As in BUTM 100 early March, the Sabah runners Gustin Tiam and Rejlen James were fastest in the 100k long ultra of Silabur Cave Trail in Kampung Bedang, just under two hours drive east of Kuching near the Kalimantan border. After being ahead early on, good old Gustin tolerated the company of Hijazi Rija and Haziq Asyraf until the dying moments of the race. That’s 1000 ATM points in the bag out of two races, Gustin is on the way to qualification for Team Malaysia in the ATM Championship Final by the looks of it! The same goes for Rejlen James, who had to dig a little deeper to score the win last weekend, even though she also looked very composed and in control of proceedings. Still, Hong Kong’s Rachel Chan, ATM Finalist last year and 7th in the Siksorogo Lawu race, proved to be in great shape and was challenging James. Rachel loved the runable terrain in the hot weather and was even leading after the first third of the race. When the trails turned more technical and muddy, James felt more at ease and took command. Rachel did well to keep second place, ahead of Adelinah Lintanga, who at some point seemed to be closing in - as she did in BUTM in March, too. However, stomach cramps stopped Lintanga’s hunt. In fourth and not far behind was local hero Celeste Teo in what was a very spirited effort from her. Siriporn Leumathong overtook India’s Ashwini Bhat in the last 10k for fifth place.

Very high temperatures characterised the first day of the 100k race, before rainshowers gave the 126 participating runners a welcome relief on Saturday evening and night. The downside was, of course, that the trails also became much muddier and therefore more slippery. Experienced trail runners suddenly also had to cope with unexpected blisters.

Temperatures were a lot cooler on Sunday morning for the 50k and the shorter distances. Jeffery Budin, returning from a competition break, felt great and immediately set the pace with his teammate Mohd Sulhan. The duo would create a big gap towards the rest with Singapore-based Richard Hall Jr in third place. Budin’s pace was too high for Sulhan, and so he scored his 2nd ATM race victory after UTOP 100 in 2022. What a good rest can do with some runners!

The women’s 50k was exciting to follow with a number of runners genuinely contesting the win and the podium places. Singapore’s Dening Lo went ahead with youngster Shamiera Auther, until the latter had a slip that caused a small gap between them. Deeper into the race, just when Dening Lo had thought she had the victory in the bag, Auther reappeared. Still, the Singaporean proved too quick and took her first ATM race win. Behind Auther, there was a nice battle between Lolita Lintanga and Kona Liau, but at the end it was Singapore’s Joy Sim who had the last laugh and the fastest dash to the finish. Sim was delighted with her first ATM race podium, the just as young Lolita Lintanga had to settle for her second fourth place in a row.

Gustin Tiam collected his 2nd ATM race win of the season!

Rejlen James and Borneo : it seems an unbeatable combination the past two seasons

Rachel Chan gave Rejlen James a run for her money, and can be satisfied with a strong second place

Unexpectedly impressive: Jeffery Budin takes his 2nd ATM race win after a 6-months break from competition

Singapore’s Dening Lo took her first race win in the ATM Championship series

Joy Sim was a delighted third on the 50k podium!

The second Malaysian ATM points race event of the season takes place in Sarawak, Borneo, this weekend and this for the first time in our series’ history. Silabur Ultra Trail , aka Cave Trail, takes place at Kampung Batu Bedang, approx 1,5 hours drive from Kuching and near the border with Indonesia’s Kalimantan. On the programme are both a 100k long ultra and a 50k medium distance race featuring a number of caves that Sarawak is known for in adventurous travel communities. For once, the list of participants for the 100k is longer and in both the male and female categories we see the top duo of BUTM 100 in early March. Gustin Tiam, Mohd Sulhan, Rejlen James and Adelinah Lintanga will again face off this weekend with start at 10am on Saturday. There’s less elevation gain compared to BUTM, and with several other podium and victory candidates this could turn into an exciting and tight competition.

It’s only been a couple of years that Sarawak is claiming its stake on the Malaysian trail running map. Contrary to its northern neighbours Sabah and even Brunei, events and runners were few and far between. Sally Yap, ‘Alpha’ Siet Fah Lim, Celeste Teo and others have changed that, encouraging event promoters and organisers to build proper trail events, too. Alpha Sports is among those with several events in its portfolio. Silabur was a a Candidate Race last year, and in this season’s “Borneo Year” has been offered a spot on the ATM Championship calendar. The caves around Batu Bedang have attracted quite an internation field with several runners from, a.o. Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong and even India.

Good ol’ Gustin Tiam and up-and-comer Mohd Sulhan may be the men’s favourites on the 100km, but there’s quite a few others who can challenge for a podium result - or more. Wont Kudin, for instance, has already banked a great 4th place in BUTM this season. Phua Cho Ka and Kenneth Mun Keat Yow are two others. In the women’s 100km, it’s all eyes on Rejlen James and the once again in-form Adelinah Lintanga. But Celeste Teo may be very motivated on home soil. Mailin Salungin is another strong and experienced trail runner, who recently won the BDUTM Candidate Race in Brunei. Rachel Pui Hung Chan from Hong Kong was 7th in last year’s ATM Final and 3rd in MMTF 100, ahead of Celeste Teo and Rejlen James - the latter having had an off-day, admittedly. India’s Ashwini Ganapathi from Bengaluru is known as a long ultra specialist, having been part of her country’s team in the Asia-Pacific 24h championships (she ran 181 km!). She was also the only female finisher in the Everest Extreme Ultra in 2022. It will be interesting to see how she fares against Rejlen James and co on the trails in Sarawak.

The 50k for men seems wide open and we are bound to discover some new names this weekend. On the female side, the Lintanga sisters Jessica and Lolita could both eye the highest prize. Both are in good form, as shown already at BUTM with a fourth and fifth place respectively. Singapore’s Dening Lo was a surprising third in Bali Ultra last year and may be their main competitor for the win, along with Kona Liau - second in BUTM 50k and so ahead of the Lintangas in that race. Joy Sim, originally from Sarawak, is still a rather young trail talent who could pull a surprise, too.

ATM will be reporting live from the Silabur event all day on Saturday (100km) and Sunday (50km) on the usual channels.

Adelinah Lintanga has returned to her best level, as shown with a great second place in BUTM 100 in March

Gustin Tiam finally won his ATM race at BUTM 100 in March

Mohd Sulhan is an upcoming trail talent who already was a great 2nd at BUTM 100.

Celeste Teo is from Sarawak and always a podium candidate on the long ultras

We are very happy to announce that the 2024 Asia Trail Master Championship's ‘Season’s Final’ will be held in Malaysia at the classic and very popular Borneo TMBT Ultra event in Sabah! The event hardly needs an introduction. TMBT is the oldest trail event in Malaysia and one of the oldest in South East Asia overall. It has been a member of our Championship series for many seasons already and - in line with our calendar readjustment - is the perfect host for the conclusion of Season IX (9). Scheduled for Saturday, 14 September 2024, the ATM Championship Final race will take place on a special and dedicated course of approx 78km with qualified runners only. The event programme of course also features the traditional 100km, 50km, 30 km, 37 km Night Run, 12km and 7.5 km family run, and these are open for the general public.

It will be the second time the ATM Championship Final takes place in Malaysia. In 2019, the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival (MMTF) in Taiping took the honours and did so in great style. John Ellis and Veronika Vadovicova crowned themselves as the last champions before the covid pandemic. Borneo TMBT Ultra is centred around Mount Kinabalu, a world heritage site with spectacular views to the mountain throughout the race course. Racepack collection is in Sabah’s capital Kota Kinabalu and the event is organised and managed by the well-established local team of Borneo Ultra Trails, led by Claus Pedersen and Aileen Yong.

The ATM Final will be held on a specifically designed course that brings together the best and most scenic parts of the traditional 100k and 50k courses, connected by some brand new trail sections. The (in)famous Pineapple Ridge is of course also included. The total race distance will - as usual - measure around 78km and the total elevation gain is estimated at over 4500 hm, which is significant. There are some technical jungle trail sections, but the majority of the trails are quite runable, so the main obstacle for many participants will likely be the heat and humidity of the region. The race will start in Lingkubang at 5 am, roughly one hour before sunrise. The finish line is at the Perkasa Hotel in Kundasang.

As in the past two years since covid, runners need to qualify for the ATM Championship Final by scoring ATM points throughout the season. Per Asian country, maximum five male and five female runners - the highest point scorers - will receive the invitation to join the final race. A minimum of 2 ATM race finishes is required for everyone.

The reigning ATM Champions are John Ray Onifa (Philippines) and Rashila Tamang (Nepal). Both have already qualified to defend their respective titles at TMBT. The defending team champion is Team Philippines. Host nation Malaysia last held the ATM Team title in 2022.

Below is the Borneo TMBT Ultra event website, where you can find all details on the event and also register for the open public races.. All specific information and details about the ATM Championship Final will also be published, as usual, on the ATM Website on our dedicated webpage here.

Of course, the event is also open for everyone else with several race categories on offer

A 3-time winner of his home race, including in his last 2 appearances in 2019 and 2022: Milton Amat. Can he become the 3rd Malaysian ATM Champion after Tahira Najmunisaa (2016) and Steven Ong (2017)?

Podium placers in last year’s ATM Final in Indonesia

Last year’s ATM Team Champions: Team Philippines!

Have a genuine Borneo experience at TMBT!

Always around during TMBT : Mount Kinabalu

Last year’s Team Malaysia.

The third Malaysian points race of this Asia Trail Master Championship season is a newcomer on our calendar: Tioman Ultra 50. Organised by the MMTF Consultant crew on the weekend 1/2 June, this event was an attractive Candidate Race last year and takes place on a relatively small island 32km off the southeastern coast of peninsular Malaysia. The 50km is the only race distance for points, and so we can look forward to an exciting competition!

As stated on the official website of the island, “Tioman is a duty-free island off Peninsular Malaysia's east coast, acclaimed as a geological wonder, ecological paradise and one of Southeast Asia's most beautiful travel destinations.” Runners reach Tioman via ferry from Mersing in Johor, or Tanjung Gemuk in Pahang. There’s hotel resorts and chalets for tourists, nice beaches and great surfing and scuba diving options.

Malaysia and beach, sounds like it will be hot. True, but the 50k race course does have no fewer than 2670 metres of elevation gain with a peak of just over 1000m above sea level as one of three main hillclimbs. That is Gunung Kajang, the highest peak on the island. Participants will begin the ascent of the mountain already after about 9km. With the starting time scheduled for 3 am, this implies runners will witness sunrise on the mountain. Following Gunung Kajang, runners will continue on the “dragons back” ridge from Old Juara Road to Kampung Air Batang, start and finish venue of the event.

Logistics and accommodation are a little more complicated for this event, so early registration to ensure a bib and appropriate accommodation is a must. You can sign up via the button link below.

Last year’s male winner: Yusof Abdul Manan

Last year’s female race winner: Siokhar Lim

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

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

We are happy to announce that the 2nd edition of Trail des Gombak in Selangor is a new ATM Candidate Race in peninsular Malaysia on the weekend of 22/23 June. The event is organised by Projek Hijo and offers traditional race distance categories of 100km and 50 km , alongside shorter versions of 30 km and 15 km. The 100km can also be done in duo format.

Gombak is located near Kuala Lumpur and to the Batu Caves, a touristic hotspot, making it a very convenient event from a logistical point of view. The event location is the Orang Asli settlement. The race courses consist of jungle trails, hills, waterfalls and much more of what the Gombak area has to offer. On paper, Trail des Gombak is not the most difficult with approx 3600 hm of elevation gain for the 100k and 1800 hm for the 50k, but as usual numbers never tell the whole story. The 100km starts at day time, 11am on Saturday, and there’s a cut-off time of 32 hours. The 50km has a 3am start on Sunday with 15 hours as the time limit. Runners should be aware of the mandatory gear requirements before signing up.

Registration can be done via Checkpoint Spot Asia, which you can access via a click on the button below. More event details can be obtained via the event website and facebook page.

 

The island of Borneo is increasingly promoting itself as a trail running centre in South East Asia. Thanks to Mount Kinabalu and the former Climbathlon race, and the still very popular TMBT event, the Malaysian State of Sabah on the northern part of Borneo has been crucial in this development. No surprise that ever more trail events are being organised, and in a fine way, too. We are happy to announce therefore that Kadamaian Ultra, a.k.a. KAR Ultra, will be joining the ATM Championship calendar in 2024. Already a Candidate Race in 2022, the event enters our calendar on the last weekend of July, i.e. 27/28 July, with the 110km and 60km races offering points for the ATM Championship ranking.

KAR Ultra is centered around Kota Belud, roughly an hour north of Kota Kinabalu. It is supported by Kadamaian Tourism with the medium and long-term ambition to make the area the main sports and adventure hub in Sabah. Local communities are engaged in the event as well, and will be supporting all the participants. Cultural and culinary programmes, to taste the local cuisine, are also foreseen. The start venue is Kampung. Tambatuon, which is situated at the foot of Mount Nungkok (also known as Mount Kinabalu's child) and directly leads to the valleys and hills of the Kadamaian area. Participants will see the beautiful scenery along the trail, including hills, clear rivers, rice fields, and even Aki Nabalu. For those who wonder, the race courses are indeed different from TMBT.

Runners can book themselves into a hotel in Kota Kinabalu as well, because a shuttle van can be booked while registering for the races. The vans will depart as scheduled from Likas Square on the north side of KK City. As is custom in Sabah, the 110km and 60km points races will start around sunrise (5:20/5:30 am) - so come prepared if heat is a concern for you.

Registration is open and can be done easily via the usual Checkpointspot platform in Malaysia.

Obviously, Sabah’s #1 trail runner Milton Amat has already added himself to the list of winners at KAR Ultra

For about a third of the 100km race at MMTF, Hisashi Kitamura looked like he was going to genuinely challenge Daved Simpat again after receiving quite a beating by the good old Sabahan at TMBT two months ago. But as they hit the more technical sections, once more Simpat was the stronger one and steadily opened up a gap. Kitamura had to let go, and still had to fight with the surprising Chinese runner Bai Xingzhi for second place. Simpat won MMTF for the second time in his career after 2018. He is clearly back at his best level. Bai Xingzhi outsprinted Kitamura for second place some 45 minutes later. The Japanese runner was nevertheless quite satisified as the gap was much smaller compared to TMBT and his biggest objective is coming up in one month. Another Chinese runner from the Zenone Poles Team, Wang Gang, took fourth ahead of Aqmal Adzmi, who showed once more how much he enjoys MMTF.

The women’s long distance race was dominated by Fu Huarong from China. She ran away from her competitors early on and never slowed down to finish sixth overall! Best of the rest was Malaysia’s ultra specialist Siokhar Lim, who was way ahead of her compatriots, such as Celeste Teo and Rejlen James, who suffered a clear off-day. Hong Kong’s Pui Hung Chan was a great third on the podium. Guan Shin Law was a solid sixth, showing her competitive improvement once more.

On the 50km distance, leader from start to finish despite great pressure from his two main rivals: John Ray Onifa. He stays unbeaten in six ATM races and can look towards the Championship Final with the highest ambitions! Kristian Joergensen was pushing Onifa all race but paid a little price himself at the end, also due to a nutritional oversight. Milton Amat finished the strongest of the three and caught Joergensen for second place just 3’38” behind Onifa! Wilsen Singgin is fourth 39 minutes later - great run by him! Aman Mehla from India was fifth, just a minute behind Wilsen. Great new name on the ATM scene: Aman Mehla.

Aurore Dacier was the fastest woman on the 50km. Based in Singapore, the French runner won by half an hour over Nepal's Rashila Tamang with Korea's Boyoung Jan an impressive third - just a week after scoring third in Ulju Trail 5 Peaks. Chhoki Sherpa took fourth place, which means both the Nepalese who also ran Koboi Malaya earlier in the season are qualified for the ATM Championship Final. The same of course for Boyoung Jan.

China’s Fu Huarong - dominant winner in the women’s 100km

MMTF in Taiping is on this weekend and the event has already confirmed its recently achieved status as the biggest Malaysian trail running event alongside Borneo TMBT Ultra. Close to 3000 runners will be taking part across the various race categories, of which the 100km and 50km require our utmost attention. A wealth of Asian trail talent on the start lists, in particular of the 50km with an expected clash between John Ray Onifa - unbeaten in five ATM races this season -, Kristian Joergensen - unbeaten at MMTF -, and Milton Amat - Malaysia’s current most competitive runner and vice-ATM champion 2022.

And if those three top stars somehow suffer a bad day, there’s a long list of others who will very quickly pick up the spoils: Amir Zaki, Wilsen Singgin, Chris Timms, Sapirin and Safrey Sumping, Yakov Kozlov, Jeffery Budin and so on! This is undoubtedly the most competitive 50k of the current ATM season and just one month before the ATM Championship conclusion in Indonesia. Whoever wins will get a major mental boost. Onifa and Joergensen actually just went head-to-head at VMM 50k in September. The Philippines-based Dane attacked halfway through the race, but Onifa managed to come back and win by just a couple of minutes. Last year in Taiping, Onifa ran a superb 50k race, but so did Joergensen twice already in 2019 and 2022 on the 100k. This is the dual at MMTF that betting companies can make money of. And Milton Amat, who has had a more quiet Asian season this year, might just as well profit from the other two’s healthy rivalry. Ever since the end of covid, Amat has proven several times that his pure running pace has increased significantly compared to 2018-2019. All three are also not afraid of heavy rain with its mud thumping and trail surfing. Rain and MMTF, remember, go hand-in-hand.

Taiping is the wettest city in Malaysia and this was underlined again in the build-up towards this weekend’s event. Runners should expect rain, but an extreme situation like last year whereby the 100k had to be stopped seems unlikely.

That 100k will also be very exciting, featuring the rematch between this year’s TMBT winner Daved Simpat and Hisashi Kitamura. Simpat surprised many by easily outrunning the now Tokyo-based Karate Kit last September. The Sabahan is also a former winner of MMTF, in 2018 - the first edition. An uphill task for Kitamura, for whom a wet race is normally not to his advantage either. His biggest season’s goal comes next month at the ATM Final , so in any case we should see a glimpse of the dominant Kitamura from early to mid last year. As on the 50km, there’s plenty of other men with podium ambitions, or more. Another Japanese UGLOW runner, Yuta Matsuyama is a double race winner of Ultra Trail Chiang Mai 100. That race’s nickname is “kiss the rain” , so Matsuyama for sure won’t be intimidated by the excepted trail conditions at MMTF. Nobuhito Kobu, Jin Heng Oh, Amierul Amin are other names to watch out for, and who knows the Chinese trio from Team Zenone Poles in Hangzhou causes an upset.

In the women’s 100km we can look forward to a first real meeting between new Sabah star Rejlen James, winner of the Borneo Ultra Triple (BUTM 100, Borneo Miler, TMBT 100) this season, and Siokhar Lim - widely considered the benchmark in Malaysia for the long and tough trails. James will be among the top favourites next month for the women’s ATM Championship title, based on her performances this season. A win over Siokhar Lim at MMTF would only emphasise that further. Kanna Suzuki from Japan and Fu Huarong may get involved in the race for victory, too. Other podium contenders are Celeste Teo - the only Malaysian woman already guaranteed of a spot on her country’s team for the ATM Final - Norlela Ismail, Halimatun Sa’adiah, Law Guan Shin and Qheiza Wiranda Edelwise. For the Malaysians like Ismail and Sa’adiah it will be important to finish as close to the podium as possible in order to have a chance for ATM Final qualification.

The same applies for Jess Lintanga, who threw herself back in the mix during the summer with two solid results, and in particular third place at TMBT 50. If the The Team Kolumpa ace can repeat that level of performance at MMTF 50, she could still leapfrog others and jump into the top 5 of the ATM ranking. There is some serious competition, however. The Nepalese duo of Rashila Tamang and Chhiok Sherpa are back in Malaysia after their great results in Koboi Malaya Classic back in May. That was a flat race, this one should suit the mountain girls even more. Izzah Hazirah, Chong Mei Tze and Siao Ai Lim may also have a few words to speak in the battle for podium, and so does Korea’s Boyoung Jan - who features on the start list despite having just scored third place in Ulju 5 Peaks last week.

A lot to look forward and we will be keeping you up-to-date on our usual ATM channels as Mark and Richard are in Taiping.

Last year Kristian Joergensen and Milton Amat finished together on the 100km. This weekend they both run the 50km.

Rashila Tamang won Koboi Malaya Classic last May

Chhiok Sherpa took third place in Koboi. The much hillier MMTF should suit her better

Wilsen Singgin needs a top result to get into Team Malaysia for the ATM Final

Jess Lintanga was 3rd in her home race TMBT and could get herself qualified for Team Malaysia

Jeffery Budin was 2nd in UTCR two weeks ago, which boosted his ATM ranking and qualification chances a lot.

What to expect from Kitamura at MMTF?

A little later than usual due to very heavy workload over the past few weeks, here is the Tale of the Trail video of the 11th Borneo TMBT Ultra from just over a month ago in Sabah, Malaysia. The 100 km and 50 km races were points races for the Asia Trail Master Championship ranking. Local Sabahans Daved Simpat and Rejlen James gave the home crowd great wins on the 100km, while John Ray Onifa and Vanja Cnops were unbeatable on the 50k. For Simpat it was his third 100k victory at TMBT after 2015 and 2018. Hisashi Kitamura bit the dust in second place for the third consecutive time. For Cnops it was her second consecutive victory on the 50k. Rejlen James successfully concluded her ‘Sabah Triple’ as this season she had already won BUTM 100 and Borneo Miler. Onifa broke the course record on the 50k, despite just ‘warming up’ in the first 15km of the race - leaving good old Bruneian Sefli Ahar, making his comeback, alone out in front for half of the race before reeling him in and dropping him by over fifty minutes. TMBT 2023 had a lot of big stories!

Borneo TMBT Ultra was part of our original series in 2015. After a brief hiatus, the event returned on our calendar in 2018 and has been there ever since.

Organised by Borneo Ultras, TMBT will return to ATM also in mid-September 2024 as well as BUTM in March.

Tioman is a small island roughly 30km off the Malaysian east coast and as of this weekend an official new trail running destination. MMTF Consultant, the company behind the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in Taiping, has successfully established Tioman Ultra, a tough 50km trail race on the island. Measuring only 39 km long and 12km wide, Tioman nevertheless has a mountain peak of over 1030m : Gunung Kajang. The island is sparsely populated and covered by dense rainforest.

Event venue was the beachfront of Kampung Air Batang.

The longest race category was the 50km, which had some of Malaysia’s better known runners in it. Yusof Abdul Manan proved to be the fastest man, covering the course in 9h17’47”, a solid 35 minutes faster than Mohamad Syahmim Nazmy and Seiji Morofuji. The finisher times indicate the high degree of technicality of this race. In fourth and fifth we had the first two women, with the highly experienced ultra runner Siokhar Lim having to push a bit to stay ahead of the surprisingly quick Norhani Mohd Jaffar. Norhani has been around for several years, but is known as a short distance specialist. Her performance in Tioman shows that she is growing on the 50k medium distance as well now. The gap between her and Siokhar Lim was just 9 minutes, and Siokhar herself has increased her standard running pace a lot compared to pre-covid years. In third place we had Guan Shin Law, another useful podium for her this season. Guan Shin Law also managed to stay quite a distance ahead of Halimatun Sa’adiah , fifth, for example. Succy Lee was fourth in between them.

Images courtesy of MMTF Consultant

The men’s overall winner Yusof Abdul Manan

Siokhar Lim was fourth overall, but pressed forward by Norhani Mohd Jaffar to win the women’s race