24-year-old Filipino Godwin Mirar scored the biggest win of his still young trail running career by outgunning Sabah’s Wilsen Singgin on the toughest uphill section, Penang Hill, halfway into the race. Anyone who thought Mirar had put his cards on the table too soon was proven mistaken as he kept extending the gap to an impressive 18 minutes at the finish! It was his second ATM success of the season after his home victory at Mount Kalatungan Ultra 50 in Bukidnon at the start of March. Wilsen Singgin, surprised by Mirar’s speed, finished just ahead of female race winner Hau Ha, the 2022 ATM Champion. Hau Ha was being challenged by current ATM Champion and former teammate, Priya Rai, but Penang Hill proved decisive also in the women’s race. Just before the hardest bit of the climb, the young Nepalese had already been distanced by a few minutes as she had missed a marking sign and gone onto a wrong trail. On the summit, the gap was just a good two minutes but Hau Ha built on that gap in the descent - as always her biggest strength. To her credit, Priya Rai kept her chin up and even managed to get a bit closer again in the tough 6 km long final section. At the finish, the gap was 9’31”. Hau Ha remains unbeaten in ATM and now has 9 race victories on her record. She also ran with a bit of a sour throat and revealed she also in training for her first ever 100 miles race scheduled for June. The Vietnamese star collected her wild card for this year’s ATM Final in her home country, Mu Cang Chai Trail Ultra on 4 October, but it remains to be seen whether she will take part given her obvious global ambitions. Priya Rai also got her wlld card already to defend her ATM title.

The 2nd edition of the Penang Sky Race was held in brutally hot and humid conditions around the island’s Youth Park. With over 2700 metres of elevation gain, this was a very spicy course for a distance of ‘only’ 46km. For most, it was more than long enough given the conditions. The four aforementioned runners dominated the proceedings. Behind them was a substantial gap to several other established competitors, which illustrated even more what a performance Mirar, Singgin, Hau Ha and Priya Rai delivered on the day. Mirar finished in 5h41, Hau Ha won in 6h01. Both Mirar and Singgin took important steps towards qualification for their country’s teams in the ATM Championship Final later this year. In fact, for Wilsen Singgin it was his second consecutive second place of the season after BUTM 50.

Third place on the male podium was claimed by Singapore’s Chris Timms, winner of UTOP 60k last October and overall points leader in the current ATM Championship ranking. Timms was able to follow the leading quartet initally together with his Falcon’s teammate Humberto Baeza, but on the Botanical Garden loop between CP2 and CP3 they found the pace too high. Baeza also sustained a knee injury and would later DNF.

Next up were a solid group of Malaysian runners Min Keong Chai, Kee Ming Lim, Assyrul Aminur and Johari Mohd Ali. Singapore-based Scott Pugh took eighth, followed by Penang resident and former Penang Eco winner Alex Tilley, who had a tough final section. Between Timms (3rd) and Tilley (9th) are just 27 minutes.

Third place on the female podium went to Russia’s Antonina Dmitruk, who held onto the place from beginning to end. In fourth we found Malaysian Syarifah Hamzah, who had already scored a place of honour at BUTM in February. She was followed by Pei Fen Goh and Thailand’s Siriporn Leumathong, who arguably would have liked the race to be a bit longer. Singapore’s. Joy Sim finished in seventh, but was later disqualified for missing a checkpoint (CP3 at the Botanical Garden). Her place was inherited by Sue Phin Leam. 2024 ATM Finalist Lolita Lintanga had a rough day and took eighth, still collecting some useful ATM points for her 2025 ranking..

The next Malaysian points race is Trail des Gombak near Kuala Lumpur on 21/22 June.

Priya Rai was pleased with her performance

Hau Ha stays unbeaten in the ATM Championship series

Saturday’s Penang Sky Race 50km in Malaysia features one of the better competitive line-ups of the current ATM Season and arguably it’s the women’s race that will draw most attention. Reigning ATM Champion Priya Rai will run against 2022 ATM Champion, former teammate and global trail star Hau Ha! Not to say the men’s 50k won’t be intruiging: Wilsen Singgin, Godwin Mirar, Chris Timms, Alex Tilley, Humberto Baeza: take your pick who is going to win this one! No Grandmaster distance this weekend, but a nice and pure trail competition on an exciting and tough trail course in Penang with start and finish in the Youth Park.

Penang Sky Race is an organisation by MMTF Consultant and is separate from Ultimate Trails of Penang (UToP), the event held annually in October. It is indeed the second time this season that runners will be competing on the island for ATM Championship points, more evidence that Penang is gradually becoming a real trail hub in Malaysia. A miniature Hong Kong, with Georgetown as a modern city surrounded by lush green forests, beaches and hills. Those hills, arguably, are a difficulty level higher than in Hong Kong, though. Saturday’s race has almost 2800 metres of elevation gain for what is essentially 46km.

It is the first time this race is part of the Asia Trail Master Championship series, replacing last year’s Tioman Ultra. Hau Ha must have great memories of that race, as it was undoubtedly one of her most impressive performances ever. Toying with everyone - including the men - and finishing first overall by a big margin. Her first trail experience on Malaysian soil couldn’t be better. But the same can be said for Priya Rai. The young Nepalese took the ATM Championship title at Borneo TMBT Ultra last September in her first outing in the country. It was her breakthrough performance, showing that she has matured as a trail runner and ready to knock on the door of the global trail scene, a door that Hau Ha already smashed two years ago. Six months later, BSc student Priya dominated her home race, Manjushree Trail Race in Kathmandu and says she has recovered and been feeling great since. This Saturday in Penang, Priya could be ready to make that next big leap forward in her competitive development. Of course, they have raced each other a few times before and Hau Ha has always come out on top, clearly so. But the gap between them has become smaller. They also know each other very well. Two years ago they trained and spent time together in Spain and Chamonix. Today they both are in separate ‘teams’ and have different coaches. In fact, Hau Ha had a bit of a rocky start to 2025 as her team change appeared to have happened very abrupt. Any doubts that people may have had were quickly demolished when Hau Ha ran away from Veronika Leng to win at Vietnam Ultra Marathon 70k early March. But it’s only after a few months when the effects of new training and coaching become more obvious, and Penang Sky Race will give us a good indication whether Hau Ha is on the way to that major international victory on the world stage that she has been craving for.

Hau Ha and Priya Rai are the clear race favourites, but there are more solid female trail runners on the start list. The battle for podium should be contested between Sabah’s Lolita Lintanga, ATM Finalist last year and 3rd in BUTM 50 this year, Halimatun Sa’adiah, her first ATM race in ten months, Singapore’s Joy Sim, Thailand’s Siriporn Leumathong (Top 10 in 2024 ATM Final) and a few others.

The men’s race is quite unpredictable with a whole bunch of potential race winners. All things considered, especially the course technicality, overtaking Sabah’s Wilsen Singgin could be the key to victory. Wilsen has been putting more emphasis on speed and 50k races since over a year and it seems to be paying off in competitive performance. Two months ago, for the first time, he put himself between his two peers Daved Simpat and Milton Amat at BUTM 50. Singgin will be up against local powerhouse Alex Tilley, who lives in Penang and knows the trails very well. Chris Timms is also running again, just two weeks after taking a joint victory in Sarawak at Silabur 100. Timms also won UTOP 60k last October. However, the Singapore-based Briton worries about a calf injury that may prevent him from reaching peak performance this weekend. From Bukidnon in the Philippines, the young Godwin Mirar will be making his debut in Malaysia. Mirar has been building up his international race experience of late and - along with Timms - is arguably the fastest pure runner in the field. Mirar won this season’s Mount Kalatungan Ultra 50 early March, showing increased strength and resilience when trails get hilly and technical. If he wins this Saturday, it would be his biggest victory to date. There is a dark horse on the start list who few people will think about: Humberto Baeza. Winner of Lam Dong Trail early in the ATM season, second in Dieng Trail Run and 8th in VUM - the latter perhaps not a true reflection of his emerging status as an elite trail runner in our series. While these five names stand out, there is plenty of other talented runners who can get in the mix for podium this Saturday.

ATM will be broadcasting and updating live from the Penang Sky Race 50km, with race start scheduled at 3 am local time on Saturday.

Wilsen Singgin: gradually stepping out of the shadow of Milton and Daved

Godwin Mirar: looking for the big breakthrough

After the cancellation of Tioman Ultra, we are happy to announce that the Penang Sky Race will take its place on the 2025 Asia Trail Master Championship calendar. Also organised by MMTF Consultant, the Penang Sky Race event programme offers a 50km category that will have ATM points on offer for the best 25 performers in the result. The event is scheduled for Saturday, 26 April with start at 3 am.

As the event name suggests, Penang Sky Race is also part of the global Skyrunner series and in particular the 30km race, which almost has the same elevation gain as the 50km (approx 2300 hm).

The 50km Sky Ultraks race category has start and finish at the Youth Park in Georgetown, main city in Penang. As such, this is a convenient event logistically with also an international airport to the south of Georgetown. The course will take runners on ondulating terrain with Penang Hill as a highlight. The highest point of the course is Western Hill at 833m above sea level. As we know from the longer UTOP races, Penang island is a trail running paradise as long as you are prepared . Hills can be very rugged and technical, and then there’s the heat and humidity. But once you finished, the beach is also not far away and Georgetown is a UNESCO World Heritage Site do definitely worth your time to wander about.

Registration is still open for the event and can be accessed via the official website linked below.