Last weekend’s SC 70 race in Santa Cruz, Davao, Philippines, gave runners another chance to add a Grandmaster point to their records. As announced, it was a tough one, and technical, with rain that made matters even more complicated. Up front there was of course also a competition. 2022 ATM Champion and local hero Arnie Macaneras crossed the finish line with an impressive time of 12 hours and 4 minutes as male race winner. It was his first real race in two months. Macaneras is also scheduled to run the upcoming Season 10 Championship Final at the 9 Dragons in Hong Kong. last year, he still finished 3rd in Season 9’s Final at Borneo TMBT. In second place behind him was emerging talent Rodel Angatan, followed by Elbert Ligan who took third on the podium.

Just two weeks after winning DASAL 80, Bukidnon’s Shally Yuson also proved strongest female in SC 70. Becoming ever more consistent and dominant on Filipino trails, Yuson led from start to finish and came in in 19 hours (also showing how tough the course was). Luzon’s Jennifer Comandante secured second place in 21 hours, followed by Dolly Alonso in third.

Trail runners can stick around in Santa Cruz and Davao, because next weekend is the next event already: the Mount Apo Sky Race. This year, the redesigned Mount Apo event is also a qualifier again for the ATM Championship points ranking.

Season 11 continues this weekend with a doubleheader for the ATM Championship points ranking, plus a third event valid for the Grandmaster Quest. It’s been a difficult month for trail running in Southeast Asia, particularly, with heavy rainfall causing landslides resulting in event cancellations or postponements in quite a few places. Especially Vietnam is hard-hit. Our Season 10 Final at Mu Cang Chai already got cancelled in early October, and in recent weeks also the two Dalat events Lam Dong Trail and Prenn Trail Summits have been compelled to postpone to a later date. For this weekend, the forecast in the three relevant countries looks good, though.

Malnad Ultra is still the only ATM qualifying event in India. Taking place in the Karnataka region close to Bengaluru, the programme has received a few little tweaks for this year’s edition but the bottom line has remained the same: a 50km loop in the large coffee plantation that can be done once or twice. Last year, Shashwat Rao once again took the win in the 100km, while a group of young Nepali runners featuring Rayma Rawal and Kalpana Budha stole the show in the women’s 50km race.

In Japan, we have a debut for Island Trail Awaji on the ATM Championship calendar. Recommended by 2-star Grandmaster and multiple race winner and Finalist, Yuta Matsuyama, this event features a very scenic 43km points race on Awaji island, off the coast from Kobe and Kansai. It’s an A to B race with no fewer than 2200 metres of elevation gain, so this one is quite treacherous. On the start list, several big names of the Japanese trail scene. 2024 Izu Trail Journey winner Koken Ogasawara is arguably the top favourite, but he will need to watch out for e.g. the experienced and former 9 Dragons winner Kazefumi Ose and the aforementioned Yuta Matsuyama. Island Trail Awaji is the first of potentially five Japanese qualifying events in Season 11 of the Asia Trail Master Championship.

Over in Mindanao, Philippines, trail runners will gather in Santa Cruz, near Davao, for the first race of a double weekender. Team Jegol is organising SC 70 starting this Saturday, one of the races on our Grandmaster Quest calendar. Next week, also in Santa Cruz, is the traditional Mount Apo Sky Race by Vertical To Sky, a qualifying points race event for the ATM Championship this season. Even without Mount Apo on the itinerary, SC 70 is certainly much more than a warm-up. No fewer than an estimated 4800 metres of elevation gain need to be conquered during the 72 km long ultra race. On the start list we find many familiar names of runners, Grandmasters or runners aiming to become Grandmaster. For the race victory, two big names stand out in the male and female categories: 2022 ATM Champion Arnie Macaneras and Shally Yuson. A “home race” for Arnie, it will be interesting to see if anyone feels courageous to try and follow him this weekend. Shally Yuson hails from Bukidnon, but has proven this year she can win races anywhere now.