Jagoi Ultra victim of worst haze and air pollution in over a decade

Trail running remains a highly delicate activity in many ways and this week was again proof how tough it can be to organise trail running events in the wild, open nature spaces that we all love so much. Indonesia’s Ijen Green Trail has been forced to postpone the event to late November due to forest fires and the ordered total closure of the Ijen Crater Tourism Park for safety reasons, and also Malaysia’s Jagoi Ultra risks to fall victim of the worst haze and air pollution striking Kuching and Sarawak in over a decade. “Deliberate” forest fires in neighbouring Kalimantan are blamed for this annual environmental problem that some years also badly affects even farther away places like Singapore. Several other events in Sarawak have been cancelled already and at the time of writing Alpha Sports Events and its passionate director Josh are hoping the worst will be over come Saturday morning and the Air Pollution Index decreases to the extent an endurance running race can be held without exposing people to significant health risks. Obviously, the local authorities in Sarawak are closely monitoring the situation and will have the last word in the end.

It’s a potential nightmare scenario for quite a few runners who were still hoping to get themselves qualified for the ATM Championship Final in Vietnam next month. Jagoi Ultra is a Championship Qualifier for the first time and attracted a substantial and international field of runners for the 70km race, which is also valid for the Grandmaster Quest of course. No fewer than 50 Filipino runners made the trip to Sarawak, amongst them also Godwin MIrar - the 25-year-old top talent who left it a bit late this season in his attempt to qualify again for the Championship Final . Mirar ranks sixth in the Filipino points ranking with 3 race results, which means he needs to count on someone in the top five declining the opportunity to race for Team Pilipinas in Vietnam. In Philippines, many runners do four races or more during the season, and as always it’s the best four results that count for each runner. Running only three qualifiers is always a gamble in a country with lots of ambitious and competitive athletes.

Also Vietnam’s upcoming talent Sung A Phu needs a Jagoi result to get himself in Team Vietnam, after missing all his country’s own qualifier races earlier in the season. Last weekend, he was 5th in TMBT 50. Japan’s Tomohiro Mizukoshi will be relieved to know that he will remain fifth in his country’s ranking, which means he will be part of the ATM Final for the fifth consecutive time - a feat only very few have accomplished. Singapore’s Deric Lau - another established finalist - is in the same situation as Sung A Phu, as are several runners from Brunei Darussalam.

Quite a few Malaysian runners have also been hoping to still sneak into the top five at the last moment, especially on the women’s side. Celeste Teo and Joyce Yong Hie Ying, for example.

For sure, a final decision on whether the race can go ahead will be taken as late as possible. We will update about what happens on our facebook and other channels.