After another wonderful edition of the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival last weekend, the curtain has fallen on yet another ill-fated year for the mass participation running event industry. MMTF was, indeed, the only championship points race that actually took place in 2021. A few Candidate Races in the last month notwithstanding, nothing else happened this year. Everyone is longing for 2022 to begin, and just like a year ago, optimism characterises the mood of most. Nobody can predict developments concerning covid-19 in the next months, but most event organisers are now more hopeful given the fact that authorities have established protocols for the event industry. Some of these may be strict and may not be very pleasant, but at least they would allow for races to take place. Let’s be honest, runners have had enough of virtual races since a long time already now.

For obvious reasons, the 2022 event calendar tilts heavily towards the second semester. Chances of international participation remain very small until then. As announced already some time ago, the 2022 ATM Championship concept and regulations have been changed to reflect the current difficulties of people crossing borders. In a nutshell, runners will score points according to the traditional system to try and enter themselves in the top 5 male or female of their own country (or resident country in the case of non-Asian expats). Doing so will lead to an invitation to participate as part of a country’s national team in the winner-takes-all ATM Final in December.

The intended 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship calendar begins on the first weekend of March. Two events are scheduled for that weekend: Dalat Ultra Trail in Vietnam and The Punisher in the Philippines. Two events taking place at the same time is not ideal for anyone (read: runners must choose and media needs to split attention instead of focusing on one event only), but in 2022 ‘double hits’ will be unavoidable and covid-related postponements can never be excluded from today’s point of view.

March will be busy, because the following week we will be in Thailand for the classic Ultra Trail Koh Chang, and a week later we welcome Borneo Ultra Trail Marathon in Sabah as a newcomer on the ATM Championship calendar.

Several events will still be added to the 2022 calendar in weeks to come, as soon as there is more certainty about them. We are, amongst others, hopeful to add two points races in India to the below calendar, which would be a first for ATM. Discussions are ongoing between three organisers in three countries for the ATM Championship Final in December.

The intended 2022 ATM calendar is as follows:

5 March - Vietnam, Dalat City - Dalat Ultra Trail (70 km)
5 March - Philippines, Babak Samal Island, Mindanao - The Punisher (80 km)
12 March - Thailand, Koh Chang Island - UTKC (100 km & 70 km)
19 March - Malaysia, Sabah - BUTM (100 km & 50 km)

23 April - South Korea, Dongducheon - Korea 50K (59 km)

19 June - Japan, Nagaoka, Niigata - Echigo Country Trail (55 km)
XX June - Indonesia, Yogyakarta, Central Java - Coast To Coast Night Trail Ultra (70 km)

9 July - Indonesia, Malang, East Java - Mantra Summits Challenge (116 km & 75 km)
16 July - Malaysia, Century Pines Resort - Cameron Ultra (100 km)
23 July - Philippines, Lake Apo, Mindanao - MUSPO 50 (100 km)

20 August - Indonesia, Bondowoso, East Java - Ijen Trail (100 km)
27 August - Thailand, Chiangmai - UTCM (100 km & 60 km)

XX September - Vietnam, Yen Bai - Mu Cang Chai Trail Ultra (50 km)
17 September - Malaysia, Sabah - Borneo TMBT Ultra (100 km & 50 km)
24 September - Vietnam, Sapa - Vietnam Mountain Marathon (100 Miles & 100 km)

8 October - Malaysia, Penang - UToP (100 km)
15 October - Vietnam, Pu Luong - Vietnam Jungle Marathon (70 km)
22 October - Japan, Hakuba, Nagano - Hakuba Trails (52 km)
29 October - South Korea, High Trail 9 Peaks Ulju (100 km & 50 km)
29 October - Hong Kong, Lantau Island - Lantau 70 (70 km)

5 November - Thailand - Doi Nhok Trail (100 km)
19 November - Malaysia, Taiping - MMTF (100 km)
26 November - India - Malnad Ultra (100km/50 km)
27 November - Philippines, Baguio, Luzon - Cordillera Mountain Ultra (50 km)

December: subject to the allocation of the ATM Final and its event date

The Punisher on Babak Samal Island offers a great mix of beach and hilly rainforest

Dalat Ultra Trail is known for its mild climate and the pine forests

UTKC 2020 was the last international points race before the first lockdown. Paul Dunn and Fredelyn Alberto won the main race of 100km.

TMBT’s sister is growing up: BUTM joins the ATM Championship as a points race in 2022

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.

Thimo Kilberth and Emma Payne are the great winners of the inaugural Batur Trail Challenge in Bali last weekend. Both arrived at the uphill finish line in KIntamani da solo with a clear advantage over their nearest competitors Michio Yoneda and Shindy Patricia, respectively. The new event, organised by Bali Trail Running headed by Ms Indah Immortel, was an ATM Candidate Race for the 2022 Championship series and received widespread praise from a diverse field of participants.

Covid 19 is of course still around us all and the event could only take place with a set of extra regulations and mitigation efforts to be adhered to. These were gladly accepted by the runners, most of whom toed a starting line for the first time in almost two years. That’s a long time without races, and it was no surprise to see several new faces at the front of the Batur Trail Challenge, which offered a 30 km course with the ascent and descent of Mt Batur as central piece. The organiser does have a longer course of about 55-60km already designed for 2022. Last weekend, again partially due to covid restrictions, runners had to make do for 30k. Despite the 1200m of elevation gain, it meant that competitive runners could go flat out from the gun. Having a quick default running pace therefore boosted one’s chances for a podium finish.

And familiarity with the race route. Jakarta-based Japanese “road” runner Michio Yoneda, who holds a 2:37 marathon PB, pushed Bali-resident Thimo Kilberth, who is fast on the road as well, forward until the summit of Batur. Then came the long descent, where Kilbert was able to use his technical skills and knowledge of the trails to open up the gap to Yoneda. Kilberth ran clear for over ten minutes, but not knowing how far ahead he actually was kept pushing hard to the finish and reached it in just over 3 hours. Yoneda secured second in a great debut at this level in an ATM-race. In third came another surprise, as Malang’s Mikha Tanujaya scored his first ATM race podium. Tanujaya stems from the ever-growing Mantra community by Heru Prabowo and Ivan Citraya, who have been doing excellent work in promoting trail running and required skillsets to local runners throughout the pandemic. In fourth, we had the second Japanese runner Fuminori Kondo and Indonesia’s Freda Wardana came fifth.

Shindy Patricia, arguably the best-known runner from Malang, was the top favourite in the women’s race. People who follow her on instagram know Shindy has kept on training consistently since the start of the corona situation, so if anyone was still going to be in shape it would be the 2019 Cameron Ultra winner. And yet, Shindy Patricia is a reputed ultra trail mountain runner and 30k might just be too short and too fast-paced. Elite triathlete Emma Payne, also known as Em J, felt like nothing to lose and immediately applied the pressure after the start, distancing Shindy and the other women already before the ascent of Mt Batur. Payne retained the gap on the mountain and cruised to the finish to score her maiden victory on the ATM circuit. Shindy secured second place, and France’s Manon Janin completed the podium in third place.

A comprehensive race summary of the Batur Trail Challenge can be watched on our YouTube and Facebook pages, or just here below. The broadcast includes a.o. fantastic footage of Mount Batur, shot by Santosh Vasan and Vincent Chalias, and interviews of several of the protagonists.

Watch our BTR Challenge race summary

We made an attempt, but alas. The merged 2020-21 ATM Championship resulted into nothing as the global covid-19 pandemic raged on and made any international trail running competition in Asia impossible. Still, we give kudos to the male and female Championship points leaders at the time of cancellation, Trung Nguyen and Julian Duong Thi Nguyen, both based in Vietnam. They deserve this mentioning, as both runners exceeded expectations and we sincerely hope they both can continue their upward trend, competitively speaking, into the new season.

2022 is edging closer and we are indeed not throwing the towel in the ring. The Asia Trail Master Championship series goes on!

Recently, several organisers have announced their forthcoming events will take place, or they have been confident enough to open registration. Of course, no Asian country is out of the woods yet and covid-19 is unlikely to disappear soon. International, even regional, leisure travel is expected to remain difficult for at least the first quarter of 2022, possibly going even beyond that. Most of the freshly announced events will feature domestic residents-only. As a consequence of this, we have been compelled to make adjustments to the traditional ATM event schedule and to the points allocation system. The biggest change is that the national country rankings become much more important, as they will determine who gets a spot in the National Team to enter and take part in the Asia Trail Master Final in December 2022!

The key points

The way in which runners score ATM Championship points does not change compared to the past. All finishers in an official ATM points race still collect 100 ‘finisher’ points, plus x number of ‘performance’ points according to the usual points table (printed below). In essence, male and female race winners go home with 500 points in their bags.

In trail running events there’s typically several race distance categories. Normally, the longest race is the one to focus on as the A-race for the ATM Championship. However, this is not always the case! It can be that there are two A-races at the same event. Therefore, always check our race overview to find out which race offers how many Championship points.

One stubborn misconception is still that you must do long ultras to become ATM champion. Not true: you can select medium distance A-races of 40 to 70k and get just as many points as for a long ultra of 100k or more. The best example of this is Veronika Vadovicova, who became ATM champion in 2019 although her longest race was “only” 84 km. Runners choose the race distance that fits their qualities best.

In 2022, again due to the ongoing pandemic, we will work with a “four-best-count” system. Not five. Only a runner’s best four race results will count for his or her points total before the ATM Championship Final in December.

Also the bonus points system is slightly amended for 2022. The Abroad Bonus (50 points for finishing at least 1 race outside of one’s resident country) and the 100 Miles+ Bonus (25 points) remain. On the other hand, we will not assign any SuperTrail labels to events next season, nor respective bonus points to finishing runners of these events. It’s been two years, the scene has changed, and as far as we are concerned, any organiser who manages to get his event on in 2022 deserves the “Super” label.

Asia Trail Master Championship Final

The 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship Final will be different than it was before. Again, the corona pandemic has forced us to rethink the concept. The reality is that certainly in the first quarter of next year, runners in quite a few places - take Hong Kong as an example - will be unable to travel anywhere, or will find that ‘real’ trail running event organisers still do not get the necessary permits from the authorities. This makes it impossible for runners living in that situation to play any prominent role in the Championship as it used to be, with an accumulative points system.

Therefore, the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship Final will be decided on a Winner-Takes-All basis! The male and female finalists who cross the finish line first will be the new ATM Champions.

However, you do need to qualify to be able to take part in that last race, the ATM Final. In each country, maximum five male and five female runners who score most ATM points during the year will qualify and be invited to enter their country’s National Team for the Asia Trail Master Championship Final.

The Final is therefore projected to be a race with selected elites-only, who are members of National Teams. Maximum five male runners and five females. Apart from the Individual Championship there will also be a Team Championship. The latter will be based on the accumulated finish times of the best three male runners and the best three female runners in each team.

The number of runners per team is subject to the number of ATM points races in that country.

• More than 3 ATM points races —> 5 male, 5 female

• 3 ATM points races —> 4 male, 4 female

• Less than 3 ATM points races —> 3 male, 3 female

The date and venue of the 2022 ATM Championship Final will be decided in due course.

Additional Notes/FAQ

• When there is more than one race distance at the same event

If an event offers two, three or more race distances, runners should check which of the race distance(s) offer ATM Championship points. Usually it is the longest race, but not always, and maybe two race distances have the same status.

• Multiple-day stage trail races

Performance points will be awarded according to the final overall classification, not per stage. This is important for The 9 Dragons Ultra in Hong Kong, for instance.

• Joint finishers

An important distinction will be made as of the second quarter of each season, i.e. 1 April (now as of 1 April 2022): If runners cross the finish line together hand-in-hand, their ranking relative to each other at the last timing checkpoint before the race finish will be consulted to determine who scores the most performance points. 


We also like camaraderie and people enjoying successes together, yet the ATM Championship is a sporting competition and we must avoid a situation whereby, late in the season, a joint finish of two or more championship contenders could be done deliberately for tactical reasons.

• ATM Championship Ranking before the ATM Final

Four-best-count system: only the best 4 point-results of each runner obtained during the calendar year will be taken into account for the selection into the National Teams for the ATM Final. This means if a runner has done six races, his two worst results will be deleted and not taken into account for his points total. Even if you run 13 ATM races, only your best 4 results matter.

In the last race of the ATM season - the ATM Final - all finalists will score additional points according to their ranking in the race result.

• Abroad Bonus

Runners who score points in 3 ATM races get a 50-point bonus if 1 of the 3 races took place outside the runner’s country of residence at the time of the race

• Joint points total in final Championship Ranking

If two or more runners have the same points total at the end of the year: preference goes to the runner who won the most recent direct confrontation between the relevant runners. If this does not separate the relevant runners, we check what their highest points score in 1 single race was and how many times that score was obtained (eg. three race wins against 1 race win). If this still does not separate them, the advantage goes to the runner who did most races and accumulated most total points during the year (e.g. a runner who scored points in eight races against a runner who only scored points in five races).

Let’s hope all of us can meet and play again on the trails of Asia in 2022!

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

Gradually, trail running events are appearing on calendars again! Including in Indonesia, where the new Batur Trail Run has been confirmed for 4 December 2021 in the Kintamani region of Bali. The event will take place around the Museum Geopark Batur and is a long-term project by the Bali Trail Running group featuring experienced local runners Indah Wardhani and Vincent Chalias. The first edition in December offers a single 30 km race course with 1230 metres of elevation gain on and around the famous Mount Batur volcano, a long-time trekkers’ paradise on the island. Participants in the race will get to see Batur and its adjacent lake from a wholly different angle, though. As the corona crisis is not yet fully over, the event can only take place under a clear covid safety protocol and with a restricted number of runners of 150. Registrations were opened earlier this week and more than half of the available spots have already been claimed. The Batur Trail Run has received our ATM Candidate Race label and will be covered via our channels.

When over a year ago we decided to merge the 2020 Asia Trail Master Championship series with the 2021 season, to honour runners’ efforts before the covid-19 pandemic went global, we were full of hope that this year would be a return to a ‘kind-of-normal’. Alas, it was not to be.

Throughout 2021 not a single event on our intended 2021 event calendar has been able to take place and country borders have remained as good as shut for leisure travellers on the Asian continent. Fortunately, it is not all gloom and doom anymore as there seems to be some light at the end of this long dark tunnel now, or should we say ‘again’. In a majority of countries the vaccination campaign has led to some success in curbing the spread of covid 19, and a number of borders might reopen soonish. A few trail running event organisers are even bravely persisting to make things happen in the final quarter of 2021 (e.g. Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival, Vietnam Mountain Marathon, High Trail 9 Peaks Ulju in South Korea and Izu Trail Journey in Japan). Nevertheless, these events will only feature domestic runners.

As a result, we feel there is no other way but to officially cancel the 2020/21 ATM Championship and shift the focus entirely towards 2022.

The current points leaders in our ranking, Trung Nguyen (Singapore but now based in Vietnam) and Julia Nguyen Thi Duong (Vietnam), receive an honourary mention in the ATM archive as such.

The ATM Championship ranking for competitive runners will be reset to zero at the start of 2022. Runners who focus on completing the ATM Grandmaster Quest retain their finish results of 2019, 2020 and 2021 due to the special circumstances, but must register their Grandmaster Quest intention via our usual online form in advance of their next race.

What’s next?

First, rest assured that Asia Trail Master aims to continue in 2022. What will the series look like next year? We do not have a crystal ball and formal plans we make today may be entirely outdated or impossible to implement two months from now. The corona crisis is not over yet. However, we remain optimistic and we do have a vision for next year, and that vision will be shared into the public space in the course of October.

Meanwhile, as mentioned above, we will give full support to the few events that still have the intention to proceed in the last months of 2021.

Stay Strong, Stay Ultra. Covid 19 has been a major challenge for all of us. The ATM crew wishes the entire community continuous strength and stamina to combat the crisis. Keep in shape, keep running to protect yourself, both physically and mentally. Soon we will all be able to meet and compete again on our favourite trails. Imagine that upcoming first race. What a joy it will be. No forest too thick, no mountain too high. What a joy it will be!

Trung Nguyen: 2020/21 ATM male points leader

Julia Nguyen Thi Duong: 2020/21 ATM female points leader

It has been a while since our latest formal news announcement, as basically all races under the ATM 2021 umbrella got cancelled in recent months due to the ongoing covid 19 pandemic that keeps a firm grip on the Asian continent. It has forced us to have a major rethink of the entire Asia Trail Master series’ set-up, given that, today, there still seems no end in sight to the extraordinary situation we all find ourselves in. This coming Friday, 1 October, we will be sharing initial decisions taken, and ideas developed for 2022. Please stay tuned.

Also in 2021 Vietnam seems to be the Asian country where most ‘real’ trail running events are and will be taking place. Vietnam Mountain Marathon and Vietnam Jungle Marathon are the classics on the Asia Trail Master Championship calendar in the mean time and already open for registration. Hopefully, by end of August and October some international runners will be able to enter the country by that time. That is currently still impossible, which is why Dalat Ultra Trail, which takes place this year early May, was not on our intended event calendar for 2021. This has opened an opportunity for another Vietnamese event to enter the ATM Championship and that honour has gone to last year’s Candidate Mu Cang Chai Trail in the northeast of the country. MCC, as it is often abbreviated, is scheduled for 18/19 September, which is the old date of VMM after the latter moved forward to end of August. As previously announced, Mu Cang Chai Trail offers a chance to the faster medium distance trail runners with the 50k race as the ATM Championship points race. The event organiser released a great teaser video - embedded below - to get you in the mood. Registrations open by the end of March.

Registrations are also open for the multiday boutique event Bali Volcano Race in December. This new event has the ATM Candidate Race label and has a lot of options on its programme. There’s the 3-day stage race, with limited numbers, and there’s two single day races around Mount Batur as well: Batur Extreme and Batur Adventure. Bali Volcano Race has Spanish roots and is one of several new events that were in the pipeline on the island of the gods last year. Hopefully, things can really get going in the coming months, indeed. More details on BVR via its website.

As mentioned above, Vietnam Mountain Marathon and Vietnam Jungle Marathon are open for registration as well , and you can do so via the website of the event organiser.

The ATM Final is set in Malaysia on 18 December, and if you were there or were following the 2019 race coverage you know you do not want to miss this: Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping is open for registration as well.

Another ATM Candidate Race has opened the books this week and confirmed its event date for 2021. Malnad Ultra in India is scheduled for 27/28 November. It will be the 5th edition of the event, which offers three ultra categories of 110km, 80km and 50km. The course takes runners through the beautiful Kadumane Estate, with stunning views in the Western Ghats of South India. A nice and comprehensive teaser video is embedded below.

VMM in Sapa has one of the most iconic finish lines in Asia

Not a lot of news over the past two weeks on the ATM circuit, as everyone keeps waiting for possibilities to make more formal and decisive plans. The good news, however, is that the registrations for the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival and the Vietnam Mountain Marathon have been going well, indicating again how hungry many runners are for real events. Ewegene Tan, event organiser of MMTF, even mentions a lot of international sign-ups, not in the least from the Philippines. MMTF is the last event on the ATM calendar this year on 18 December, making it the “ATM Final” once again after 2019.

How that Championship Final will be designed is a matter that is increasingly being discussed these weeks, as it appears unlikely the majority of Asian runners will be able to put in four of five results during the 2021 season. We will be updating you all on this in the coming weeks.

Registration for MMTF goes via the official event website.

In Vietnam, runners have had the most opportunities to keep up their racing spirit and so far it looks like that may remain the case in 2021. Both the Vietnam Mountain Marathon (end of August) and Vietnam Jungle Marathon (mid-October) are open for registration. These are popular events, so you may wish to sign up already and keep your participation chances alive. Go to the official website.

In Thailand, things have become more complicated in recent months but are expected to normalise again in May. Nevertheless, following meetings with local authorities on Koh Samui, organiser teelakow has decided to postpone Samui Monkey’s Trail from May to September at a weekend to be decided later. At the same time, it has been announced that the trail route will be completely redesigned for this year’s edition. For more info on Samui Monkey’s Trail, please consider the event’s facebook page.

Over in Japan, the Echigo Country Trail in Nagaoka, Niigata, remains one of the earliest events on the schedule for this year on 20 June. Registrations for the 60km points race are open via the official website.