. The entire top 3 on the podium will receive prizes.

All runners on the ATM Grandmaster Quest will of course also collect a point for finishing the 84 km race. As previously announced, points scored in 2019 and 2020 remain valid due to the special circumstances. However, it is necessary to register your Grandmaster ambitions via our simple online form, if you have not already done so.

Expect more news coming towards you regarding MMTF in the next days. All registrants for the event must be aware of the strict application of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that the event team will be pushing forward and apply from this day, which is in support and in line with National Security Council (MKN) and Ministry of Health Malaysia (KKM) guidelines and initiatives. The covid pandemic is not over, and we can all assist in convincing our decision-makers that events can happen again in a safe manner.

Kristian Joergensen was the dominating winner of the 2019 men’s race at MMTF

Two years ago, Veronika Vadovicova sealed her ATM Championship winning season with her strongest performance until then

[MEDIA RELEASE] We are delighted to announce that the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival, better known as MMTF, will again host the Asia Trail Master Championship Final event from 17 to 19 December 2021. The main title race is scheduled for Saturday. Set in and around the city of Taiping in the State of Perak, MMTF delivered a stunning conclusion to last year’s championship series with its very tough but beautiful race course and an event arena that fostered camaraderie and unity among the couple of thousands of runners who took part over the weekend.

“Exactly a year ago, MMTF was sheer promotion for the sport of trail running in Asia, and for the city of Taiping. We are indeed thrilled to return next season for what will undoubtedly be another exciting conclusion to our competitive championship series. Runners and fans can expect a lot of add-ons and other innovations in the build-up to the event.,” says Kris Van de Velde, founder and general manager of Asia Trail Master.

Benefitting from participants’ feedback from last year, the main race course will see a number of modifications but the total distance is expected to remain between 80 and 85 km. Less ambitious runners will as always be able to opt for one of the several shorter distance categories on the programme of the event.

"We are excited and happy to be given the trust to host ‘ATM Season Finale’ for a 2nd time in 2021 after coming out on top against 3 other established races who were bidding for the job,” says Ewegene Tan, founder and event director of MMTF.

“Its been an uncertain and challenging year for everyone in 2020 which also resulted in the ATM Championship for 2020/2021 being merged into 1. In lieu of that, we hope to provide everyone with an unforgettable year-end trail party experience in 2021. There will be more competition, more fellowship, more music and more food, indeed, as the race will continue to take runners into the ‘Virgin Jungle Reserves’ (VJR) around the city. Besides that, plans are being made to start the race in the heart of Taiping town in the highly renowned Taiping Lake Garden famous for its pristine lush greeneries, which include more than a century old raintrees and pre-war man-made lakes. Hence, runners can certainly expect a ‘grandeur’ Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in 2021 befitting of an ‘ATM Season Finale’. "

Further details will come out after new year.

In response to the covid 19 pandemic and the subsequent wave of event cancellations throughout Asia, Asia Trail Master already announced in August that the 2020 Championship is being merged with next year’s 2021 Championship series.

Start your journey to MMTF 2021 with the Virtual edition as of 16 December

You can start your journey to the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival 2021 by registering for MMTF - VIRTUAL EDITION @ RESET AND CHALLENGE THE NEW NORMAL. MMTF is using the project to help everyone reset and challenge the new normal with the hope it will help everyone to look towards the future with more positiveness. Besides, part of the registration collected will be channeled to support the community surrounding us. MMTF also hopes that the virtual event will help everyone end the year as a winner in their own right. You can gain priority slots for the 2021 ‘real’ edition of MMTF, and also 10-20% discounts upon completing the challenge. Registration for MALAYSIA MOUNTAIN TRAIL FESTIVAL 2020 - VIRTUAL EDITION @ RESET AND CHALLENGE THE NEW NORMAL is currently underway at www.mmtf.my/mmtfvr2020.

End the difficult 2020 in style with the MMTF virtual event, and continue after the new year celebrations with ATM’s own virtual team running challenge, the 7 Missions.

Official documentary MMTF 2019 (by ICARUS)

China’s Xie Wenfei was one of the revelations in ATM at the end of 2019. Can she make the Championship an objective next year?

2018 ATM Champion Alessandro Sherpa returned to peak form last year with a great 2nd place

Manila-based Kristian Joergensen was outstanding and won his biggest ATM race to date

Veronika Vadovicova crowned herself as ATM Champion with arguably her best trail performance of her entire incredible season

John Ellis already had the ATM title in his bag by winning UT Panoramic in Thailand a week earlier, but showed fantastic physical and mental resilience to finish among the top five

Finish 2020 with your mind set on 2021: the virtual MMTF edition begins 16 December

It was hanging in the air already for a while, and today the cancellation of the TNF 100 Malaysia has been officially announced. Stakeholders argued it best not to continue with the 2020 event, even though it still six months out on 5 December. All runners who had already registered will get a full refund by the event organiser, MMTF Consultant, in a bold move that will certainly go down well in the community, already battered by many cancellations and postponements this season. Finally, and important in the context of the Asia Trail Master Championship, an alternative and shorter race around Taiping may be considered for the same date in December. That is of course subject to the covid 19 situation in Malaysia, which hopefully keeps on improving in the next couple of months. More information on this is expected not before the end of August.

Last week, another Malaysian event in the ATM Championship, Ultimate Trails of Penang, scheduled for 10/11 October, announced it is currently still on the programme. It is likely there will be some restrictions and special requirements, but these will be announced in accordance with guidelines from the Malaysian and local authorities closer to the event date.

A shorter alternative event is not excluded for the same weekend in December

Overview of the ATM Trail TV Live Broadcast in Taiping, the afternoon before the big final race of the 2019 Asia Trail Master Championship: TNF Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival. All videos are the raw cut from the live broadcast on the Asia Trail Master Facebook page on Friday, 13 December.

Live TV doesn’t come just like that. The afternoon heat in Taiping affected the recording equipment but nevertheless there remains plenty of relevant footage for the archives. With special thanks to Lim Chun Chai for the camera assistance.

Part 1 with Alessandro Sherpa and Ruth Theresia, the outgoing 2018 ATM Champions

Part 2 with Robert Butcher, Aileen (from Borneo TMBT), Izzah Hazirah and Cheryl J. Bihag

Part 3 with 9 Dragons RD Steve Carr, Andrew Chinalpan, Kristian Joergensen and Koi Grey

Part 4 with Hisashi Kitamura, Veronika Vadovičová, Asuka Nakajima and Tomohiro Mizukoshi

Part 5 with John Ellis , Jcy Ho , Nhon Trong and Quang Nguyen