The Dalat Ultra Trail last weekend saw the confirmation of the raw talent of Vietnam's own Quang Tran. After winning the Vietnam Mountain Marathon last year, he now also took top honours in Dalat in a great 70k run that took him 7 hours 32. Quang Tran stayed ahead of two European runners: Florian Deichmann (Germany) and Kevin Morisseau (France), who reached the finish in 7:49 and 7:54. HCMC-based Dutch woman Marieke Dekkers, training partner of Asia Trail Master champion Kim Matthews, won the women's race ahead of Vietnam's Julia Nguyen Thi Duong and Philippines' Ann Jilian Pulanco. 

2300 runners took the start over the four available distances in Dalat, of which 70K was the longest and the one that counted for ATM championship points. The event received praise from participants for its great organisation and a pleasantly runable, yet tough enough race course. The highlands around the city of Dalat are relentlessly going up and down. 

Kim Matthews, who of course lives nearby in Ho Chi Minh City, has not yet recovered from her dramatic fall a few weeks ago and was unable to start what could be called her home race. The good news was that Matthews did the 21k, albeit hiking for the most part. 

The next Vietnamese points race is the Vietnam Jungle Marathon in Po Luong on 14/15 April. 

Quang Tran and Marieke Dekkers: winners of the Dalat Ultra Trail 70k

Julia Nguyen Thi Duong was second in the women's, with Ann Pulianco third. 

We are happy to announce an exciting addition to the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship in a new destination: Iran. Ultra Trail Mount Damavand is technically organised by Hong Kong's experienced XTE team that also brings you HK 168 at the end of the season. UTMD will be the first ever points race in the championship in ancient Persia. Race date - pay attention - is Thursday and Friday 21/22 June. 

On the programme will be a 103km race wth 3650 metres of elevation gain and featuring the climb of Mount Damavand, the highest stratovolcano in Asia! Officially the peak is over 4600m above sea level, but in the race you will reach the highest point at 3500m - more than high enough in any case! Start and finish is in the village of Polour, south of the mountain, a traditional camp for mountaineering people 66km northeast of Iran's capital city Tehran. 

Runners doing the 103 km race - the championship points and Grandmaster Quest distance - will reach the highest point halfway through the course. Less ambitious runners can also go for a 50km race and a 30 km race. 

Tehran is well-connected by air. The local organisers are recommending Asian-based runners to consider traveling via Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, both serving Air Asia X flights to Tehran directly. 

Registration is open online via the organiser's event website. 

More information can be found via our cover page below. 

The Vietnam Mountain Marathon has been a successful trail event for a few years already, but the Dalat Ultra Trail in the south of the country proves that the sport has boomed. More than 2300 runners will take part in Dalat this weekend, and a lot of them are not afraid of tackling the 70 km long ultra, the ATM championship points race and a Grandmaster Quest distance as well. It is the first year the event has an international scope and given the exciting location -Dalat is hot on the tourist trail in Vietnam- it has all the ingredients of becoming one of Asia’s finest. 

The organisation is in the hands of a well-oiled team that has plenty of experience in outdoor and mountainbiking events. Some of the participants this weekend will actually stay in Dalat and take part in the 2-day MTB event here as well next week. The 70 km race is of course top of the bill. It's a nice highland rollercoaster that will please good runners who can cope with lots of intervals. Resilience and determination will arguably be even more important than speed to win this one. The weather in Dalat is generally cooler than elsewhere as the place is at 1500m altitude.  

One of the ambassadors of the event is Asia Trail Master champion Kim Matthews, who lives in nearby Ho Chi Minh City. Unfortunately, Matthews injured her hip quite badly before the Cordillera Mountain Ultra and is still unable to run distances, let alone race. As such, the women’s race is quite open and we are looking forward to potentially discovering new local talents. 

In the men’s race we have a clear favourite on paper: Danang’s Quang Tran. Winner of Vietnam Mountain Marathon 100 - ahead of Manolito Divina - and 2nd in Vietnam Jungle Marathon last season. In the latter race he was beaten by his compatriot and Vietnam’s Trail Master champion 2017 Cao Ngoc Ha. Cao is not running this weekend, the tall Hanoi runner is focusing on an IronMan in May before returning to the trail scene. With four races in Vietnam this ATM season, a runner like Quang Tran has a great opportunity to make a name for himself throughout Asia. 

The leadership position of Dean Perez and Majo Liao in the Asia Trail Master championship should not be under threat this weekend, unless there’s a last-minute registration of someone who already has scored a significant amount of points this season. Their points lead will certainly be under attack next week in Brunei, however. 

One of the most anticipated events in the Asia Trail Master Championship, and certainly in the summer months, is the Magnificent Merapoh Trail on the fringes of Taman Negara National Park in Pahang, Malaysia. The 4th edition takes place on 10/11 August and sees some modifications to the route for the two points races distances, 100 km and 70 km. Less ambitious runners can also go for the 30 km. The event gains ever more social importance as well, as logging and road constructions threaten the existence of this ancient rainforest and its inhabitants. By developing ecotourism the organisers of Ten Senses hope to stop this trend and allow the local communities to sustain themselves .

The 100k and 70k feature the passing-through of several cave complexes that characterise this beautiful rainforest area. And this August, runners will enter at least one more cave that is not yet open for tourism. This is a race that looks easier than it is. While mainly flattish, there are technical sections that you are unlikely to forget very quickly. Most legendary besides the caves is of course the 3 km long river crossing, which most 100k and 70k runners will also do before dawn. 

The event has quickly become popular over the past four years and is guaranteed to sell out fast. There is a maximum limit of 1000 runners. So do not hesitate if you want to be part of this great adventure. 

The Magnificent Merapoh Trail

Thailand-based pro runners Harry Jones and Carole Fuchs took top honours in a fantastic edition of the Cordillera Mountain Ultra 50k in Dalupirip last Sunday. The Philippines SuperTrail lived up to the high expectations and saw fantastic running by the stars of the trail, and the many hundreds who made up the field. The scorching heat and the re-designed hillier final section made sure everyone was happy to see the finish line. Dean Perez and Majo Liao left the Cordillera as points leaders in the Asia Trail Master Championship. 

CMU is more than just a sporting competition. It is a weekend in the outdoors with hardly any mobile network, let alone Wi-Fi. The people of Dalupirip are such welcoming hosts, though, that no one regrets staying there for one or more nights. The village itself is set in an idyllic landscape, roughly 90 minutes by jeepney away from Baguio City. It was the third edition of CMU and race director JP Alipio has stayed true to his original idea, fine-tuning the event and the race course over the past two years only slightly in order to produce a fully matured trail running event that can be considered pure promotion for the sport - even if you deem 50K too short for trail. 

The event begins on Saturday morning with a Vertical Kilometre, which was won by Hiroaki Matsunaga and Majo Liao, two of the protagonists for the 50K race on Sunday as well. That race started at 4.a.m. , which meant at least one-and-a-half hour would be run in the dark and in cooler temperatures, before the sun would heat up the Cordillera like an oven. Perhaps that was the motivation for Harry Jones and especially John Ray Onifa to go full speed from the gun. They quickly opened up a gap to Hiroaki Matsunaga, the Japanese elite and organiser of Kushigata Wind Trail and Echigo Country Trail, who was battling to keep the distance between him and the leading duo limited on Mount Ugo. The other contenders, including an in-form Dean Perez, followed a bit further back. Jeffrey Alligan, though, did not have the pace that brought him 2nd place in the Akyathlon last month. Aligan even suffered from heavy cramps late in the race and decided to DNF with just over 5k left to go.  In the long descent of Mt Ugo, Jones upped the pace even more, dropping Onifa and making sure Matsunaga would not return to the front. Jones dashed solo to the finish for his second ATM points race victory in a week after the 50 miles race of the 9 Dragons Ultra. His time was 5:20, a few minutes faster than the course record although this year’s edition was slightly longer and had an extra climb in the final 5 km. Harry Jones, who lives in Chiang Mai, had many good things to say about his closest chaser John Ray Onifa, the Filippino youngster who finished approx 16 minutes later. Both Jones and Onifa could fight some more interesting trail battles with each other later in this ATM season. Jones’ next points race will be Sungai Menyala Forest Trail in Malaysia. 

Matsunaga ran a very consistent pace and crossed the line seven minutes behind Onifa to complete the podium in what was his first ever visit to the Philippines. South Korean marathon ace Byeungwwon Park, who has a personal best of 2:19, missed the winning move in the beginning. Running his fourth trail race only, Park had not realised Jones and Onifa were up ahead when he caught up with Matsunaga late in the race. Still, a second stumble pushed him back again and fourth place was the maximum on his ATM debut. In fact, both Wilnar Iglesia and Dean Perez still came very close to the South Korean. Iglesia had lost the right trail earlier in the race, something that happens perhaps too often with the likeable Filippino, but once again he proved to be in great shape by catching up and passing runners in the second half of the race. Dean Perez is the first of the top runners to finish 3 ATM points races so far. The Vancouver-based Pinoy had a great race on Sunday and his 6th place puts him back at the top of the championship ranking. Perez is now returning to his resident country, yet endaveours to return to the ATM tour in the second half of 2018 to reach the plateau of five races, which is a must to get a high ranking in the championship at the end of the year. 

Hiroaki Matsunaga

Last year’s winner Arnold Lozano and CMU Podium Man Alison Telias performed well and placed themselves in the top 10 with Telias in 7th and Lozano  in 9th. Between them was American Casey Weinman and the first woman.

That first female finisher was France’s Carole Fuchs. The former professional triathlete turned out to be class on her own, perhaps aided by the late DNS of ATM Champion Kim Matthews. The Australian suffered a nasty hip injury in a fall on training and was unable to make the trip to Philippines. In fact, Matthews announced she will not be running the Dalat Ultra Trail neither in a fortnight. The third race favourite, Indonesia’s Ruth Theresia still felt jelly-legged from the grueling UTKC race in Thailand 2 weeks ago and decided early into the race to reduce the revs and take it easy. Theresia would finish (with her local friends) in 33th place, which also meant she lost the lead in the championship ranking. New points leader is namely Majo Liao, even though the latter did not have the best race neither. Liao finished down in 7th place, lacking power. Of those running their second race of the season, it was good enough however, because Rizal Mountain Run winner Aggy Smith Sabanal arrived further back in 8th place. 

Fuchs was outstanding in front and her winning time says a lot: 6:26. She actually still passed Al Telias in the last 3 km. Fuchs, who won the 50k at UT Panoramic last December, is planning to climb Mount Everest next - possibly taking Ultra Trail Nepal on 28 April en passant. The second woman into the finish was a surprise for most: Novena Manaces in 7:23. Hailing from the more northern Cordillera mountain areas, Manacnes had stormed past Bitbit Baby Marites Sotto in the descent to snatch that silver. While Stephanie Davidson was a great fourth in her debut on the 50K distance, local star and former winner of CMU, Gretchen Felipe, probably had expected to finish higher than fifth place. Maria Luisa Prado did well to stay ahead of Majo Liao, Sabanal and also Diorella Cerujano and Patricia Ann Morota. 

As CMU came to a close, so did the first six rounds of the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship. The spring campaign begins in 2 weeks in Vietnam and the Dalat Ultra Trail 70k with Dean Perez and Majo Liao as leaders in our points championship. 

UT Nan organisers Pom and Suwit were also running the CMU

This weekend’s Cordillera Mountain Ultra is the third and last SuperTrail of this early part of the Asia Trail Master Championship, and contrary to UTKC and 9 Dragons, CMU caters for the quicker legs on the medium trail distance of 50K (approx 2650 hm). The 3rd edition of the event in Dalupirip, Benguet, Philippines has smashed all records when it comes to registration numbers. Close to 800 people, of which 400 for the long distance race,  will take the trouble to travel to the remote venue in the Cordillera mountains, including runners from 26 nations! Not only the quantity is impressive, so is the quality in both male and female competitions that also have the ATM Championship points lead on the line this Sunday.

Looking at the men, the list of favourites for the podium is nearly endless, which does not happen often in a South East Asian trail race. And they come from different places. Harry Jones (Great Britain,residing in Thailand) and Hiroaki Matsunaga (Japan) are two internationally known runners who both showed excellent form in the past fortnight. Jones, of course, won the 50 miles race at 9 Dragons and collected a solid 432 ATM Championship points in that effort. He had to dig deep in that Hong Kong ultra, but if Jones is recovered the others will have to get by him to win on Sunday. Matsunaga himself is on the rebound from a 100k in New Zealand two weeks ago. Our organiser of Echigo Country Trail and Kushigata Wind Trail (both points races for the ATM Championship) is making his first ever appearance in Philippines and is seemingly not letting anything disrupt his concentration and prepration for the race this weekend. South Korea’s Byeongwon Park is a dark horse, and that could as well be an understatement. Coming to make a name for himself, Park belongs to the recent wave of fast road runners who like to get a taste of trail, like it and indulge in it ever since. The same seems to apply to a local Baguio runner who was the surprise-second behind the surprise-winner at Pilipinas Akyathlon a month ago. Jeffrey Aligan is over 40 and no longer the youngest runner in the field, but if he can repeat the performance he showed then he won’t be far off the podium. Current weather conditions may actually play in favour of the faster legs: it rained today for the first time in two months in Dalupirip, which by Sunday could have made the trails harder and more compact to run on. The likes of Aligan will love that, yet he is not the top favourite on the pinoy front: John Ray Onifa from Visayas has been making headlines ever since he won UT Mapawa last October, and has developed into the next big trail thing coming from Philippines. By winning a wet and muddy Rizal Mountain Run, Onifa proved he is also resilient and tough when more is required than pure speed. Fighting this weekend for the points lead in the ATM Championship, winning CMU would be another big scalp in his young trail career. A new element for him is that all Filippinos now know him and watch him. 

It’s almost perverse that we need to push top runners such as Wilnar Iglesia, Dean Perez, Al Telias, Kristian Joergensen. Dean Lim and last-but-not least, Arnold Lozano - the CMU winner last year! - to the back of this race preview. That is how deep the field is in terms of quality. Anyone who gets in the top 10 of CMU on Sunday is a race winner. Iglesia was very quick catching up after losing the right trail in Akyathlon. Al Telias finds in CMU his best race course and was on the podium here the past 2 years. Perez is doing his 3rd ATM points race of the season and keen to show the best of himself before returning to Canada. Joergensen is in the shape of his life, and looked strong in finishing 2nd in Rizal behind Onifa. Can he narrow that 30-minute gap this weekend? Maybe with the help of Lozano. Winner last year in a spectacular dual with Marcelino Sano-Oy, he was disappointed with himself for being too relaxed in the early stages of the Akyathlon. If he’s more alert on Sunday, he won’t easily let go! 

Unfortunately, some of the local favourites will, ironically, not be there at this great trail party. New entrepreneur Manolito Divina has not yet picked up his regular training and has postponed his racing campaign to April, and Marcelino Sano-Oy is still running with pain after a nasty fall early in the Akyathlon (a race he continued to finish 3rd on the podium). In the women’s Baguio’s own Sandi Menchi - winner at CMU last season - will not be competing. 

The female race will be very strong nonetheless, even when ATM Champion Kim Matthews has also announced her DNS today. Matthews fell badly on her hip a week ago during training, and is not in a position to run in the next few weeks. She even already scrapped her “home” race, Dalat Ultra Trail, on 17 March off her race calendar. The season is still long and Matthews already has 500 championship points in her bag for winning Tahura Trail at the beginning of the 2018 season. 

Still, one of her main competitors for the championship has a great opprtunity to open up a points gap this weekend. Two weeks after being victorious in UT Koh Chang, Indonesia’s Ruth Theresia is back for her second SuperTrail of the season. Were the Bandung Explorer lady to win also CMU, it would very much be a perfect start of her championship campaign! However, Ruth Theresia will face stern opposition on Sunday from the locals, but also from Thailand-based French runner Carole Fuchs. Fuchs is making her debut on the ATM scene, but has announced previously she might prioritise our championship this season. Known to be tough and fast, Fuchs    for sure will give all others a run for their money. Among the others we find 2018 race winners Aggy Smith Sabanal (Rizal) and Majo Liao (Akyathlon), 2016 CMU winner Gretchen Felipe and the ever-improving Patricia Ann Morota. Home advantage is a thing, yet it did not help local Felipe last month when she followed Sandi Menchi going the wrong way at Akyathlon. However, more reason to shine on Sunday. Other potential podium runners are Maria Luisa Prado, Diorella Cerujano and Bitbit Baby Marites Sotto. 

A big trail party is in the making in Dalupirip for the Philippines’ SuperTrail of the Asia Trail Master Championship. But if there’s one thing Dalupirip is not known for, it’s for the mobile connectivity. Measures have been taken to improve the speed, so that proper broadcasting and multimedia services can be done live. Please bear with us, should the mountains and its weather decide otherwise. 

After two intense days of racing in the New Territories of Hong Kong, John Ellis and Corinne Williams crowned themselves as the so-called 9th Dragons yesterday. Both won one of the two stages - Ellis the 50 miles and  Williams the 50k - but probably had to fight harder to score a win than ever before in their trail running careers. Australia's John Ellis from the Gone Running team always keeps everyone in suspense as he is a notoriously slow starter, but this time he had to dig deep to handle the Japanese duo of Kazafumi Ose and Kaito Kobayashi. In yesterday's 50k, the Japanese runners seemed to have recovered better than Ellis from the tough 50 miles the day before and took the fight to him, aided also initially by the strong Malaysian Milton Amat. On Saturday, Kazafumi Ose was leading the race until Ellis caught him with just 20K to go, and yesterday Ose and especially Kobayashi -third on Saturday but significantly behind on time - had that little extra left in the tank. John Ellis needed to protect a time advantage of 20 minutes on Ose, and he did just that albeit settling for third place in the 50k race. Kobayashi won it ahead of Ose. Milton Amat was fourth on both days, and showed that his joint victory in Borneo TMBT Ultra last year was no accident. Britain's Tom Robertshaw is still recovering from injury, and in that respect had a promising result with 6th place, just two minutes behind Jeremy Ritcey in the overall. 

The women's 50/50 race was arguably even more exciting than the men's and also featured a leading trio who battled each other relentlessly on this very tough and technical race weekend. Australia’s Kellie Emmerson looked like the fastest woman in the first half of the 50 miles on Saturday, until Okinawa-based Corinne Williams and local French woman Elisa Jean De Dieu turned on their engines and began to catch up. Williams was first and wasted no time to put Emmerson under pressure. However, it was Elisa Jean De Dieu from Team Uglow who suddenly became the quickest woman on the course as she bridged the gap to Williams and even took a small lead. Williams, third at Izu Trail Journey last December, rallied hard but struggled for grip with a completely destroyed shoe sole. In a descent in the final section of the race, Elisa Jean De Dieu opened the decisive gap and took a very big race victory. Williams was able to limit the damage to 2’38”, while Emmerson dropped back signifcantly in third place. Sunday’s 50K was bound to be a thriller, and yet again, Emmerson and Williams were quicker “out of the blocks” than Elisa Jean De Dieu. The duo was helped by 50K single stage protagonist Sandi Menchi, who set a quick pace in her own determination to win that race category. Elisa Jean De Dieu was again just a few minutes behind. Contrary to Saturday, however, she was unable to get to the front. In the final section of the race, she felt the accumulation of efforts more than the others and would settle for third place in the race, losing over 1 hour to stage and overall winner Corinne Williams. It should be mentioned that Chris Yee Ting Kwan from Hong Kong delivered a great performance in the shadow of the big three, by finishing fourth in an overall time of less than 23 hours, only 17 minutes more than Kellie Emmerson. 

Corinne Williams joins Ruth Theresia at the top of the ATM Championship ranking with 550 points. The 9 Dragons was a SuperTrail race, as was UTKC last week and as is Cordillera Mountain Ultra next weekend. In the men's championship, John Ellis joins Jay jantaraboon in third place behind Arief Wismoyono and Dean Perez, who both already ran two points races this season. 

The 50 miles single stage category was another battleground last Saturday. In this one, Thailand-based Briton Harry Jones opened his ATM account with a great but hard-fought win over China’s Deng Guomin and Austria’s Michael Skobierski. Deng Guomin, from Shenzhen, proved to be the strongest climber of the trio, yet missed a marker, went off-trail and saw his advantage disappear like snow under the sun. Jones and Skobierski caught up and would not give him a second chance in the final 20K of the race. Jones attacked at the start of the final section and managed to pull away from a resilient Deng Guomin, while Skobierski settled for third. Jones finished in 10:41:22, 1’40” ahead of the Chinese runner. Harry Jones is on the start list of Cordillera Mountain Ultra next week, and hopes to be recovered for that by then. 

Itsuko Uemiya was the fastest woman in this category, which was the B-race and therefore still valid for points in the ATM championship.  The 50K category was not valid for points. 

The 9 Dragons proved again to be one of the hardest trail races in Hong Kong, if not the hardest. Current unofficial (!) finish rates are pending but are likely to be well below 50%. Not only are the two race courses as tough as they get in this part of Asia, but the CUTs are tight as well. To ease the pain, the organisation made sure all refreshment stations are appropriately stocked. 

John Ellis won the 50 Miles on Saturday and hung onto his time bonus on Sunday

Elsa Jean De Dieu and Corinna Williams put up a fantastic show in the women's 50/50! 

Kaito Kobayashi won the 50K, and had his private refreshment station the whole weekend

The podium of the men's 50 miles single stage with Harry Jones as winner

Just one week after Ultra-Trail Unseen Koh Chang in Thailand we have the next SuperTrail already this weekend. The 9 Dragons Ultra is a new entry in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship and has immediately been assigned the label of SuperTrail. By looking at the start list of the 50/50 stage race in particular, there could have been no other way. It’s a field of not only Asian and Hong Kong elites, but several top runners from other parts of the world are flying in to try and slay the 9 Dragons. 

9 Dragons in Mandarin Chinese is Jiu Long, or indeed Kowloon in Cantonese. The event takes place on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong and runs across the New Territories, roughly from west to northeast and starting at the Po Leung Kok Jockey Club at midnight on Friday. Essentially a two-day stage race, runners will cover 50 miles on Saturday and 50k on Sunday. The stage race is where most ATM championship points will be scored by finishers (550 for the winners), although with 432 points in his bag the winner of the 50 miles single stage will also return home happy. There are NO points to be scored on the 50k single stage. The rules of the event stipulate that any finisher on the 50 miles on Saturday who decides not to start on the 50k on Sunday, will be ranked as a finisher of the 50 miles race instead of the 50/50. If a runner, however, starts the 50k and drops out during it, he will be ranked as a DNF for the 50/50. In other words, championship points chasers signed up for the 50/50 need to know what they are doing on Sunday morning. 

Tom Robertshaw, always a potential race winner in ultras

On the start list plenty of well-known names, including regular top 10 placers and ATM race winners such as Pablo Diago Gonzales and local Isaac Yuen Wan Ho. The latter begins his season this weekend after a lengthy period of rest that began following his Izu Trail Journey finish early December last year. From Philippines, Gene Olvis is one to watch out for and from Sabah in Malaysia, Milton Amad is an interesting name to follow as well. Of course, it will not be easy for them to compete against the established elite in Hong Kong on their home soil. Britain’s Tom Robertshaw won HK168 last season and could collect his 3rd ATM career win as he also won UTHK100 two years ago. But there’s also John Ellis from the Gone Running team, who could score his first race win the ATM Championship. Among the many international elites we also pick Harry Jones, who lives in Thailand and who could play a major role in this season’s championship. Jones is scheduled to run also next week in the Cordillera Mountain Ultra as well as Sungai Menyala Forest Trail in April. 

The women’s event also features big names such as Marie McNaughton, winner of Korea 50K last year, and Elsa Jean de Dieu. 2017 Asia Trail Master champion Kim Matthews had planned to start the 50 miles race as well, but has pulled out. It’s still Chinese New Year, which does have an impact on air fares around the region. 

As usual we will be reporting live from Hong Kong via our social media network. 

The 2018 Echigo Country Trail has opened registration for the 3rd edition on Sunday, 17 June. The colourful event in Japan's countryside of Niigata, Northwest of Tokyo, will have a slightly beefed up main race. Total length is now 56 km with elevation gain still just above the 2000 hm mark. 

As usual, the event receives full support from the local communities around Oguni Forest Park and Nagaoka City. All participants are invited to take part in the welcoming party on Saturday afternoon, and enjoy dinner with local delicacies, music and dance. It is also possible to stay overnight in traditional Japanese homestays. 

You can access Nagaoka easily via Shinkansen from Tokyo. Or you can fly to Niigata direct from a few Asian destinations. 

Apart from the 56 km main race, shorter distances are also available. However, only the 56 k qualifies for points in the Asia Trail Master championship. 

International registration, click here. 

Video trailer

XX/XX - Echigo Country Trail (JPN)

Thailand's best two trail runners delivered a high-paced and fascinating dual on Koh Chang last weekend during UTKC, the first SuperTrail race of the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship. Jay Jantaraboon and Sanya Khancia both beat the course record set by Steven Ong and Wataru Iino last season, despite the extra hill that was added to the course for this year. Finishing barely 17 minutes apart, Jantaraboon and Khancai sent also a strong warning to all other potential contenders for this year's ATM Championship. In the women's Ruth Theresia led a very strong Indonesian group performance. 

UTKC had the reputation already of being one of the toughest races on the ATM calendar, and last weekend confirmed that status even more. Whereas the approx 4400 metres of elevation gain on the 100 course is not necessarily earth-shattering, the steepness of the hills, the density of the rainforest and the long road section halfway in scorching hot temperatures force all runners to dig deep into their reserves. Organiser Teelakow is well-aware UTKC is very challenging and spares no expense to stock all aid stations abundantly, and set a CUT that is manageable for all participants as long as they keep moving. As such, 67 runners succeeded in finishing the 100K distance and they were all delighted, indeed. 

The main race was set alight quickly after the 4 am start when Jay Jantaraboon and Sanya Khancai opened the gas. Italy's Alessandro Sherpa was alert and followed, but after twisting his ankle badly he faded and was eventually forced to stop. Sherpa was in a position to grab the points lead in the ATM Championship in this race, but given his injury he will also need to sit out the 9 Dragons Ultra next weekend. Not following the Thai duo was Indonesia's Arief Wismoyono. Perhaps untypical, Wismoyono opted for a quiet start of his 100k. The first runner-up of the 2017 ATM championship would never play a role for the victory, and instead was battling with France's Clement Dumont for the third spot. At km 64, it looked like Arief had the potential to catch up with Dumont, but the latter kept a solid pace himself and was able to extend the gap substantially come finish. His second fourth place of the 2018 ATM season does put Arief Wismoyono in the lead of the championship ranking with 850 points, though. Dean Perez was not running in Thailand, and will be back on the your in two weeks for Cordillera Mountain Ultra. 

Jay and Sanya ran together for half of the race, until the Champion System runner accelerated and was able to put some distance between them on the way to CP 5 at km 64. The gap there was 12 minutes. It is quite impressive therefore that the gap at the finish was just 5 minutes more. It proves the resilience and fantastic form of 46-year-old Sanya Khancai, who also explained afterwards to be disappointed with his result. Certainly it is no shame to lose to Jay Jantaraboon, who scored his second ATM race victory after dominating Ultra-Trail Chiang Rai last October. The winner's time was 14:27, compared to 15:06 last season by Ong and Iino. It is still early season, but if Jantaraboon and Khancai manage to get five ATM race results they will both be hot contenders for the 2018 ATM title! 

Jay and Sanya: both Thailanders were outstanding

Jay Jantaraboon still looked cool and fresh at CP5

Arief Wismoyono: not the easiest race for him, but 4 th place was enough to claim points lead

Legros pulls out, Theresia wins and takes ATM points lead

The women's 100K enjoyed the presence of an international elite runner from France, Elisabeth Legros, who is spending holiday time in Thailand this month. Pre-race favourite Ruth Theresia had a great start of her race as she was able to keep the gap between her and Legros to around 15 minutes. Unfortunately, the Bandung runner then chose a wrong trail that sent her up another hill. When back on the right trail, Theresia of course had lost contact with Legros entirely and instead had to watch out for her compatriot Shindy Patricia, Philippines' Ann Jilian Pulanco and Thailand's Kanlaya Srinantawong. Montha Suntornwit was a DNS, unfortunately. Theresia was clearly in great form and also had luck on her side later on the day. Shindy Patricia missed a marker and got lost for a long time herself, and Pulanco had to stop the race being unable to still take in any water or food. Then, Elisabeth Legros began to suffer from serious foot blisters, too. And that was not her only problem: an insect flew deep into the French runner's ear and was stuck inside. Legros pulled out of the race at around km 75 and had to be taken to hospital to have the bug removed from her ear. As such, Ruth Theresia claimed the race lead and would hang onto it without rushing at nighttime to finish in 23:23. Shindy Patricia arrived two hours later to grab second. Thailand's Kanlaya Srinantawong was a further three hours back in third place. Srinantawong was engaged in a dual with another Indonesian Grandmaster runner, Lily Suryani, who reached the finish seven minutes later. Suryani is of course the only female two-star Grandmaster so far. Back from a hamstring injury that still bothers her, the runner from Bali remains an incredibly consistent finisher of ultra races! 

The 70K race of UTKC saw a tight battle between Fabien Bencler from New Caledonia and Britain's Paul Dunn, decided in favour of the former. The gap at the finish was just four minutes. In third place fourteen minutes down was Filippino Joeffery Camara. The women's 70K saw a Thai winner and podium: Patcharee Chuaythaisong, was faster than Parinda Sothonboon and Anisa Suebwongsan. 

France's Elisabeth Legros led the women's race until km 75 when blisters and an insect forced her to DNF

Indonesian women dominated the podium with Ruth Theresia as winner

Fabien Bencler from New Caledonia won the 70K race

Ultra-Trail Koh Chang, aka UTKC, is again the first SuperTrail of the Asia Trail Master Championship this year, and despite Chinese New Year sees a remarkable line-up of international and domestic trail runners. Contrary to last year, it also looks very likely that the host country will have one or more athetes on the podium of the main event, the 100K race.  Two of the country’s best trail runners, if not the best, will be at the start: freshly married Jay Jantaraboon - the dominator at Ultra-Trail Chiang Rai last October - and Sanya Khancai, the most successful Thai runner in ATM so far with race victories in Ultra Trail Nan 100 and Vietnam Mountain Marathon on his record already. 

The men’s 100K, which starts in the early hours of Friday, is a meanwhile renowned tough and technical race with over 5000m of elevation gain. Taking place mostly during the day, the heat can be scorching in certain areas of the course. On the positive side, runners can enjoy the fantastic scenery of Koh Chang island to the maximum, and the fastest runners are expected to be back at the finish in the late afternoon and evening, in prime time in other words. 

Astonishing views during UTKC (P; Adventure III)

While many athletes can legitimately dream of a podium finish tomorrow, if Jay Jantaraboon showed the same kind of form as in Chiang Rai a few months ago it would be hard to bet against him. Having said that, UTCR and UTKC may be organised by the same company Teelakow but they are two very different animals. This one is a lot more technical and tactical. Last season, Japan’s star runner Wataru Iino looked set for a grand victory in UTKC, yet completely disintegrated in the final 20 km and got caught by Soonseng Ong. The Malaysian was kind enough to stay with the dehydrated Iino until the finish, but the Japanese ace made it clear to everyone Ong had been the stronger man. A scenario like this can repeat itself always in ultra running and especially in a tropical climate. Yet Jay Jantaraboon is no rookie. How close can Sanya Khancai stay with Jantaraboon? Will Khancai and Italy’s Alessandro Sherpa take off like bullets again, as they did in Ultra Trail Panoramic 100 miles last December? Another traditionally quick starter could join them in an early attack: Arief Wismoyono from Indonesia. The runner-up in the 2017 ATM Championship can definitely not be underestimated and has been showing excellent form in the past six months in both ultra and medium distance races. This trio could take the fight to Jantaraboon, of course with the risk of running against a massive counter punch. Wismoyono and Sherpa will have a battle between themselves as well this weekend, namely for the points lead in the ATM Championship. Sherpa was third in Tahura Trail, Wismoyono fourth. That’s a difference of just 25 points. 

Other podium candidates on a good day are Frenchman Clement Dumont, third in Korea 50K in 2016, Britain’s Robert Butcher and Filippino Jared Teves. 

In the women’s 100k start list we see perhaps fewer known and big names, but one stands out: Ruth Theresia. The always smiling second runner-up in the 2017 ATM Championship launches her 2018 campaign in Thailand this weekend. Ruth Theresia has the experience to bring this to a good end as well. The Indonesian will be competing against a whole field of Thai runners, of whom Montha Suntornwit is likely the biggest podium candidate, and against her own compatriots and fellow Grandmasters Shindy Patricia and Lily Suryani, fifth and sixth respectively in the 2017 ATM Championship. Filippino Ann Julian Pulanco could also be a podium contender on a good day. As this is ultra, there can of course always be a new name popping up from nowhere. 

Apart from Wismoyono, Theresia, Suryani and Patricia, there’s two more ATM Grandmasters at the start of the 100K tomorrow. Brunei’s Ali Ajis Rasil and Filippino Cheryl Bihag. Both accustomed to the ultra distance, they will be adding another point on their march towards a second Grandmaster star. 

As announced via social media last weekend, we are happy to confirm that Borneo TMBT Ultra Marathon returns to the Asia Trail Master Championship series after a 2-year-hiatus. The classic event near Kota Kinabalu in Sabah was the first ever ATM points race in Malaysia, and this year will offer 100K runners again with a chance to boost their 2018 championship points and their Grandmaster Quest. The event will be held on 1/2 September and also marks the beginning of a very busy September in ATM, with Hakuba Trails, Bandung Ultra 100, Vietnam Mountain Marathon and Ijen Trailrunning occupying the other weekend slots that month. 

Race registration for Borneo TMBT Ultra Marathon is already open, and you better do not wait too long! 

The event will stay loyal to its traditional courses of 100K, 50K and 25K and is a genuine test of physical and mental strength through the mountainous rainforest of Sabah on Borneo. Please note that only the 100K will offer ATM Championship and Grandmaster Quest points. 

The TMBT is Malaysia's oldest Ultra-Trail® Marathon with the inaugural race held in 2011. The acronym stands for "The Most Beautiful Thing", and makes reference to the iconic Mount Kinabalu, which at 4,100 m is one of Southeast Asia's highest peaks and a world heritage site. The TMBT course is set over the ridges and in the river valleys around the base of Mt. Kinabalu, with the highest elevation on the race course just under 2000m.

The event takes runners from the quaint native villages at the foothills on the western side of Mount Kinabalu towards the southern side of the mountain. The 100k category continues around the base of Mount Kinabalu and to the South-Eastern ridges of the mountain to finish in the village of Kundasang.

The routes are challenging but beautiful and give runners an opportunity to experience remote villages and follow village trails through a varied landscape of forest and cultivated areas. Trails pass paddy fields and climb steep ridges clad in pineapples with amazing views to Mt. Kinabalu and over the surrounding ridges and valleys which are often shrouded in clouds. The routes cross numerous streams with refreshing water on a hot day, while most larger rivers are crossed via hanging, bamboo or log bridges. Part of the trails follow the old heritage trails that used to be a part of the old buffalo trading routes linking villagers from Kota Belud to Bundu Tuhan.

The race has a reputation for being challenging to complete with a combination of steep terrain and technical trail sections, and the weather, usually hot in the first part of the day and with a good chance of tropical showers in the afternoon, often add to the challenge.

Borneo TMBT Ultra Marathon