Already the most successful trail runner in Asia Trail Master history, reigning champion John Ray Onifa added a 17th race win to his collection in Singapore last weekend. At the UTSG event, the Filipino star stormed to victory on the 60km with a blistering 5:55 finish. After regaining the ATM Championship title at the 9 Dragons in February, it’s his second race win of the year, despite carrying a bit of a hip injury that will now keep him on the sidelines for a number of weeks. .

Early on, KL-based Icelander Kristjan Chapman and Singapore-based Frenchman Philippe Daniel were trying to keep pace with Onifa, but both paid a bit of a price towards the end. Daniel Yap from Malaysia stormed passed them to take second place at the finish in 6h29. Also local star Scott Pugh ran a great second half to claim third on the podium, just three minutes later! Philippe Daniel still held on to fourth place in 6h41, still one of his best race results in an ATM points race. Lim Jia Jen finishes in fifth, followed by Deric Lau and Tomohiro Mizukoshi.

Running conditions were difficult due to heat and humidity, quite excessive even for Singaporean standards. The women’s 60km race saw a big surprise towards the end as race favourite and leader Akane Nemoto slowed down dramatically and struggled her way to the finish. What looked like a certain victory went up in smoke and, instead, Malaysia's Michelle Ng Qian Ying arrived first in 7h58! It was her first appearance in an ATM Championship Qualifier, so what an introduction! Michelle clearly timed her effort well, already having had great competitive experiences in other races last year.

Akane Nemoto did not even make it to the podium, as five other runners caught and overtook her in the last few kilometres. Local runner Zoe Tan grabbed second place 13 minutes behind Ng. Zoe ran a strong last stint to catch and overtake Filipino Judith Lozano at the end. Patsy Tan and Li Yueming took places four and five, and the poor Akane Nemoto struggled home in sixth, very much like Kristjan Chapman in the men's race earlier. BUTM 100 race winner Mia Revilla was seventh after a very heavy two months of racing in which she also scored third in H1 (100 Miles) five weeks ago.

UTSG also offered an 80km Grandmaster Quest race, which witnessed the arrival of a new 4-star Golden Grandmaster. Malaysia’s Lau Say Niong scored his 20th ATM long ultra finish and is the 14th runner to score four stars. There were also new 3-star Silver Grandmasters on the weekend with Nick Pilapil from Philippines, Henry Yang from Singapore and Derek Lee Kok Eng from Malaysia.

UTSG was held in an interesting new format this year, with essentially 100 Miles spread out over three days.

The men’s podium

Michelle Ng scored her first win in an ATM Championship Qualifier

Zoe Tan takes a great second place

Judith Lozano completed the podium

Credit Team Action: Akane Nemoto led nearly the whole race, but faded badly in the last 10km

Credit Team Action: John Ray Onifa

Credit Team Action: Kristjan Chapman ran a spirited race for podium , but suffered at the very end

Credit Team Action: Singapore’s Philippe Daniel claimed a solid fourth place

Daniel Yap timed his move to perfection and grabbed second place

Also SIngapore’s Scott Pugh finished strongly and still made it to the podium

Lau Say Niong managed to score his 20th GM point: GOLDEN GRANDMASTER!

Ritzy Amor won the 80km on Saturday to score another Grandmaster Quest point

Jake Conte completed the second level of the Grandmaster Quest

Ultra Trail SIngapore is on again this weekend, known as the annual ‘most runable’ trail race of the ATM season. It’s also a popular event with a good vibe, and who doesn’t enjoy spending a weekend in Singapore? This year’s edition has been significantly redesigned, however. The ATM Championship Qualifier is now held on Sunday and has been beefed up from 50 to 60km. On Saturday, runners chasing the Grandmaster Quest are already on call, as they have a new 80km on the programme.

The 60km features again reigning ATM Champion John Ray Onifa in his second outing of the current season. That implies he can get his wild card for the next ATM Final at Mu Cang Chai Ultra Trail in Vietnam on 3 October. For that he needs to finish, and obviously he would like to do that also in first place. Onifa was scheduled to compete against his fellow countryman Godwin Mirar, but the latter is not starting as he could not get the funds together for a trip to SIngapore. The reality that still hits plenty of elite runners in Asia. A walk in the park then for the ATM Champion? Perhaps not. Singapore is not exactly a trail city and plenty of fast runners have found themselves off course during races here, as markings are not always easy to spot amidst all the concrete and constructions. Keeping your head cool is of the essence. Apart from that, Onifa should also look out for the speed of excellent local marathon runners like Vincent Casanova. Remember, last yeat even Jeff Campbell saw himself beaten by a local. Others who may say a word for the victory and certainly the podium are Kristjan Chapman, Philippe Daniel and Scott Pugh. And if someone has a bad day, Golden Grandmaster Tomohiro Mizukoshi - now age group 50 - will still be there to pick up the pieces.

The women’s 60km race is potentially a bit more open, even though Japan’s Akane Nemoto probably will get most votes as race favourite. On the ATM Final podium three times in a row and winner of a couple of ATM races already, running in Singapore typically suits Japanese runners very well. Last year, her compatriot Chisato Kario also won here. Akane Nemoto has some interesting challengers, though. Local Zoe Tan won Penang Sky Race 50 five weeks ago and that may strengthen her morale for this Sunday. Also Jennifer Lee was good in that race and will be in the mix again. Mia Revilla is also on the start list. Filipino, but based in Singapore. She won BUTM 100 in April and was third in Hardcore 100 Miles a month ago.

ATM will be covering the 60km race on Sunday on our usual channels.

Champion again , a UTSG finish will provide him with the wild card for the next ATM Final in Vietnam

Vincent Casanova, local star on road marathons

Akane Nemoto, already 3 years a Top 10 Finalist

Mia Revilla has had a very busy two months on technical trails: how much is left in the tank?

Singapore’s own Zoe Tan won the Penang Sky Race six weeks ago

Keen on a weekend in Singapore with the family and grabbing some ATM points while you are at it? Also in 2026, Mountain Goat Running Club is making that possible again with its popular UTSG event. Pay attention: the event is scheduled one month earlier than normal. Runners should pencil in the weekend of 5/7 June.

The UTSG trail course maps are being redesigned as well, and even the start/finish venue may change. These will all be confirmed in due course. Important for runners to note is that the ATM qualifying race for Championship points will measure 60km instead of 50km and will take place on Sunday instead of Saturday. New in 2026 will be a single day 80km race on the programme. 80km , that’s more than 70km , so it qualifies for the Grandmaster Quest. It will be the first time in ATM’s 11-year-history that race finishers can score a GM point in Singapore.

Via the below facebook and webpages you can and will get all the info needed to plan your trip to Singapore. Registration for the races goes via the RunnerReg platform, which is also linked below.

The UTSG 50 race has had some fantastic winners in the last two years with 2024 ATM Champion Jeff Campbell, 2022 ATM Champion Hau Ha, local road star Wen Sheng and Japan’s Chisato Kario.

Once again, UTSG 50 in Singapore was characterised by exciting and fast racing with a pinch of uncertainty always in the mix due to the complicated nature of trail course design and marking in the city state. The local community in Singapore may have finally found a genuine trail running star in the making by the name of Wen Sheng. The 2:30 marathon runner, in his mid-twenties, managed to cross the finish line ahead of reigning ATM Champion Jeff Campbell, who initially had looked like a guaranteed repeat winner of this race. Also in the women’s 50km, things came down to the wire, as Tokyo’s Chisato Kario raced back to locally based Filipino LJ Benitez for her second ATM race victory in two months.

UTSG 50 is the only ATM points race event in Singapore and just like last year attracted a solid number of runners. The venue had been moved to the Dairy Farm and the course had also been changed and made slightly spicier, but the vibe was still the same. It’s good to have a proper international offroad race in SIngapore. Last year’s winner Jeff Campbell, who beat John Ray Onifa on that occasion, was the big favourite in the men’s and looked to be in control in the first half as well. He tolerated Humberto Baeza, Sui Hong and Shingo Abe with him, before he accelerated the pace and went solo just before km 25. Fellow Hong Konger Sui Hong, already fourth here last year, resisted quite well, but could not bridge the gap anymore. Baeza began to struggle and would later rather mysteriously dissapear from the leaderboard. Abe suffered from dehydration and dropped back, but then there was this tall young local runner named Wen Sheng who was very much holding his own and even appeared to be having a slightly faster pace than Campbell and Sui Hong. As race reporters and followers were waiting for Campbell to appear at the km 44 mark, which initiated a double short loop with a hill climb - half of it on a staircase, they were left stunned to see Wen Sheng appearing first instead! Campbell was just some 20-25 seconds behind and said he had missed a course marker. Local advantage for Wen Sheng, but how hard Campbell then was trying to get back to him, he couldn’t. By the end of that hillclimb loop, the gap was not smaller, but slightly bigger. (see videos below).

It was a great dual to watch and in the end Wen Sheng secured his first victory in his ATM debut in 4h07. A visibly disappointed Campbell settled for second place, Sui Hong came in third ten minutes behind Wen Sheng. A honourable mention goes out to several others, not in the least Singapore-based Philippe Daniel and Khoo Houw Ann from the north of Malaysia, who caught Abe towards the end to take fourth and fifth. Nazrul Islam was seventh and another local hero Deric Lau eighth.

After her surprise win in the Mount Ugo Marathon in Philippines early May, ahead of Angelie Cabalo and Hee Joo Jang, eyes were focused on Japan’s Chisato Kario in the women’s race. Indeed, from the beginning she set the pace and opened up a considerable gap towards two Filipinos living in Singapore: LJ Benitez and someone who turned out to be running with someone else’s bib number and later got disqualified. By halfway distance, however, Kario’s advantage had shrunk entirely and Benitez caught up. The two stayed together until the aforementioned hillclimb loop and on the second of these loops, Benitez managed to open up a gap on Kario. Game over, one would have thought. But at the finish it was the Japanese runner who appeared first with Benitez behind her in the distance! A great push to the line by Kario, who as second runner did benefit also somewhat from leader Benitez getting confused by a course marking. With two victories and 1000 ATM points in the bag, Chisato Kario is basically assured of qualification for Team Japan in the ATM Championship Final, where she could definitely have podium chances. Her finishing time was 5h17. China’s Shifan Hu was third, just head of Miki Ueki, also from Japan.

The men’s Top 3

Chisato Kario: 2nd ATM race win in 2 months for the Tokyo runner with background in New York

LJ Benitez: so close to victory! Brave run by the Singapore-based Filipino

Hu Shifan from Hangzhou took third on the women’s podium

Sunday’s UTSG 50 race is the annual celebration of SIngapore’s very active trail running communities. It’s not easy to organise trail events in the city state, nor are there a lot of real trails to choose from. Nevertheless, UTSG is managing to put together a great vibe every year and attract many runners from outside SIngapore as well. Remember a year ago, with Jeff Campbell edging out John Ray Onifa, and Hau Ha having the better of Vanja Cnops. Most trail organisers in the region would pay for these top stars to run in their event and in the same race. This Sunday, now reigning ATM Champion Jeff Campbell is even running it again, spearheading the field.

It will already be the fourth race of the ATM season for Campbell, for whom the runable nature of UTSG is of course perfect. He won Prenn Trail Summit 50 and V Trail 55 in Vietnam and Laos, but had to be content with third place in Lantau 70 in his own Hong Kong. Without Onifa in the race tomorrow, contrary to last year, he is the top favourite tomorrow. Chris Timms, the overall points leader in this season’s ATM ranking, will be one of his logical challengers, alongside Humberto Baeza - who ran Gombak last week, however.

In the women’s 50k race, we look forward to the participation of Japan’s Chisato Kario, the surprising winner of the Mount Ugo Marathon 50k in Baguio early May, ahead of Angelie Cabalo and Hee Joo Jang. With a second result of that kind, Kario would qualify for Team Japan in the ATM Championship Final in October, and given her result in the Philippines, become even a title pretendent. Singapore-based star Vanja Cnops will not be competing tomorrow, as she is still not 100% fit from her wrist fracture, sustained in the Bali BTR race a good month ago. Thailand’s Phitchanan Mahachot could a contender, but she is also taking part in Saturday’s shorter distance race of the same event. Being in SIngapore, we are also likely to discover a few new names.

ATM will be reporting live from the UTSG 50 event, starting at 6:45 am on Sunday morning local time.

Jeff Campbell tanked confidence last year, beating John Ray Onifa

Last year: the reigning ATM Champion John Ray Onifa against his eventual successor: Jeff Campbell

An exciting and successful edition of UTSG 50 in Singapore saw the end of John Ray Onifa’s unbeaten streak of over six years in ATM. While our reigning champion ran a great race himself and looked like he was on the way to yet another victory, Hong Kong-Canadian Jeff Campbell found some energy reserves deep down at the end of the flattish race to catch Onifa again, and pass him for victory! Both great athletes finished the 50km within 4 hours, and eventually five minutes apart.

For Jeff Campbell it’s the 8th ATM race victory in his running career, his first of the season on a typical Singaporean and runable course that suited him perfectly despite a jetlag. He traveled back from London just the day before. John Ray Onifa took his defeat with a smile and lots of respect for Campbell, whom he knows very well, of course. In the end, Onifa did as he predicted the evening before at the pre race gathering at the Red Dot Running Company (see our video below). Onifa was right on the money finishing in 3h59, but Campbell just had too much speed in his legs.

Meanwhile, 2022 female ATM Champion Hau Ha was only four minutes behind Onifa... She was probably the fastest runner overall in the last 10km! Securing her wild card for this season’s ATM Championship Final, the Vietnamese star took a relatively modest start and even saw local resident Vanja Cnops coming back at her around the 10km mark. Competitive as always, Vanja had a brave run for sure, but an eye infection and the hard fact that Hau Ha has just become not only still a stronger trail runner, but also a faster runner, meant Vanja eventually had no answer. Going up on a road, Hau Ha just had too much strength in her legs for the Belgian. Still, Vanja’s finishing time of 4h25 nevertheless shows she had no off-day.

Hau Ha was running with Chris Timms nearby for most of the race. Timms, also a local resident, had a fantastic performance himself last Saturday. His third place on the men’s podium in 4h06 was illustrative of that, even though his podium spot was challenged severely by newcomer Siu Hong from Hong Kong. The latter went off course at some point early on, which may have cost him that top 3 podium spot. Still, Siu Hong, from the T8 squad, is a great new name on the scene. Singapore’s Deric Lau completed the top five with an excellent run himself ahead of Hong Kong Australian David Longo. Edmund Villaraza follows, then Gael Beron and Daniel Yap.

Behind Hau Ha and Vanja Cnops, Patsy Tan took the third podium spot. She finished just a minute ahead of Shifan Hu.

UTSG 50 showed that trail running, despite long concrete and road sections, can be great fun in Singapore. The X Trailblazers created a very fine experience for the 400-odd starters.

The five fastest runners in the finish

Initially, John Ray Onifa applied some serious pressure on Jeff Campbell.

Chris Timms and Hau Ha ran most of the race in each other’s vicinity

Patsy Tan completed the female podium in Singapore

Big names on the start list of the UTSG 50 event in Singapore this Saturday, the first ATM points race in the country since 2018. Organised by the large X Trailblazers community, UTSG will start and finish in the Macritchie Park and offers a course for the speedsters amongst the trail runners, in the absence of serious hillclimbs in Singapore. Pure running in other words, and it’s great to see a very well-stacked and international list of participants. Four names stand out: reigning ATM Champion John Ray Onifa will be facing Jeff Campbell for the men’s victory, and 2022 ATM Champion Hau Ha will be up against Singapore-resident Vanja Cnops.

Until a year ago, few people would have bet against Campbell on a runable 50k against even Onifa. But the Hong Kong-based Canadian has been shifting his attention towards the long ultras. People who follow the stats on Strava’s ATM Club know that Campbell ranks very high every week in the ‘total distance run’ column. Still, his sheer running speed won’t have disappeared so quickly, of course. His main issue will be his late arrival into Singapore, and the potential jet lag after spending time in the UK. Running UTSG 50 is a bit of a must for him, given his ambition to qualify again for the ATM Championship Final in September. Campbell was injured earlier in the season, and has no points on his 2024 account yet. John Ray Onifa will be keen to keep his unbeaten ATM streak going for a while longer. Earlier this year, Onifa indicated having an interest in road marathons now - to try and increase his running pace on the flat. UTSG will be a good indication where he stands with that.

There’s several other fast runners expected to join, such as David Longo and Chris Timms.

The women’s dual for the win should be between Vietnam’s Hau Ha and Belgium’s Vanja Cnops. It will be the second time they face each other in the same race. At the 2022 ATM Final on Mount Apo, Vanja was the first woman ever to make life hard for Hau Ha in a race. Eventually, Hau would get the upper hand going up and down Apo, but on Saturday the course is flat and suited towards Vanja Cnops, who has been living in Singapore for over ten years. If there’s one race where Vanja might have a chance against Hau Ha…. Her half marathon PB is still significantly faster than Hau’s, but can she prevent losing too much pace on 50km?

ATM will be reporting live from SIngapore starting at 6:30 am on Saturday.

Reigning ATM Champion John Ray Onifa wants to test his sheer running pace in Singapore this weekend

Jeff Campbell is increasingly focusing on long ultras now, but on Saturday he is back on his 50k top distance

2022 ATM Champion Hau Ha and her coach Guim are using UTSG as the perfect tune-up for their big goal in August

What can Vanja Cnops do against Hau Ha on flat trails in her long-time resident country Singapore?

On 29 June runners can score Asia Trail Master Championship points in SIngapore for the first time since 2018. UTSG, the Ultra Trail Singapore Series managed by the large X-Trailblazers running community, is organising its 50km event for the third time and it’s a new points race for our rankings in support of the many Singaporeans who usually always need to travel abroad to take part in trail events including those under the ATM umbrella.

Everybody knows Singapore is a small country devoid of any major mountains or - in technical terms - elevation gain. Any trail race is therefore bound to have a fast course suiting those with a solid pace in the legs. Nevertheless, in case of rain the trails can get muddy and slippery to slow things down and demand more versatility from the participants. The precise route will be announced in due course.

Meanwhile, we recommend to follow the UTSG Facebook page to remain up-to-date with the latest news about the event. Registration is open. Needless to stay the race can be easily combined with a weekend trip to Singapore with family and friends.

The Trail Blazer race in Singapore had not stolen its name: the shortest and fastest points race in the Asia Trail Master Championship series this season produced a great direct battle between championship leader Alessandro Sherpa and Spanish challenger Salva Rambla. While many local runners toed the starting line as well, nobody was able to keep up with the leading duo over the 26 km distance, partially on slippery trails. Sherpa and Rambla know each other quite well after they jointly ran to victory in the V Trail in Laos a month ago, but in Singapore no gifts were handed out. After a great dual, Salva Rambla had the quickest dash to the finish line and won the race, keeping his Asia Trail Master Championship ambitions very much alive. Sherpa was second some 30 seconds later and nevertheless happy as he still increased his total ATM points tally by another 25 points.

The final two weeks of the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship series but still four points races to go. On Sunday, the new COMPRESSPORT Trail Blazer in Singapore and the traditional CM50 Ultra in Philippines will already shed a big light on who the ultimate championship challengers are this year, and -who knows- maybe it will all be decided already! Both points leaders in the championship will be running, too, albeit with different motivations.

Ruth Theresia has accumulated such an advantage over the other women by winning three back-to-back races in Indonesia in September and October, only a mathematical possibility remained for some other race winners of this season to still overtake her on points. But time has run out. Carole Fuchs will be doing Izu Trail Journey on 9 December, but that won’t be enough to catch Theresia. Corinne Williams has decided to end her season after Borneo TMBT Ultra due to other life commitments. Singapore’s Evelyn Lek - who burst onto the scene by winning both Magnificent Merapoh Trail 100 and Vietnam Mountain Marathon 100 - will compete in her home race this Sunday, but even if she wins it and follows up with Izu and HK 168, she cannot reach the 2650 total points tally set by Ruth Theresia. The leading lady of the renowned Bandung Explorer Team can therefore rest on her laurels and enjoy her second participation in CM50 Ultra supporting her friends. Ironically, exactly one year ago, Ruth lost her chance to become ATM champion in this same race after a great battle with Kim Matthews. While Ruth has emphasised not to look for her at the front of this weekend’s race, another finish would mean her 16th Grandmaster race finish! At the end of 2018, she is the only runner who is a 3-Star Grandmaster!

Who can we expect to compete for the race victory in Clark? Plenty of good local athletes on the start list, such as Aggy Sabanal, Melanie Hingpit, Ann Pulanco and Khaterina Visperas. Sabanal, who is also scheduled to run in Japan in 2 weeks, will be eyeing the first runner-up position in the ATM Championship behind Theresia. In addition, there is the in-form Malaysian Jassica Lintanga. The Sabahan runner will aim to score another podium - and who knows a first ever ATM points race win - and in so doing cement a top five ranking in the 2018 ATM Championship.

The men’s race in Clark will see Manolito Divina in action for the second time this season after his comeback on the ATM tour in Plataran X Trail Bali. He will be competing against tough guys like Spaniard Ander Iza Rekakoetxea, and other Filipino top runners such as Jared Teves, Joeffrey Camara, Ray Cabanig, Arnold Lozano, Aleksis Capili, Kyle Antolin and Felmer Hiponia. In the context of the ATM Championship, eyes will be cast on Japan’s Tomohiro Mizukoshi first and foremost. He is ranked second behind Sherpa, and still has potential to challenge leader Alessandro Sherpa on points by improving on his ‘worst’ results of the season. Mizukoshi is currently 210 points behind, but a win in CM50 could reduce that gap to 110. And in 2 weeks there is his home race, Izu Trail Journey, where last year he ran very well, too. More runners to watch out for in Philippines are Sungsik Joh and Kristian Joergensen, the Manila-based Dane, who ran a fantastic Borneo TMBT early September. A Joergensen in that kind of form will be a serious contender for the race victory in Clark as well.

While Mizukoshi will be trying to catch up with Sherpa, the Italian himself will do his utmost to further increase the gap in the new Trail Blazer race in Singapore. Previously Sherpa had announced an end to his season to allow his injuries to heal properly, but he clearly feels his points margin is not wide enough to sit back and relax. Attack is always the best defence, as they say in sports. The name of the Singapore race is not a coincidence: the 25 km will be very fast for a trail race, of course aided by the fact that the nation state does not have any serious elevation gain to speak of. Sherpa has a great running speed, but how much will his knee and ankle hamper him? In addition, Spain’s Salva Rambla will be giving him a run for his money, too. Rambla himself is not entirely out of the Championship neither, especially should he win this Sundays’s Trail Blazer. Furthermore, in an atypical and non-technical trail race like this one we can expect several road runners to appear who may upset the normal order of things. In any case, while Ruth Theresia can prepare for a big celebration party on Sunday, Sherpa is unlikely to find himself in that situation already.

Dawn at CM50 is always something magical

First Asia Trail Master points race in Singapore and also the shortest race on the tour with 25 km as total distance. We are happy to announce The Trail Blazer, part 4 of the COMPRESSPORT King of the Trail series in the country on 25 November! The Trail Blazer naturally caters for fast legs -there are no mountains in Singapore-, who get their chance to score a bulk of championship points at the end of the season in this race with start and finish in the Macritchie Reservoir. The event is ideal for a weekend outing with family to Singapore as well. If you're fast, you can even have brunch after the race. 

Precise course details will follow in due course, but COMPRESSPORT and Pink Apple, the experienced local organising company, is promising at at least 80% trail and a course as difficult as it gets in the country. Registration is already open.

While most races at the end of the season tend to be tough ultras, this one will allow faster runners to stay in the hunt for the championship title, which will be decided on the weekend of 7-9 December in Thailand and Japan as last year. Note that the points regulations for this last weekend will be amended for this year to create a more level playing field. More on that next week!

KOTT - The Trail Blazer

We are pleased to announce the support of Singapore's Red Dot Running Company for this year's Asia Trail Master Championship series. The brain child of Asian ultra legend Jeri Chua, Red Dot Running Company aims "is aimed at becoming a focal point for the running community in Singapore, starting with the trail and ultra runners who will always have a special place in our mountain-loving hearts". RDRC works closely with niche brands that are born from sheer passion, looking to provide aspiring adventurers with the perfect kit. In addition, Red Dot Running Company wishes to showcase the work of local and regional photographers, and the incredible trails we have in the region. Runners from Red Dot will be taking part in several Asia Trail Master races this season. 

To find out more about RDRD, approach the runners on the tour or visit the website here.