Since 2017, mountain runners who focus on Asia Trail Master have set their eyes on Mantra 116 in East Java’s Malang in Indonesia. It is the high mountain trail per excellence in our series with altitudes reaching way above 3000m and trails that remain mouthwatering for even the most technically-skilled trail runners. The event is set for 6/7 July this year and will again feature the 116km long ultra and the 68km medium distance as points races for the ATM Championship ranking and Grandmaster Quest. Registration is open.

The event will again start and finish at the Kaliandra Eco Resort, roughly two hours drive from Surabaya in East Java, the main international hub to get to the event. The 116km has a total elevation gain of 7400hm, but it will feel like more. Gunung Welirang and Arjuno remain the attraction, and runners will start climbing basically right after the start. Since 2023, the gruelling and by many disliked out-and-back section on Mahapena has been removed from the course, making the race a bit more manageable. Nevertheless, the Putuk Lesung climb will certainly test your mettle towards the end.

Participants need to be aware that it can get very cold on Welirang and Arjuno, especially if there’s rainfall. Even though it’s Indonesia, you need to be prepared for ‘northern’ conditions. The organisers are, rightfully, paying a lot of attention on safety and security and will not tolerate any infringements on the mandatory gear list. Mantra 116 is not a walk in the park.

Accommodation and food can be found in and around the race venue at Kaliandra, or nearby.

Watch our race recaps of the 2023 and 2022 races at Mantra below to get an idea of what will be awaiting you in July.

News reel Mantra 116:

Sierra Madre Trail Ultra proved itself once more as one of the Philippines’ marquee events for competitive runners. Kristian Joergensen dominated the men’s 75km race, while the women’s saw a great battle between five runners that remained exciting until the very end when the surprising Christine Muntoya opened up a decisive gap to Cecille Wael. The battle for ATM Championship points in order to qualify for Team Pilipinas in the ATM Final is still wide open!

Organised by the Maharlika Team led by Emman Manongsong, Sierra Madre is laying emphasis on a pure competition between top runners with great prizes as a reward. The 75km is the only distance category so runners cannot avoid each other. It was no surprise that Kristian Joergensen was far ahead in the men’s race, he stands his ground even in ‘global’ competitions and is the second runner-up in last year’s ATM Championship Final. But behind him, many Filipino runners were eyeing the remaining podium spots. Davao’s Jensen Pasaforte, Jomarc Ferrer and - initially - Henry Joe Cottilon were laying claims on that, with others like Bhert Orpiada and Florence Alave and youngster John Ivan Zonio, who finished 2nd in this race last year, not far back either. Sierra Madre is one of those races where you can blow up, even though moving the event from May to March was slightly better in terms of weather conditions. Cottilon in particular began to drop down the leaderboard, while Maynard Encormal suddenly moved up in rapid fashion. Encormal - winner of Bagtit Ultra 100 last month - came third last year, and clearly learnt from that experience. He needed a little bit of luck to take second, as Pasaforte went a wrong way for a while, but Encormal looked solid nonetheless - knowing in advance that Joergensen would be impossible to beat. Pasaforte held on to third place, which is a great result for him. Ferrer and Zonio came fourth and fifth. Jordan Bugnay was sixth not too much later.

Five women controlled proceedings in the women’s race. Last year’s race winner Ann Jilian Pulanco, Cecille Wael, Mary Joy Sumanda, Shally Yuson and Christine Muntoya. All of them very much in shape these months as their recent results have shown. Positions kept changing during the race and the gaps between them remained manageable. One imagined that the more experienced racers Wael and Pulanco were biding their time. Towards the end, Mary Joy Sumanda seemed to be going for her first ever ATM race win after several podium placings. But then Wael accelerated and so did Muntoya, the least expected among the front runners in this field. Kathleen Logan - winner in Danao City ahead of Wael last January - had already thrown in the towel by then. At the final checkpoint before the finish, Muntoya and Wael were leading. Sumanda was 12 minutes behind, herself just a few minutes ahead of Yuson and Pulanco. The last 8 km left no doubt about who the strongest of the day was: Muntoya ran away from Wael and put no fewer than 18 minutes between them at the finish! A fantastic maiden race win for her in ATM. Ces Wael was happy to settle for second, citing acid reflux in the final stint. Sumanda managed to hold on to third and another podium. She had to work for it because Pulanco came within three minutes. Yuson arrived in fifth place.

Another outstanding performance by Kristian Joergensen

Winner in Bagtit, 2nd in Sierra Madre: Maynard Encormal is going strong!

Fantastic achievement by Jensen Pasaforte. Third, but even had 2nd within his grasp

Another ATM podium for Cecille Wael, but Christine Muntoya was too strong for the win

In a highly competitive edition of Lantau 70 in Hong Kong, reigning ATM Champion John Ray Onifa showed once more he is in a league on his own with a dominant win in 6h53’11” - an astonishing forty minutes ahead of Malaysia’s Milton Amat! The women’s ATM Champion Rashila Tamang on the other hand found Hong Kong’s humid conditions in combination with the famous stairs still a difficult challenge. It was Singapore-based French woman Aurore Dacier who caught the limelight with a very composed and impressive run to win the female race in 8h13’12”. The 2024 edition was 6km shorter due to a landslide so times can hardly be compared, but the original Lantau 70 course record is 8h48’45” set in 2018 by Lucinda Bartholomew. In any case, Dacier’s finish time proves we have a new racing protagonist in town!

Cloudy and temperatures hovering around 22 degrees: it looked wonderful for the 300 solo runners at the start line in Mui Wo at 8:30 am in the morning. However, humidity was high and many would pay a price for an over-ambitious early running pace. Rashila Tamang had arrived from Kathmandu with determination to win for the first time as reigning ATM Champion and put a strong women’s field under pressure immediately on Lantau Peak. She arrived first at the km 13 checkpoint and looked solid running up the stairs, and especially going down. But Aurore Dacier was not far behind. Dacier won MMTF 50 last year and also the 30km V Trail in Laos last month, so we knew she had experience in racing in South East Asia’s conditions. Angie Yan, the exciting winner of the 9 Dragons last month, and last year’s Lantau 70 winner Katrina Hamlin took a more conservative approach but kept the two leaders still within reach. In this race the aid stations are a bit further apart than in most races, so AS 2 only came at km 28 and it was Dacier who arrived first. Tamang had lost of a few minutes, and the others even more. Can the Nepalese runner return in the technical descent towards the water reservoir at AS3 (km 38)? The answer was negative but she did still keep the gap manageable at around 12 minutes. Aurore Dacier looked ever more in control, though, and did not seem to suffer at all from either her own running pace or the conditions. She cruised to victory in the slightly easier final 25km and picked up quite a few male runners on the way. Quite a statement from this sympathetic newcomer in Asia’s trail scene, of whom we are likely to see much more of.

There is another relative newbie of whom we have not yet seen the last of. Hong Kong’s Angie Yan had already shown her incredible grit in the 9 Dragons, turning defeat into victory over none other than Xie Wenfei, and she did the same in Lantau 70. Not Rashila Tamang, but Angie Yan stormed to second place and - what’s more - just 11 minutes behind Dacier! That could only have meant she ran faster than anyone else in the final sections and Strava proved that: she broke the local KOM of Veronika Vadovicova no less! Angie Yan seemed surprised at her own performance afterwards, she clearly has not yet discovered her own limits. With Dacier and Yan, the ATM womens’ championship definitely has two new contenders. And we can add local Lantau runner Katrina Hamlin in the mix, too. Hamlin outsprinted the cramping Rashila Tamang for third place. Tsz Kwan Lee finished in fifth.

As mentioned above, the men’s race developed into another one-man-show of John Ray Onifa. After a relaxed start, Onifa led the pack at the first checkpoint, but Milton Amat - running in HK for the first time since 9 Dragons in 2019 - and Alessandro Sherpa, second last year, followed him within three minutes. Then it was the surprising Matthew Gay, Richard Kimber, Wilsen Singgin, Marc Decamps and many others. The returning John Ellis was just inside the top 20 - making his characteristic slower start. Onifa then switched on his engine for real and quickly increased the gap towards his two main rivals for the victory. Sherpa saw Milton Amat catching him by CP2, and then dropped back - suffering from gastritis and severe dehydration - just like a fortnight ago at BUTM 50. This time, Sherpa could not salvage a podium finish, but he did walk the race out to finish in 33rd place and secure his wild card for the ATM Finals as a former - 2018 - ATM champion. Milton Amat also saw the writing on the wall and focused on keeping second place. Onifa was just out of reach. The other Sabahan ace, the in-form Wilsen Singgin, was looking good to score third place, but the more runable last sections suited Hong Kong-based Richard Kimber better. He overtook Singgin in the last kilometre. Hong Kong-based Belgium’s Marc Decamps once more ended up in the top five of Lantau 70 with a spirited and well-balanced effort. He passed David Longo in the final sector. Australians Michael Ormiston and John Ellis ran themselves into the top 8, for both a great result after all the troubles they have gone through in the last few years.

Two happy faces: Aurore Dacier for winning a great women’s race and RD Jeremy Ritcey for a superb edition

It’s not only Lantau 70 this Saturday, but also Sierra Madre Trail Ultra in the Rizal mountains east of Manila in the Philippines. Taking place two months earlier compared to 2023, Sierra Madre was one of the highlights of last season in terms of technical organisation and atmosphere in the field of ‘grassroots events’. It is a pity the event now clashes with a Hong Kong classic, because Sierra Madre also deserves full attention. On the start list we also find none other than recent 9 Dragons 50/50 winner Kristian Joergensen.

The 75km long race has start and finish in Sitio Wawa in Rodriguez in the Rizal. All year round it’s a hub for trail runners from Manila and surroundings, who gather there on weekends during their training outings. The course has well over 4000 metres of elevation gain and is a nice mixture of wide and technical single trails, including a number of river crossings. Heat and humidity can play a big role, which is the main reason why event director Emman Manonsong moved Sierra Madre Trail Ultra from May to March. Last year, several runners got cooked during the day. Jeff Campbell was the outstanding winner ahead of John Ivan Zonio and Maynard Encormal. While Campbell is out of action with injury, Zonio and Encormal are both back on the start list and will certainly try to put some pressure on Kristian Joergensen. But with the sun-loving Dane in great shape, it will be hard to see victory. Plenty of other podium contenders, though. Eldy Bulod, Florence Alave, Henry Cottillon, JC Murillo, Jomarc Ferrer and so on.

A year ago Ann Jilian Pulanco scored her first ever ATM race victory at Sierra Madre Trail Ultra, proving her inherent competitiveness. Just two weeks ago, she showed to be in good shape again with second place in Mt Kalatungan Ultra behind Julie Ann Morales, who’s been dominant in the ATM races in Philippines this season. A repeat victory is certainly not far-fetched. However, there’s other contenders with maybe a little more freshness in the legs: Cecille Wael and Kathleen Ligan, for example. Ligan won Danao 50 ahead of Wael, the latter then won Bagtit 50 a month ago. Mary Joy Sumanda has kept on improving in terms of competitiveness and was third in Mt Kalatungan. Will this be her weekend? Other challengers for the win and the podium are Ram Rongavilla, Shally Yuson and Melanie Hingpit, who was on the podium in third last year.

The Sierra Madre Trail Ultra starts at 2 am local time on Saturday. Subject to connectivity, we will be reporting live from the event on our usual channels.

Kristian Joergensen the obvious favourite for the men’s race at Sierra Madre

Can Ann Jilian Pulanco score a back-to-back victory at Sierra Madre this Saturday?

The young John Ivan Zonio surprised last year with a second place. Can he do that once more?

The women’s top 5 in 2023

The men’s top 5 in 2023

This year’s Lantau 70 promises to live up to its reputation as one of Hong Kong’s genuine classic trail races. Reigning Asia Trail Master champion John Ray Onifa is up against last season’s vice-champion Alessandro Sherpa and Malaysia’s Milton Amat on a slightly reduced course of 64km tomorrow. 2023 race winner Jeff Campbell is unfortunately still sidelined after sustaining an injury earlier in the year.

If the men’s competition looks exciting enough, the women’s Lantau race will also be a cracker with reigning ATM female champion Rashila Tamang at the start line against last year’s winner Katrina Hamlin and other in-form Hong Kong runners such as Angie Yan and Naomi Fung, and Singapore-based Aurore Dacier - winner of MMTF 50 last November.

Lantau 70 features one big loop with start and finish in Mui Wo. The course is far from easy and features quite a bit of the traditional ‘Hong Kong stairs’ , loved by some, dreaded by others. Knowing the terrain and the trails certainly helps if you want to be competing for the prizes. Here’s where John Ray Onifa and Katrina Hamlin, who lives on Lantau, of course have an advantage over the likes of Milton Amat, Wilsen Singgin, Gaetan Morizur on the one hand and Rashila Tamang or Aurore Dacier on the other.

John Ray Onifa has been unbeatable on the ATM circuit for months now and is therefore certainly the top favourite. Alessandro Sherpa ran this race a year ago and finished second behind Campbell. Over the past months, he has also spent quite a bit of time in Hong Kong and rumours are he is going very well on the stairs. Just a fortnight ago, he was running ahead of Amat and Singgin at BUTM 50 until the humidity got to him and severe dehydration set in. Tomorrow’s weather in Lantau is forecast to be cloudy and with mild temperatures, which should favour the Italian. Milton is arguably strong on longer distances, but both him and Wilsen Singgin have been working on speed and especially the latter has seen a peak in his performance curve. Can Singgin cause a surprise tomorrow? What can we expect from Gaetan Morizur, who is kind of returning to the scene after becoming a father early last year, and 2019 ATM Champion John Ellis? Ellis is trying to find back his peak performance level after a prolonged period of injury rehabilitation. It’s not been the easiest of comebacks so far, but a strava upload of 100 miles in Florida last month indicates he is in any case still very motivated. Other outsiders for the top placings in the men’s race are T8’s David Longo, Japan’s Tomohiro Mizukoshi, Richard Kimber, James Balagot and Marc Decamps.

Angie Yan and Naomi Fung both looked great in the 9 Dragons last month and are certainly able to give Nepal’s Rashila Tamang and Katrina Hamlin a run for her money. For Angie, who appears to like starting conservatively, it will be key to manage the gap to the others. Originally, Rashila had not planned to run Lantau 70 but a disappointing DNF in another major HK race in January did not sit well with her. The ATM champion is looking to set something straight, a month before her home race in Kathmandu - the Manjushree Trail. Other contenders for the top placings not yet mentioned are Katia Kucher, Meg Sterling, Kimmy Leung, Rachel Chan and Tsz Kwan Lee.

We will be reporting live from Lantau 70 from start to finish on our usual channels with live broadcasts of start and finish on Facebook, YouTube and X, video updates throughout the race on Facebook and highlights on Instagram.

Rashila Tamang will be competing in her first ATM race of the season

John Ray Onifa has been unbeatable for a long time on the ATM circuit

Milton Amat won BUTM 50 just a fortnight ago

A year ago Alessandro Sherpa came in battered and bruised, but in second place.

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

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

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

The 3rd edition of Bukit Lawang Orang Utan Trail is set for Sunday morning, 12 May. The boutique event in the picturesque riverside town of Bukit Lawang in North Sumatra, Indonesia, has been one of the most popular newcomers on the ATM scene, offering a solid organisation in a great place featuring a fun arena with a big marquee tent, a varied running course and - of course - orang utans in the rainforest. Compared to last year, the start time of the 50km ATM points race has moved forward to 4:30 am, so more runners can avoid the heat of mid-day.

The race course is largely unchanged, which means a very runable first half around and through plantations followed by a technical second half characterised by single and hilly rainforest trails that can also be slippery. However, runners enjoy sliding on those descending trails in Bukit Lawang. The orang utans can be seen, too. They are roaming freely and approach the river in the early morning, so of course not every single runner may be fortunate to meet them. Incidentally, runners on the 25km and 10km short courses tend to have more luck in this.

The 50km race has seen the emergence of great young local trail talent over the past two years. Not in the least a year ago, when Erwin Simanjuntak and Andre Sinaga took the measure of a.o. Chris Timms and Luis Alvelais. Vanja Cnops was a very happy winner in the women’s race last season.

Accommodation is in local homestays, guesthouses or in one swiss-owned hotel on the other side of the riverbank for those looking for something more upmarket. It takes roughly 4 hours to reach Bukit Lawang from Medan airport and a shuttle bus will be arranged. For details on that you can contact the local organising team at Arras Adventures with info@asiatrailmaster.com in copy.

In Bukit Lawang we always discover new Indonesian trail talent

Last season’s exciting Japanese newcomer in the Asia Trail Master Championship is back on Sunday, 14 July: Mount Daisetsu Trail Journey near Asahikawa in Hokkaido. The 60km main race takes runners to a remote mountain landscape and long ridgeline with astonishing views across the whole area. Even seasoned trail runners like Hisashi Kitamura, who won the 2023 edition, and Singapore’s Trung Nguyen spoke only in superlatives about their running experience.

Mt Daisetsu Trail takes place on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, easily reachable via Tokyo. You can find flights to Sapporo or - closer - Asahikawa. Runners are also advised to consider hotel accommodation in Asahikawa, as options near the race venue are extremely limited. International participants are also encouraged to contact either the event directly via the form online (http://daisetsu-tj.com/country/pg5271098.html) , or via email hiro@katoru.net , cc info@asiatrailmaster.com for assistance on ‘how to get to the race venue’. Registration for the event is open via http://daisetsu-tj.com/pg5266569.html . Note that there are aslo 40km and 15km options for less ambitious runners.

The 60km ATM points race will start just before dawn after a gentle warm-up running in the plains, you will hit the mountain trail. As you can see on the elevation profile below, there are three distinct summit peaks in the race. Note that on the Hiroyama ridge trail, there is a approx 4km section where it is mandatory to walk - not run - by regulation to protect the flora along the ridge line. This is a conservation area managed by the Environment Ministry. Time of entry into this section will be recorded. Participants will be given a set time (last year 30 minutes) to walk through it. At the finish arena there are welcome refreshments in a pleasant setting.

If you like to take part in a Japanese trail ‘off-the-beaten-path’, this event is for you.

At Mount Kalatungan Ultra in Bukidnon, Philippines, Julie Ann Morales already grabbed her third victory of the current ATM season in the event’s 85km race! The Davao mountain ultra specialist took control on the long ascent of one of her country’s highest mountains and hung unto the lead despite the challenge of ultra long distance specialist Ann Jilian Pulanco. Morales finished before sunset. She now totals 1500 ATM Championship points, which could already be enough to qualify for Team Pilipinas in the ATM Final. Morales was part of the team in 2022, but not last year as she competed in just two events. Since the end of the covid crisis, the 32-year-old has collected five race wins in our series.

Pulanco managed to keep second place till the finish. Great performance by last year’s winner in Sierra Madre! She was 23 minutes behind Morales. In third place on the podium was local Bukidnon runner Mary Joy Sumanda, ATM Finalist last season and just like the race winner a new face that has emerged in the Philippines’ competitive field over the last two years. That also counts for Shally Yuson, who fnished in fourth place ahead of Chloe Base and Irish Glorioso.

The men’s 85km race saw two runners crossing the finish line together: Jevie Cagatin and Yoyong Sacayle. Cagatin had set the pace early on with Kik Suello and Anthony Paladin. The latter would fade away, but Cagatin and Suello climbed well. Two names that will not ring a bell with ATM followers. Suello is a newcomer to the scene, Cagatin first appeared on Mount Apo last December, where he scored second place on the podium. While Suello lost ground in the second half of the race to take third place, Cagatin pressed ahead but was nevertheless joined by local favourite and ATM Finalist, 7th last season, Yoyong Sacayle. The duo stayed together till the end, but instead of a sprint they came in hand-in-hand. Moments later, Sacayle suggested that Cagatin is the deserved race winner with him in second. Cagatin, Sacayle and Suello were remarkably far ahead of the others in what was a strong field. Bagtit 100 winner Maynard Encormal did not have the best of races and finished in 7th place. Florence ‘Enciong’ Alave was 12th. Mount Apo race winner Isaiah Paraiso found Kalatungan also tougher than expected. He came in fourth , but almost two hours behind the lead duo. Jomarc Ferrer and Marvin Buizon did well in five and six, with Sean Aying in 8th.

The busy Filipino season continues in a fortnight with Sierra Madre Trail in the Rizal mountains east of Manila.

The men’s top 3 at Mt Kalatungan Ultra with Jevie Catagin declared as official winner

Julie Ann Morales keeps winning: this was number 3 of the current ATM season!

Milton Amat continues his reign in his home state of Sabah. On Saturday, the local hero won BUTM 55km in 6:05:06 after catching and overtaking a fading Alessandro Sherpa around km 40. As often, the 2018 ATM Champion had started out fast and put distance between himself and the other competitors. Despite cloudy weather, the temperature and humidity were still very high and plenty of participants suffered from dehydration at some point during the day. Sherpa included. His pace dropped significantly and he even contemplated retiring from the race at aid station 4 while lying on the ground trying to take in sports drink. Both Milton Amat and the once again surprisingly fast Wilsen Singgin had just passed him at that point. After some time, Sherpa got back up and continued for the final 11km to the finish line. He still managed to score third on the podium, staying ahead of Yasbie Ismail by 13 minutes. Milton Amat took the victory, but it is a stretch to say he was just cruising home. It had clearly been a working day for Amat, and he also admitted as much. Wilsen Singgin had also kept the pressure on, actually running faster than Amat in some sections and finishing just ten minutes later. Are we going to see Wilsen Singgin finally exploiting all his talent this season? In the three months since the end of last season, Singgin has looked remarkably fresher and more competitive as already illustrated by his 50k win over Sefli Ahar in Brunei two weeks ago.

The women’s 50km was entirely dominated by the youngster Shamiera Auther. Leading from start to finish, Auther proved her competitive progress and maturity in taking her first ATM race victory ahead of experienced runners such as Kona Laiu , Vicki Zhu and the Lintanga sisters Lolita and Jessica. Auther even had an advantage at the finish of over 50 minutes! Jessica Lintanga, who still had the upper hand over Auther in TMBT half a year ago, ran together with her younger sister. It was the first time Lolita entered the top five of an ATM race.

The 105km ultra looked like a bird in the hand for local hero Daved Simpat. The obvious pre-race favourite also seemed very much at ease on the trails on Saturday morning, leading by quite a long margin over e.g. Oswald Maikol, Sulhan Mohd, Gustin Tiam and Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Chung. But in the afternoon drama unfolded as Simpat retired himself from the race at WS6, citing two spells of ‘fainting’ earlier on. Even Sabah’s own top runners are not immune for the heat and humidity! With Simpat out, suddenly a number of runners were looking at a potential prestigious victory. Another Sabah veteran, Gustin Tiam took control and opened up a gap towards Sulhan Mohd, a relative newcomer in the ultra scene who last year won UTOP 100 in Penang. By the last aid station, Tiam looked like he was safe to grab victory - his first ever in ATM at the age of 48. A fantastic performance, indeed! Sulhan Mohd ran an amazing final sector to reduce the gap to Tiam from nearly 30 minutes to 18 minutes at the finish. Did he leave it just a bit too late? Nevertheless, Sulhan looks like a solid new name in the Malaysian ultra scene. Sabah’s Oswald Maikol dropped back after a fast start and would settle for third place, just like in TMBT 100 last season. Maikol had to dig deep at the end because Wont Kudin ran a fantastic final few hours emerging into the top ten and finishing fourth eventually, ahead of Muhammad Hazim, Nguyen Van Chung, Haziq Asyraf and Atsushi Ito, for example.

The women’s 100km also had a bit of a thrilling conclusion. Pre-race favourite and last year’s winner Rejlen James was in control of the race from the start and built up a nice gap towards the other competitors. However, also she as a local began to suffer from the conditions and found it increasingly difficult to manage her fluid and food intake. James’ advantage was melting away and she had to stop several times feeling sick. A well-trained Adelinah Lintanga, in her best race since winning Penang Eco in 2019, came ever closer , but James held on by 13 minutes at the finish in the middle of the night. The rejuvinated Lintanga was pleased with her own return to form and second place, but also realised she had come close to a big win. Just like with Sulhan in the men’s, did she leave her ‘attack’ too late? This year’s BUTM 100 looks like a nice case study in ‘how to manage your efforts and the time gaps to your competitors’ . In third place, we found the still quite young Lynda Marylyn, who showed her ultra distance talent again. Last year, she already came 2nd in the Borneo Miler - also behind Rejlen James. The very experienced Celeste Teo took fourth, and Penang’s Pei Fen Goh fifth.

An important mental victory for Milton Amat with a view on what’s to come later this ATM season

The 100 km men’s podium with Gustin Tiam, Sulhan Mohd and Oswald Maikol

The 100 km women’s podium with Rejlen James, Adelinah Lintanga and Lynda Marylyn

Shamiera Auther: first victory in ATM for the Malaysian youngster

The Filipino ATM season continues this weekend in Bukidnon in Mindanao with the Mount Kalatungan Trail Ultra. A successful Candidate Race in 2020 just before the covid pandemic brought everything to a halt. Four years went by, and the team around Grandmasters Ramie and Rene Amigleo from the Ultra Runners Republic are delighted they can finally put the event back on. For non-Filipinos, Mount Kalatungan is a stratovolcano, albeit with no historical eruptions, and a serious altitude of 2860m making it just a bit smaller than Mount Apo near Davao. The ATM points race is 85km long with the ascent of Kalatungan located in the first third of the race. Runners better save some energy for after the big climb, in other words.

Bukidnon is the region roughly between Davao and Cagayan de Oro, from where lots of new trail running talent has emerged in the past few years. The Amigleo brothers did a lot for the sport there. Today, Yoyong Sacayle is arguably the best-known local top runner, Mary Joy Sumanda another up-and-comer. Both were ATM Finalists and top ten placers last year, and both will toe the start line in Pangantucan this weekend.

ATM Championship overall leader Julie Ann Morales will be aiming to make it three victories out of three races this season. Morales has been on a roll with wins on Mt Apo and last month at Bagtit Ultra. Another top performance would put her already in a very comfortable position to make Team Pilipinas for this year’s ATM Final. Her main competitors for the victory will be the aforementioned Mary Joy Sumanda, Ann Jilian Pulanco, Shally Yuson, Anne Maridol Rongavilla and Chloe Base. Keep an eye out for Sumanda, who on home soil could as well take her first ATM race win.

In the men’s race, Yoyong Sacayle will have to take care of Bagtit 100 winner Maynard Encormal, amongst others. Encormal looked solid three weeks ago, hopefully he has fully recovered from the effort. Sacayle ran the 9 Dragons 50/50, though, albeit rather anonimously. Perhaps that was calculated to be 100% for this weekend? On paper, Encormal and Sacayle look like the ones to beat, but there’s many other podium contenders in the race, such as Jonathan Pido, ATM Championship points leader Sean Aying, Florence Alave, Freddie Blanco, Henry Joe Cottilon and Ariehmar Bardoquillo.

ATM will be reporting from the Mt Kalatungan Ultra event on the usual channels.

Local Bukidnon runner Mary Joy Sumanda could go for her first ever ATM race win this weekend

Yoyong Sacayle: can he keep Maynard Encormal at bay ?

Maynard Encormal was a great winner at Bagtit 100 just three weeks ago

ATM Points Leader so far: Julie Ann Morales. Kalatungan is already her 3rd race this season

As usual, the Malaysian Asia Trail Master season starts a bit later and typically BUTM is the first big appointment in the country. Alternating with The Borneo Miler, BUTM is once again a points race event with the spotlights put on the traditional 100k and 50k races. The trail stars from Sabah are all expected to run - based on the start list - and also vice-2023 ATM Champion Alessandro Sherpa has planned to open his ATM account this weekend.

BUTM is often called the ‘little sister’ of the classic TMBT in September, but it is definitely wrong to underestimate the event as such. The typical ingredients of a Sabahan trail race are there - deep jungle alternating with ethnic village and river crossings, Kinabalu views and humid conditions. Trails are generally more runable than some other rainforest races, but that also implies hydration is essential in this race. Plenty of runners each year drop out due to major cramps. As TMBT, BUTM is mainly a daytime race with the start at 6am. That means the races are very scenery-friendly and is probably why they also keep attracting a lot of non-Sabah runners, including foreigners.

Milton Amat and Wilsen Singgin both warmed-up for this weekend’s home event in Brunei a fortnight ago. At the BDUTM loop race, they both won their respective races and especially Singgin impressed by beating local hero Sefli Ahar in the final kilometres. He is known to be at his most competitive at long and tough ultras, but Singgin seems to be changing tactics and working on developing his running speed. This Saturday he will be running the 50km and not the 100km. The same applies for Milton Amat and for Alessandro Sherpa, which confirms the recent trend that sees elite trail runners shying away from the ultra distances in favour of running more medium distance races. In theory, the trio of Amat-Singgin-Sherpa are the most likely victory contenders, but we won’t be surprised if they first need to chase the traditional fast-starter Sefli Ahar first again. And let’s not forget that the more runable BUTM course suits the Bruneian more than the BDUTM loop two weeks ago. Chris Timms could get himself in the mix, too. The Singapore-based Britain has been away from the ATM scene for a while due to professional obligations, but we remember how fast he is on 50k. Plenty of new names on the start list of nearly 300 runners for the 50k, so who knows someone pulls a surprise , too.

The women’s 50km could see a battle for victory between Jess Lintanga and Shamiera Auther, with also Kona Laiu as a standard contender for the prizes. Last time out at TMBT, Lintanga still had the better of the young Auther. Plenty of unknown names on the start list here as well.

Looking at the 100km ultra, Daved Simpat appears to be the one-to-beat, certainly if he shows the same kind of pace and grit as in winning TMBT half a year ago. Simpat had arguably his best competitive performance in five years on that day, and if he can replicate that form again it is hard to see who could follow him. Hisashi Kitamura won’t be there, the usual Japanese challenger will be running Tokyo Marathon this weekend instead. Perhaps Vietnam’s young Nguyen Van Chung can make Simpat nervous? Van Chung is an up-and-coming talent in Vietnam who recently won the Prenn Ultra Candidate Race in Dalat. What can Davao’s Rexell Aguirre do at BUTM 100? Aguirre looked great winning the 100 miles race at Ultra Trail Chiang Rai in Thailand last October. Malaysia’s Moo Sat, Bernardo Linus and Gustin Tiam will be in the mix for the podium, as well as Japan’s Atsushi Ito. Fuminori Kondo is another Japanese runner who is returning to the ATM scene after several months out due to injury sustained at Mantra 116 last year.

Rejlen James is the obvious favourite in the women’s 100km race. Last year she won the so-called Borneo Triple, which includes BUTM 100, The Borneo Miler and TMBT 100. However, it did seem to take something out of her, too, as she ‘only’ came fifth at MMTF and the ATM Championship Final turned out into a competitive disappointment with James even failing to reach the top ten. Presumably a few months of rest will have done her some good. Celeste Teo and Adelinah Lintanga are logical podium contenders, and let’s see what the younger generation like Pei Fen Goh and Lynda Marylyn can do this weekend.

ATM will be reporting live from the BUTM event from start to finish on our usual channels.

Alessandro Sherpa starts his 2024 ATM campaign this weekend

Milton Amat: will 2024 be the year the Sabahan scores the championship title?

Rejlen James: unbeatable on home soil last year

Shamiera Auther: among the 50k favourites this Saturday