A very nasty fall at night by women’s top favourite Sherlyn Fugaban cast a shadow over some otherwise fantastic performances by filipino runners at the MUSPO Ultra 100 in Valencia, Bukidnon, on the island of Mindanao. Just before midnight, Fugaban - winner this season of, a.o, the ATM Candidate Races Santa Ines Adventure Run and Sierra Madre Ultra in the Rizal mountains - slid on a wet and muddy downhill trail and tripped over a large tree root. Her coming down could not be worse and resulted in an upper leg fracture. Fugaban had to be evacuated from the scene, which turned out to be complicated, and was hospitalised where she is now waiting for surgery. All things considered, Fugaban was in a positive mood on Sunday afternoon, even though she realises this will take many many months, if not longer, to recover from. A surgery procedure such as this also requires a substantial amount of money, unfortunately. Her team is therefore kindly asking for donations. You can find details here below or on our facebook page.

It was almost six hours into the race when the freak accident happened, and Fugaban was in the lead together with Aggy Sabanal. The latter would run on to win the race in over 21 hours, which indicated how extremely tough the heavy rainfall made the trail course after the start at 6pm in the evening. Ces Wael was pushing Sabanal for most of the race, but had to settle for second just four minutes ahead of Julie Ann Morales.

The men’s race was dominated by Arnie Macaneras and Larry Apolinario until sunrise, when the duo missed a critical marker and went off course for a very long time. When after an hour they finally got back on the right trail, runners such as Sean Anying and Yoyong Sacayle had already passed. Larry Apolinario decided to chase them down and did so in remarkably fast fashion. For Macaneras it was a bit too much, and he decided to take it easy. He would later DNF and score no important ATM Championship points…

Larry Apolinario steamed to victory in 17h29 and raises his profile as an ATM protagonist. It was his first ever ATM points race victory after a second place in Akyathlon 2019. This year, Apolinario had already won the Sierra Made Trail Ultra 75 in May. Many runners showed great form in this race. Sean Anying had his best ATM result ever with a second place, just ahead of Freddie Blanco.

Sherlyn Fugaban: her ATM Championship ambitions will unfortunately need to be postponed.

Larry Apolinario proved he is a class act by winning MUSPO 100 even after losing an hour by going off-course

Aggy Sabanal is back to the scene and scores her first ATM race win since 2018!

Sean Anying, Freddie Blanco, Ryan Estreras and Yojong Sacayle were runners 2-5 in the ranking

This weekend we have the first Filipino points race in the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship series, and it’s a newcomer as well: MUSPO Ultra in Bukidnon, Mindanao. On the programme of the event’s 3rd edition - the first since covid - are several race categories but ATM contenders and Grandmaster Quest seekers will focus on the 100 kilometres race that starts at 6 p.m. on Saturday. That essentially means it’s going to be predominantly a night race for most runners. Among the favourites we wind Arnie Macaneras and Sherlyn Fugaban in the women’s.

Bukidnon is the region between Cagayan de Oro and Davao on the large southern island of the Philippines. The area around Valencia City may not be as mountainous as the others, but the steep gradients of the hills and treacherous ground conditions (could be really muddy if there’s some heavy rain) will make this 100k challenging. Among the highlights are the touristic attractions Lake Apo and Musuan Peak, along with Sagumata Falls.

Arnie Macaneras was the coming man in southern Philippines before covid-19 halted everything. Macaneras was a surprise 2nd behind Kitamura but before John Ellis in the 2019 The Punisher race, and backed that up with another 2nd place at UTKC in Thailand - ahead of Kitamura - in February 2020. On paper, he will thus be the man to beat in Valencia this weekend, but how much has the corona crisis affected his performance level? We already know that Larry Apolinario from Antique is back at his best, courtesy of his great race victory in the ATM Candidate Sierra Madre Trail Ultra at the end of May. Apolinario could be Macaneras’ main challenger. Also on the start list is former Mt Apo race winner Ronie Torlao. Slightly older than the other two, but reportedly still going fast - also on less technical terrain. Other podium hopefuls will be Grandmaster 2 stars Aleksis Capili, Joeffery Camara, Al Telias and Hover Luis. And who knows we get suprised by a new face.

In the women’s we can expect a battle between three well-known ATM protagonists. Sherlyn Fugaban is the new lady on the block, having won both ATM Candidate Races in the Rizal this spring. Less experienced over 100k, Fugaban will need to watch out for the very experienced Cecile Wael and the 2018 ATM Championship runner-up Aggy Sabanal. The latter returned to trail action earlier in the year after giving birth. Fresh Grandmaster Rhea Baltac is also on the start list, along with Janet Halcon.

We will be covering the race live on our usual channels, and we have live tracking of the lead runners again, too. Link is below.

Arnie Macaneras

Cecile Wael

You can now watch our race recap of last weekend’s Cameron Ultra 100 in Malaysia, the eight points race in Season VII of the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship series. The video is available below and also on our ATM YouTube channel and ATM Facebook Page. The 100k race was won by Hisashi Kitamura, who ran away from the opposition just over halfway on the out-and-back route. The women’s race was a lot tighter with an ever-changing leaderboard and, eventually, a Singaporean across the finish line first in what was her debut on the ATM circuit: Zeng Xiaoyun, also known as Vincere Zeng. ‘Vincere’ means ‘winning’ in Italian, by the way…

Special thanks to Mark Jinmin and Amy Khor for their great contributions, and to the event organising team at BOLT for their assistance.

Hisashi Kitamura has won Cameron Ultra 2022 and is now the first ever four-star ATM Grandmaster. Crossing the finish line with his trademark 'karate kick' jump, Kitamura also scored his 5th career ATM race victory, and his second of this season. He ran away from his main rival today, Daved Simpat, just over halfway and extended his advantage progressively. His race time was 12h01 minute.

54 minutes later, Sabah's Daved Simpat entered the event arena in second place and scored another important 450 ATM Championship points after those at BUTM 100 in March. Important, because Team Malaysia is not the easiest team to qualify for with a view to the ATM Final in December at the Mount Apo Sky Race in Sta Cruz, Davao, Philippines. Simpat certainly still has what it takes on the other side of age 40. In third and completing the podium was France's Herve Huguenot. His first ever podium result in an ATM race. Wilsen Singgin again suffered from cramps and had to settle for fourth, just like in BUTM and seems still a bit away from his top form that brought him the Malaysia Trail Master title in MMTF at the end of last year. The men's top 5 was rounded up by Singaporean Deric Lau, who made his debut in an ATM race.

Singapore's Vincere Zeng was the best woman on the day, after a very exciting race with constantly changing positions at the front. Sally Yap got overtaken by Zeng in only the final 10k of the race. Halimatun Saadiah scored 3rd place in basically a spint in the final kilometers against Vietnam-based Japanese runner Tamae Harada. Izzah Hazirah was leading early on, but dropped down the leaderboard.

You can relive the action of the front runners via the replay function on our ATM/DTA interface

We are happy to announce that the Mount Apo Sky Race in Philippines will feature as the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship final on 17 December. The winner-takes-all Championship race, organised by Vertical To Sky with Doi Calbes as race director, will take place on the original 70k trail route used in 2015 and 2017, plus a 3k extension to the beach in Santa Cruz, one hour south of Davao City in MIndanao. Mount Apo is the highest mountain in Philippines with an elevation of 2954m above sea level. The ATM Championship race will thus run from the beach to the highest peak of the country and back.

As of this year, runners need to qualify to take part in the ATM Championship Final by ranking in the top 5 of their country. Points can be earned throughout the season in races on the ATM Championship calendar. The final race will be held in country teams format of maximum five men and five women per country. Qualified runners will start the Mt Apo Sky Race 75k in two separate waves: women at 5 am and men at 6 am. The winners, male and female, will be crowned as the 2022 ATM Champions, following in the footsteps of John Ellis and Veronika Vadovicova. The top 10 will be rewarded on the podium with significant prizes. In addition, the best performing country team will also be crowned as ATM Team Champion. The country result will be based on the accumulated finish times of the best three male runners and best three female runners in each team (= 6 finishing times in total). More details can be read here.

Please note that the event also has a mass-participation race of 100k, open to the general public, which will start earlier at night. The scene is set for an unforgettable weekend in Davao!

Stay tuned for more details to come out in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, book your diaries for a fantastic weekend in Davao on 16/17/18 December.

This is the course map of the 70K race in 2017, which will be used for the ATM Final. The only difference will be start & finish on the beach, adding almost 6km tot the total distance

Mount Apo, highest peak of the Philippines at nearly 3000m above sea level. Also the turning point of the race.

Click on the image to read the story of the four men’s winners of the Mt Apo Sky Race so far

Click on the image to read the story of the four women’s winners of the Mt Apo Sky Race so far

 

2019 vice ATM Champion Hisashi Kitamura starts the 5th edition of Cameron Ultra as the top favourite on the 100 km points race this coming Saturday at 3:45 am. The KL-based Japanese UGLOW Asia ace is in excellent form during the first months of Season VII and underlined that with a strong victory in Japan at Echigo Country Trail just a month ago. Confidence runs high also because the Karate Kit was already 2nd in Cultra in 2019, the last time the event was organised, albeit not part of the ATM series back then.

Cameron Ultra is one the most popular trail events in Malaysia alongside Borneo TMBT Ultra and MMTF. The route is essentially an out-and-back through pristine scenery and various types of terrain. Elevation gain is not to be underestimated for the 100k: over 3900 hm. The route includes Mount Berembun and Mount Perdah. Given the Cameron Highlands are generally located between 800m and 1600m above sea level, the climate is not all that bad for trail runners with cooler temperatures than in other Malaysian races. The Cameron Highlands are of course also famous for the tea plantations.

The main challengers for Kitamura are expected to come from Sabah in East Malaysia. Wilsen Singgin was not happy with his performance at BUTM earlier this year in March and is hoping to reconnect with the kind of running form that brought him victory at last year’s MMTF in December, ahead of Kitamura and Daved Simpat, his fellow Sabahan who also features on the start list this weekend. Other podium contenders are likely to be Jeffery Budin, Bernardo Linus Sanchez, Seiji Morofuji and Derrick Lau. Of course, there’s always a possibility for unknown runners to come to the foreground. Noteworthy is also that the Indonesian and Singaporean leaders in the country rankings are also on the start list: Abdul Rahman Muhammad Ishak (Indonesia) and Cao Wei (Singapore). The country rankings are important to determine who will qualify for their national country team at the ATM Championship Final on 17 December.

The women’s 100k race is expected to turn into a dual between 2021 Malaysia Trail Master Champion Izzah Hazirah and BUTM 100 winner Sally Yap. Izzah will launch her 2022 campaign in our series at Cameron Ultra. Highly experienced, also on technical trails, Izzah will be keen to add this race to her collection of victories. For newbie Sally Yap, from Sarawak, this weekend could be the definite breakthrough of a new trail talent.

Asia Trail Master will be reporting live from the 100k race throughout the weekend, via our usual channels on facebook and instagram, as well as on our new DTA-based interface.

Hisashi Kitamura: top favourite to score another race victory this weekend

Wilsen Singgin could be the biggest challenger for Kitamura together with fellow Sabahan Daved Simpat

Izzah Hazirah: the Malaysia Trail Master Champion 2021 will have her first ATM race of the season

Sally Yap from Sarawak was the impressive winner of BUTM 100. Can she repeat this weekend?

We know him as one of the top contenders in the Asia Trail Master Championship, but this weekend Hisashi Kitamura can also enter the record books as the first trail runner to obtain the Grandmaster **** four stars label. The Malaysia-based Japanese runner from Team UGLOW Asia will be competing at Cameron Ultra 100 this weekend.

Kitamura began his Grandmaster Quest in early 2018 with the 9 Dragons in Hong Kong and already completed the first level in the same year in Bali at the Plataran X Trail. He continued piling up the results and race finishes of over 70km in the following year - when he stubbornly challenged John Ellis for the ATM Championship title - even to the extent many felt he was outrunning himself. The covid crisis of course also stopped him in his tracks, which in that sense might have been not the worst thing. In this current season VII, Kitamura is in any case very much back in action and he is probably at his highest competitive level yet. Cameron Ultra 100 this coming Saturday will be his 20th Grandmaster distance in the ATM series, and many will bet on him to win the race. But even if he does not, finishing Cultra will earn him the top Grandmaster recognition.

Another three-star Grandmaster***, Masafumi Yamamoto will be aiming for his 19th race finish at Cameron Ultra as well. It is interesting that the first two runners about to score four stars are both from the same country, Japan. A country, of course, that loves distance running.

It is a pleasure to announce a second South Korean event for the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship calendar. Already an established event, Seoul 100K around the country’s capital city joins on the weekend of 15/16 October with a 100k and a 50k race on the programme that are both valid for ATM Championship ranking points. Organised by the Korea Alpine Federation, the races will be directed by JSceno, the company that does Ulju Trail 9 Peaks near Busan two weeks afterwards at the end of October. Korean trail runners will therefore have a great chance to feature in the ATM Championship again, as they can complete the mandatory two ATM race finishes inside their home country, too.

The races will start at Seoul Plaza at 5 am and have a fixed participation limit of 200 for the 100k and 300 for the 50k. The cut-off time for the 100k has been set at 27 hours,. Registrants should be aware of the mandatory gear items, and if you run the longest distance, please bring a doctor’s certificate stating you are fit for the task. A sample certificate can be downloaded from the event website (link below).

Logistics are obviously quite simple for this event. Seoul is one of Asia’s biggest capital cities, well-connected by air, and you could stay anywhere and even bring the family along for a shopping or tourism weekend.

Registration is going quicky so it is strongly advised to decide soon on your trip to Korea. Any questions can be directed to KAF (fluent English spoken) or to info@asiatrailmaster.com

You can now watch Asia Trail Master’s Tale of the Trail, the Race Recap of last weekend’s Mantra Summits Challenge in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. The video in HD is available on our YouTube channel, Facebook Page or just here embedded below. Enjoy.

We are happy to announce the latest ATM Candidate Race that will in fact take place very soon at the end of this month. The Kadamaian Ultra in Kota Belud in Sabah, Malaysia, is part of a bigger adventure race festival and is a new addition to the calendar in the home area of renowned trail runners such as Milton Amat, Wilsen Singgin, Daved Simpat and the Lintanga sisters. Officially called the High 5 KAR Ultra, the main race is 70 km in length and has an elevation gain estimated at 3250 hm. As you can see in the course map below, it’s quite an organic loop with the highest peak coming in the middle. Start and finish is at Kg. Malangkap Baru, Kadamaian in Kota Belud, roughly one hour north of Kota Kinabalu. The race start is planned for 6 am. Shuttle busses will take runners from Kota Kinabalu, but be aware you need to sign up for the bus via a google form on the website (see button)

As the event takes place in 3 weeks, race registration is already closed, but ATM can make two runners happy with a free race entry still now! Stay tuned for details on how to win the entry later today.

Mantra Summits Challenge in Malang, East Java, once more confirmed its reputation as the toughest event on the Asia Trail Master Championship calendar. Heavy rainfall on Saturday night plagued runners even more and turned the 116k and 75k marquee races across Mount Welirang, Arjuno and Mahapena into a brutal adventure resulting in a long list of DNFs. Up front, however, we saw some fantastic performances, too. The Vietnamese duo of Quang Tran and Nguyen Si Hieu - in their first race in Indonesia - controlled the 116k race together from the ascent of Arjuno (3300m) onwards, even though Yusuf Aprian was keeping them wide awake throughout the night. On the 75k race, 2015 Asia Trail Master Champion Arief Wismoyono showed incredible speed reminiscent of his most successful years and at the mature age of 38 is clearly back at his best level.

After the start at Kaliandra Eco Resort at 5am, participants on the 116k immediately had to climb up Gunung Welirang with the summit above 3000m altitude. It was the surprising Hadi Mustofa who reached the summit first in 2h59’23”, followed by Yusuf Aprian and Rachmat Septiyanto. Quang Tran, Nguyen Si Hieu and Fuminoro Kondo were not far behind. Local dark horse Fauzi Imdadur unfortunately sprained his ankle and decided to quit the race after Welirang already. Also the Jakarta-based Japanese runner Kondo was compelled to slow down, having entered the race with a swollen foot already. Vietnam’s Trung Nguyen was going to play the long game, but the rain on Saturday night turned his Mahapena ascent and descent into a nightmare and he never managed to feature among the frontrunners. His countrymen Quang Tran and Nguyen Si Hieu on the other hand shifted to a higher gear on the alternative climb up Welirang and onto the highest summit of Arjuno. It’s essentially where they won the race. At the summit, they had nearly 30 minutes on Yusuf Aprian and an hour on Hadi Mustofa and Rachmat Septiyanto. Still, their victory was not yet in the bag because Bandung’s Yusuf Aprian, winner of the 75k in 2019 and the 55k in 2018, was not letting them get away any further and was matching their running pace for the next several hours. On Mahapena at night, Aprian made a brave and big effort to try and catch the Vietnamese. Quang Tran and Nguyen Si Hieu saw that while leaving the checkpoint at the summit and going back down Mahapena (it’s an out-and-back section). Their acceleration ended the hopes of Yusuf Aprian to take the victory. Just after sunrise on Sunday morning, the duo arrived back at Kaliandra Resort and crossed the finish line together. When Heru Prabowo, event director, asked them who had earned the ‘gold medal’ most, Nguyen Si Hieu insisted that Quang Tran did. Their finishing time of approx 25 hours is very impressive, yet Sabah’s Milton Amat was one-and-a-half hours quicker in 2019. Nguyen Si Hieu collects another 450 ATM Championship points to add to his 425 from Dalat in March: he is the new points leader in Vietnam. Yusuf Aprian took third place about an hour later, a great and robust run by the runner from La Sportiva Indonesia. Rachmat Septiyanto took fourth. Grandmaster and local hero Shindy Patricia was the only woman on the 116k this year, so all she had to do was finish the race to take the win and the ATM Championship points that come with it. Shindy did that in style and certainly did not hold herself back. She returned to the resort in just over 31 hours.

The 75k race essentially saw the return of Arief Wismoyono to peak form. The 2015 ATM Champion, now age 38, stormed to victory as he boomed down Welirang and Arjuno with incredible speed and skill. Nobody could or dared to follow him. Only Taofik Hidayat, also from Bandung, was able to limit the gap somewhat by checking in 30 minutes behind Wismoyono at Wenerejo before going up Mahapena. However, the leader was on a mission to make a big performance statement and was just flying on the last of the three major ascents of this race. Hidayat was able to retain his second place and steadily increase the gap to the rest of the podium candidates led by Thimo Kilberth, Nhon Trong, Pablo Diago Gonzales and Hammam Aulia. The Mahapena climb proved too much for Nhon Trong, first at Welirang summit earlier in the race. The fast Vietnamese runner had made quite a few tumbles in the descents and with his poles broken as well felt the energy was leaving his body. Halfway up Mahapena, he took a scooter back down. No extra points for the ATM ranking after his second spot in Dalat last March. Surprisingly, Mahapena was also the end station for Pablo Diago Gonzales, 3rd in 2017, 2nd in 2018. The Singapore-based Spaniard did not have an ideal preparation this season, and the 75k of Mantra turned out to be still a bridge too far. As he was struggling while coming back down from the summit to the Wenerejo checkpoint Pablo decided to DNF. Despite the strong effort of new name Hammam Aulia, Bali-based German Thimo Kilberth was quite safe and collected his second ATM third-place podium finish of the season after BTR Challenge in May. Visibly marked by his effort, Thimo was happy to strengthen his position as leader in the ATM Championship ranking in Indonesia.

The women’s 75k race was won by Siti Nairuni, who led the majority of the race. Sianti Candra and the highly experienced Novita Wulandari were keeping some pressure on, and Candra actually managed to come closer to Nairuni in the late stages of the race. Great to see two new Indonesian names on the podium.

Only 17 finishers on the 75k from 75 starters showed how tough the day had been. The finisher rate was higher on the 116k, with 23 out of 46. 2018 ATM Champion Ruth Theresia continued her comeback to peak form by winning the non-ATM 55k race category on Sunday.

Lots of multimedia material is available on our Instagram and Facebook channels.

Quang Tran ran his first race in Indonesia

Quang Tran and Nguyen Si Hieu stayed together and cruised to victory on the brutal 116k course

Grandmaster Shindy Patricia was the only woman on the 116k, but was not holding herself back at all

Fantastic scenery above 3000m altitude

The women’s 75k podium with Siti Nuraini in the middle

2015 ATM Champion Arief Wismoyono is clearly back in his best form since years

We are delighted to announce our latest premium partnership, as SUUNTO becomes the Official Sportswatch of the 2022 Asia Trail Master Championship series. Suunto, global leader in sports watches, dive computers and precision instruments.

Suunto GPS watches are designed and made in Finland in northern Europe with 100% renewable energy.

Inspired by the award-winning SUUNTO 9 Baro, the SUUNTO 9 Peak is designed for adventures and peak experiences, in a sleek form factor that fits seamlessly on the wrist for ultimate comfort.

Tested in the harshest conditions, the SUUNTO 9 Peak boasts up to 170 hours of GPS recording capacity in Tour mode, blood oxygen measurement, a full battery charge in one hour and built to match users’ high expectations for a sports wearable companion, training tool and adventure partner. The SUUNTO 9 Peak, the thinnest, most powerful and uncompromisingly durable watch in brand history.

The SUUNTO 9 Peak comes with all of the industry leading features the SUUNTO 9 family is known for: 80-plus sport modes like running, hiking, mountain biking, skiing and swimming, customizable screens to show the most relevant data for your exercise, an intelligent battery management system, accurate wrist-based heart rate monitoring, in-depth weather insights and expansive on-watch navigation capabilities.

Building on the success of the recently released Suunto 9 Peak, Suunto today released its sibling, the Suunto 5 Peak GPS sport watch, designed for outdoor fitness lovers looking for a light, compact, durable, and long-lasting partner to guide them towards reaching their fitness goals, but one that requires less financial investment to buy. The Suunto 5 Peak is an evolution of the older Suunto 5 model. The new watch is 41% lighter than its forbear, is sleeker due to the absence of the older model’s GPS nose, offers up to 100 hours of battery life, handy music controls on the watch, automatic, over the air software updates and features Suunto’s new design language, and a selection of easily changeable accessory straps to suit individual style.

The SUUNTO App integrates with the SUUNTO 9 and Suunto 5 Peak, enabling users to effectively plan routes with sport-specific heatmaps and popular starting points, which can be built and transferred to the watch for offline navigation. The mobile app allows user to discover new locations, create points of interest and a look back on previous adventures with personal heatmaps.

Syncing routes to your watch is quick and hassle-free. With built-in GPS and turn-by-turn navigation on your watch you are never lost and know exactly where to go. If you need to find your way back, the breadcrumb feature will quickly show you the way.

Now featuring SuuntoPlus™ and SuuntoPlus™ Guides to enhance your experience even more! Train or race with features that will provide you with invaluable information like weather insights and safe GPS coordinates, and on top you can now get personalized real-time guidance during your activity.

About SUUNTO: We stand for adventure. Pioneering exploration has been in our DNA since 1936, when Finnish orienteer Tuomas Vohlonen set out to create a more accurate compass, and subsequently invented a new method for manufacturing liquid‐filled compasses. Today SUUNTO is at the forefront of design and innovation for sports watches, dive computers and instruments used by adventurers all over the globe.

Eighty-five years from our founding, we are proud that SUUNTO products can take a beating, but are also designed with an everyday aesthetic that reflects our Nordic identity. SUUNTO’s headquarters and factory are still in Finland.

SUUNTO will be supporting a number of targeted ATM events in the busy second half of this season VII with booths and prizes, and the Top 5 in the male and female Asia Trail Master Championship in December will win a genuine SUUNTO Sports watch as well.