The registration for the penultimate SuperTrail of the 2017 Asia Trail Master Championship is ending soon. Everyone who wishes to do the Clark-Miyamit Falls Ultra 50 miles in Clark, Philippines, on 26 November should submit his details online by 15 October.  

The event is a classic on the Philipines' race calendar and over the years has seen only the best of winners. Last year it was the scene of a great battle between Manolito Divina and Jan Nilsen for the men's Asia Trail Master Championship. This year promises no less. 

Registration is possible via this website link. 

More info on CM 50 Ultra via:

The Indonesia SuperTrail in the 2017 Asia Trail Master Championship series brings a fantastic cast to the Mesastila resort in Magelang, Central Java, this weekend. Not only the top of the Indonesian trail scene signs present, but also plenty of regional trail stars keen on battling it out for the championship, and the prestigious honour of winning or scoring a podium in this by all means very tough race. Not just the main 100K, in fact, but also the 65K B-race will be hotly contested by well-known runners. 

Let's commence, of course, with the 100K that starts in the early hours of Saturday morning. Last year's champion and King of Indonesia (for winning Rinjani 100, MesaStila 5 Peaks and BTS Ultra 100 miles) Jan Nilsen will be back to defend his title after a season plagued by injury. Nilsen looked competitive at the end of July in the Mantra Summits Challenge, wherein he was overtaken by Fandhi Achmad only in the last flat section to the finish. But just how well his foot has healed remains a question, and the same Fandhi Achmad could again be his main foe this weekend.... only over double the distance as at Mantra. The Jakartian runner is making a move now on the Asia Trail Master Championship tour after winning two Candidate Races in six weeks. Three weeks ago, Fandhi Achmad also claimed the technical Bandung Ultra 100 win and races like Mesastila and BTS Ultra are definitely his cup of tea. While he is unlikely to still feature for the overall ATM Championship title this season, Fandhi Achmand can take points away from the others, such as his compatriot Arief Wismoyono. The 2015 Asia Trail Master champion - and winner of Mesastila Peaks Challenge that year - is currently in third place in the ATM standings and will be competing with Hong Kong's Isaac Yuen Wan Ho for the points lead in the absence of Steven Soonseng Ong. The Malaysian returns to action in Thailand soon at UT Chiang Rai, and may see both Wismoyono and Yuen Wan Ho overtake him as they finish their fifth points race of the year.  It will be interesting to see how they fare this weekend. Can Wismoyono at last grab another big win against top opposition, and can Yuen Wan Ho finally get rid of his label as "the nearly man". The sympathetic Hong Konger has a subscription on podium places in the ATM tour but so far he has only scored one victory: HK 168 last season. Fr sure, Yuen Wan Ho will recognise another runner at the start line this weekend, because he finished second behind him in the Magnificent Merapoh Trail race last year. Jason Robinson is another top international runner to watch out for. While Mesastila has about six times the elevation gain of Merapoh, Robinson is no rookie in trail running and might as well benefit from the fact he is relatively unknown on the ATM circuit. The same applies for a Filipino runner, who is coming over from Manila to show something: WIlnar Iglesia. According to insiders, Iglesia is no underdog to Manolito Divina when it gets rough and tough. Moreover, at Penang Eco 100K this year, he proved he can run a fast pace, too. Iglesia finished second behind Ong last May. Iglesia and Robinson are the main dark horses for the race win this weekend. Other contenders for the podium in this kind of mountain ultra are as always Yim Heng Fatt, still second in the ATM Championship with already five race results in his pocket this season, in-form Hendra Siswanto, Muhammad Fauzi - third last year - , Pramonosidi Wijanarko, Alan Maulana, Aris Sopiando Muklis and Abdul Aziz. 

A year ago Tahira Najmunisaa Muhammad Zaid crowned herself as the Asia Trail Master champion here at Mesastila with a superb win in extreme conditions. This weekend that will certainly not yet happen, although the Malaysian can haul herself back to the top spot of the ranking in her fifth points race of the season. Interestingly enough, her main rivals to date are ALL present at Mesastila as well. Championship leader Lily Suryani will take part in her seventh points race of the season and will be looking to improve on her 4th place of Tahura Trail and Merapoh Trail. Second-placed Ruth Theresia started her remarkable performance progress at this event last year, and by all means she should be able to stay closer to Tahira on this occasion. Could an upset be in the making? In an ultra everything is possible. Ruth looked tremendous in February, but in races over summer some fatigue seemed to have slipped in. The Bandung Explorer has taken it easier since last month, and she may benefit from that now. Another important female runner to watch is Australia's Kim Matthews. The winner of the Vietnam Mountain Marathon two weeks ago will be doing the 65K this weekend to preserve energy for the final big races this year. If she wins that, it could prove to be a smart move because also in the female 100K there is a 'guest runner' who in the very least can challenge for the podium. Sydney-based Indonesian Valin Helam may be a few years older than her contenders, but she has the wherewithal to deliver a lesson to the youngsters on a good day. The same applies, albeit to a slightly lesser extent perhaps, to Shindy Patricia. The Malang runner is always a podium candidate and can do a good job for her own ATM ranking this weekend. 

Tahira Najmunisaa Muhammad Zaid

Ruth Theresia

The 65K for men carries a lot of weight as well. The three top favourites are all serious ATM protagonists as well: Pablo Diago Gonzales is a double 70K race winner this year, and Yogyakarta's Dzaki Wardana won the 100K Ijen Trail last May. Moreover, Wardana was second behind Jan Nilsen on the 100K at Mesastila last season. Both of them will need to watch out for up-and-comer Mohammad Affindi from Malaysia, a teammate of Tahira at Malatra. Affindi delivered quite a statement last August to compete with Sefli Ahar at the Merapoh 100 in only his first 100K trail ultra! Again, Merapoh and Mesastila are two different animals, but Affindi himself claims he is even stronger at higher elevation trails! 

As usual you can follow the action live on facebook and instagram this weekend. 

It is always exciting to announce the opening of registration for the first event of the new season. Tahura Trail will once again launch the Asia Trail Master Championship in 2018 on 20 January. Close to two thousand runnes will be expected in the Forest Park in Bandung, Indonesia, of whom the majority will engage in the 42k trail marathon - the points race for the ATM Championship. As of this week, you can commit yourself to the first challenge of 2018 since the organisers of Indonesia Biking Adventure have opened the books. 

The 42k race has a good mixture of everything trail running is about. Nevertheless participants need to take potential rain showers and muddy trails into account when they venture to West Java at that time of year. A drop of rain won't stop the party at Tahura, though, and it is one of the relatively few events that makes for a splendid weekend outing for the whole family. The outskirts of Bandung are picturesque enough and the area is full of spas and other types of comfortable accommodation facilities. 

For more details of the race, visit our cover page or go straight to the event website, where you can also register. 

Female podium of this year's 42K race with ATM Champion Tahira on the top step

After Hakuba International Trails in Nagano three weeks ago, the Shinjo-Hiruzen Super Trail in Okayama was the second 2018 Japanese Asia Trail Master Candidate Race in less than a month. A very exciting development, and we are looking forward to opening more doors to Japanese events, because after all, if there is one Asian country that can be associated with running it is the Land of the Rising Sun. 

The Shinjo-Hiruzen is essentially a 74 km race across the Shiruzen Highlands. Total elevation gain is 3200 Hm, which is not nothing yet seemingly unspectacular neither. As usual, numbers never tell the whole story, as several climbs on the course of Shinjo-Hiruzen are so steep ropes are a must, and one cannot imagine what it would be like if it were wet and muddy on race day. The 350 participants on the long course (about 300 took part in a short race as well) certainly felt their legs and feet afterwards. 

The first part of the course is arguably the most scenic, with beautiful horizon views along the hilly trail. Last Sunday, runners even discovered themselves to be above the clouds. The highest peak was 1200m+ above sea level, after all. The second part, especially beyond km 45 is pure forest trail that goes continuously up an down. 

The event was very well-organised and also benefited from the strong local community support, which was illustrated by the nice pre-race welcoming dinner party on Saturday late afternoon. The Shinjo-Hiruzen area proclaims itself to be the most beautiful village are of Japan, and in fact it is indeed a very popular tourist area, particularly in autumn when the forest turns magnificent orange and yellow. For the culinary enthusiasts among the trail runners, Okayama Prefecture is not far away from Kobe, and the beef tastes just as exquisite!  

The 2018 Cordillera Mountain Ultra in Dalupirip is scheduled for the weekend of 3/4 March. The traditional 50K course features the ascent and descent of Mt Ugo and has been described as one of the most beautiful courses on the ATM tour.  

Registration opens on 1 November 2017. 

Lily Suryani has already finished 6 ATM races this season, plus 1 Candidate Race

With the Vietnam Mountain Marathon last week the 2017 ATM Championship got back on track after the summer break and caused quite a bit of movement in the top of both male and female rankings. While Steven Ong and Lily Suryani continue to lead, they feel several others breathing down their necks now. The upcoming MesaStila Peaks Challenge could result in a new situation as others also reach the plateau of five race results - which Suryani already did a while ago. 

MEN’S TOP 25

* Abroad Bonuses included

* In brackets is number of race results in 2017

1. Steven Soonseng Ong (MAS) 2125 (4)

2. Yim Heng Fatt (MAS) 2000 (5)

3. Arief Wismoyono (INA) 1900 (4) &

    Cao Ngoc Ha (VIE) 1900 (4)

5. Isaac Yuen Wan Ho (HKG) 1850 (4)

6. Manolito Divina (PHI) 1500 (3)

7. Hendra Siswanto (INA) 1490 (4)

8. Pablo Diago Gonzales (ESP) 1420 (3)

9. Gaspard Dessy (BEL) 1300 (3)

10.Aleksis Capili (PHI) 1205 (3)

11. Yohanis Hiareij (INA) 1190 (3)

12. Norman Koh (SIN) 1090 (3)

13. Sefli Ahar (BRU) 1000 (2)

14. Quang Tran (VIE) 950 (2)

15. Jun Kaise (JPN) 925 (2)

16. Rexell Aguirre (PHI) 875 (2)

     Arnold Lozano (PHI) 875 (2)

18. Kris Van de Velde (BEL) 867 (4)

19. Ari Masrudi (INA) 820 (2)

      Quang Duc Nguyen (VIE) 820 (2)

21. Joseph Sibal (PHI) 797 (3)

22. Jan Nilsen (NOR) 795 (2)

23. Jared Teves (PHI) 775 (2)

      Liew Tho Fatt (MAS) 775 (2)

25. Rudy Irwan Shukaime (MAS) 766 (3)

WOMEN’S TOP 25

1. Lily Suryani (INA) 2200 (5+)

2. Ruth Theresia (INA) 2075 (4)

3. Kim Matthews (AUS) 2070 (4)

4. Tahira Najmunisaa(MAS) 2050 (4)

5. Cheryl Bihag (PHI) 1820 (5+)

6. Adelinah Lintanga (MAS) 1800 (4)

7. Shindy Patricia (INA) 1750 (4)

8. Siawhua Lim (MAS) 1325 (3)

9. Vy Le Phuong (VIE) 1145 (3)

10.Ina Budiyarni (INA) 1125 (3)

11. Mila Marlina (INA) 1110 (3)

12. Sandi Menchi Abahan (PHI) 1000 (2)

     Yelena Mitrofanova (RUS) 1000 (2)

14. Christine Loh Woon Chze (MAS) 995 (2)

15. Jassica Lintanga (MAS) 900 (2)

16. Thi Duong Nguyen (VIE) 875 (2)

17. Manilyn Mamugay (PHI) 850 (2)

18. Bo Young Jan (KOR) 825 (2)

19. Patricia Ann Morota (PHI) 790 (2)

20. Irah Hernandez (PHI) 770 (2)

21. Thi Tieu Phuong Nguyen (PHI) 740 (2)

22. Moana O’Sullivan (NZL) 725 (2)

      Siokhar Lim (MAS) 725 (2)

24. Wai Teng Lew (SIN) 675 (2)

25. Tan Hongping (MAS) 660 (2)

The complete ranking can be consulted via Race Timing Solutions on:

http://m.racetimingsolutions.com/rankings/2017

Any comments or missing points, please contact info@asiatrailmaster.com 

The Vietnam Mountain Marathon in Sapa saw quite an upset on the main 100K race as local runner Quang Tran had the better of current Asia Trail Master champion Manolito Divina. In the women's, Kim Matthews delivered on her role as favourite to take her third ATM race victory of the season. 

After finishing second in the Vietnam Jungle Marathon last May, Quang Tran had only one focus in the last months and that was to prepare himself for the Sapa race. While everyone was  pointing to Cao Ngoc Ha as Vietnam's best bet to compete against the pinoy tandem of Divina and Arnold Lozano, Quang Tran was at the front early on. Manolito Divina was able to resist for a long time, but eventually had to admit the Vietnamese runner was simply too fast last weekend. In the end, the gap at the finish had even built up to 1 hour and 15 minutes, which is impressive. Finish time: 13 hours and 17 minutes. Cao Ngoc Ha completed the podium in third place another full hour back. It illustrates the dominance displayed by Quang Tran. SIngapore's Chua Ying Zhi came very close to the podium in fourth place only a few minutes behind Cao Ngoc Ha. Arnold Lozano - winner of this year's Cordillera Mountain Ultra - came home in fifth place. 

While Quang Tran collects 500 ATM championship points and now totals 950 in two races, Manolito Divina moves up into the ranking's top 10 with this third points score of the season. Cao Ngoc Ha improves to 4th place, equalling the total score of Isaac Yuen Wan Ho, who will be in action next at the Mesastila Peaks Challenge. Steven Ong still heads the championship ranking.

Kim Matthews was not really under pressure last weekend and ran a solid 17 hours 52 to claim the victory. The Australian, who recently moved to Ho Chi Minh City,  is becoming a real challenger now for the Asia Trail Master women's title. Her VMM victory propels her to second place in the ranking with four races, just five points behind Ruth Theresia but also 20 ahead of Tahira Najmunisaa! Lily Suryani continues to lead the championship ranking with five results in the bank. In fact, after completing the tough Bandung Ultra 100 last week, the Indonesian finished sixth on the 100K of VMM as well! However, her points total does not increase further as VMM was her sixth race and only the best five results count. Lily needs to do better than 4th place in a regular trail race, as that was her placing in both Tahura Trail and Merapoh Trail. 

On the podium beside Matthews was Hoa Banh, running with Australian nationality as well, and Nguyen Thi Duong from Vietnam, who will move up to the top 20 of the championship ranking with her third result of the season. 

There was also a 70K in Sapa, and that race was won by Britain's Graham Knight ahead of Hanoi's Quang Nguyen after a good battle. In the women's France's Nadia Koucha took a strong victory ahead of Malaysia's Penang Eco 100 winner Christine Loh. 

Kim Matthews

The Vietnam Mountain Marathon launches the final part of the 2017 Asia Trail Master Championship series this weekend. In style, because not only has VMM grown to be one of Asia’s finest trail races over the years, it also has attracted a quality field of Asian runners including our defending champion Manolito Divina. The Philippines’ running star still has some work to do in the final quarter of the year to defend his title. After an unfortunate DNF in Tahura Trail in January, Divina won the Rizal Mountain Run and the Sungai Menyala Forest Trail, but while others already have four or five results he is still down to two. Manolito has remained in good shape, though, as he proved in the Candidate Race in Bali two months ago. Manolito dominated the race and never even had to push to claim victory. This weekend in Vietnam, however, he will face some stiff competition on a hilly and often technical course that may match less with his characteristics as a trail runner. Manolito Divina, ironically enough, may have to fear another pinoy runner most in Vietnam: Arnold Lozano. The man from the Cordillera is known as a mountainbiker mainly outside Philippines, but then he won Cordillera Mountain Ultra last March, ahead of Marcelino Sano-Oy, Al Telias and Jan Nilsen! Lozano has his own ambition for the ATM Championship, so we could get a very interesting dual on the mountains around Sapa this weekend. 

The local stars of course also want a say in the battle. Cao Ngoc Ha in first place. The tall Vietnamese runner has been doing great in the ATM Championship this year and is determined to finish the year on a high note as well. Currently ranked in 6th place with three race finishes, Cao Ngoc Ha has home advantage this weekend and will be cheered on by the ever-growing Vietnamese trail community. Trail running is coming of age in Vietnam, indeed, and Cao Ngoc Ha is one of the pioneers. With also BTS Ultra on his agenda, it looks like he will definitely claim a top 10, if not top 5 or even higher position in the final championship ranking. 

In the women’s 100K, ATM Championship leader Lily Suryani will be at the start to defend her position. The Bali-based Indonesian  is unstoppable and very consistent this year. Only last weekend she finished the Bandung Ultra 100, a very technical and tough ATM Candidate Race. Lily has five results in the bag already, and her aim is of course to improve on her “fifth result”. This weekend, she will for sure leave Vietnam still as the Championship leader, but Australia’s Kim Matthews is set to move up. Matthews, in fact, is the women’s race favourite. She won UTKC 70 and Tam Dao Mountain Trail, and also scored second in the Penang Eco 100k earlier this year and is one of the top favourites for the ATM Championship at the end of the season. In Sapa, Matthews will be competing with Suryani, but also with Montha Suntornwit and local stars Tu Nguyen, Nguyen Thi Duong and Vy Le Phuong. Moana O’ Sullivan from New Zealand is the dark horse for the women’s race this weekend. 

As always in trail running, there may be guest runners claiming the spotlight as well. In Sapa we can expect some solid runners from South Korea, Thailand and France. 

We are happy to announce a second 2018 Asia Trail Master Candidate Race in Japan. The Shinjo-Hiruzen Super Trail (no link with our SuperTrails) is an exciting introduction to Okoyama Prefecture, which is situated between Hiroshima and Kyoto/Osaka. The event features a 73 km long main race on Sunday, 1 October and has an elevation gain of 3200 hm. An experienced trail running committee is behind the organisation, which expects more than 500 participants this year. The race starts in the early morning at 5 a.m. and has a cut-off at. 8 p.m. in the evening. In other words, you are required to cover the 73 km within 15 hours.

You can expect magnificent mountain vistas and you will run through cedar and cherry trees for an excellent trail experience with sufficient runable sections as well. 

Please stay tuned to our website and social media channels in the next weeks to find out a lot more about this Candidate Race. 

Every new season around the summer months we put the entire Asia Trail Master project under a magnifying glass and try to identify areas where we can twist and tweek the set-up, so everything becomes even more attractive for all parties concerned. Now in its third year, ATM still continues to grow on a constant basis according to all our internal parameters, for which we are of course very grateful to all of you. From the get-go in 2015, Asia Trail Master was the pet project of our Hong Kong-based mother company Kuai Sports Promotions with as main ambition the development of trail running, and runners, in Asia. We have hit turbulent weather at times and for sure not everything has gone the way we had imagined it, but we are confident to claim that ATM mid-2017 is a much bigger animal than mid-2015. Our champions like Arief Wismoyono, Manolito Divina and not in the least Tahira Najmunisaa Muhammad Zaid clearly value their championship titles, and today do their utmost best to retain or regain them. The competiton in 2017 is bigger than ever and we are looking forward to a fantastic conclusion of this year’s championship in the next few months, hopefully with a showdown of the best runners at the Izu Trail Journey in Japan on 10 December. Still, Asia Trail Master has never been only about the fastest of runners out there. Our Grandmaster Quest is an individual challenge for every type and level of runner. Today, six athletes have achieved the first level of six races of 70+ km in two years, and Thailand-based Filipino Aleksis Capili has even managed to score his second Grandmaster star already for finishing ten such long distance races. It has pleased us to hear all around the ATM circuit that people now have the Grandmaster Quest in focus. 

We are grateful to each of our sponsors and promotional partners of the Asia Trail Master Championship series and hope we can continue to cooperate in 2018 and beyond. Trail running remains a niche in the overall running business, which means it is still not easy to obtain large financial support but some brands do see the potential now of strategic regional marketing to increase their share in the trail industry, and indeed the running industry as a whole.  As of the second half of 2017 already, ATM will boost its media services to unprecedented heights creating new brand exposure opportunities for brands and companies, either pan-Asian or national. Traditional sports are in crisis worldwide - just look at the difficulty of finding olympic host cities nowadays as just one example -, and trail running belongs to a new wave of popular activties that, perhaps, fits the 21st century better than what we thought a few years ago. Along with that comes the opportunity for innovative and creative marketing and sales ideas to blossom using the latest available technologies. 

As our social media community has grown bigger than any regional trail media platform, we have recently also opened a closed community group on facebook called ‘ATM Trail Talk’  for runners and trail running insiders with opinions. ATM Trail Talk is not meant for publishing news about events, but rather as a discussion forum for organisers, runners and other stakeholders. At Asia Trail Master, we are always open for new suggestions - or founded criticisms - and happy to discuss them with all of you keeping our core ambition close to heart. So, if you have any well-founded ideas or arguments, we are happy to hear them on ATM Trail Talk. The floor is open for all registered members.

Last but not least, a big thank you to all event organisers and all dedicated runners in the Asia Trail Master Championship series. Without you no races, and no Championship. It is fantastic to see that events have matured and gotten ever better since the beginning in 2015. Likewise, many trail runners have become household names in trail families outside their native countries. All of this to the extent that some global trail running stakeholders, such as UTWT, have taken notice. All things considered, that is a very positive development and shows that Asian trail running is moving up. One of our goals remains getting the top of the ATM Championship into the annual trail world championships organised by IAU and ITRA. For a variety of reasons, Asia is largely absent from that competition. But as institutional matters go, it takes time, unfortunately. 

We keep on working, we keep on running, we keep on making new friends and enjoying ourselves on the magnificent trails of Asia!

- KVDV

In part 4 of our 2018 calendar preview we highlight three perhaps lesser known races, but little gems they are for sure: the Mount Apo Sky Race on Mindanao in the Philippines, the Ultra Trail Nepal in Kathmandu and Batase, and the Tengri Ultra Trail in Tamgaly Tas, Kazakhstan. All three take place back-to-back from 22 April to 6 May, and are followed by the big Malaysia SuperTrail, Penang Eco 100! 

The 3rd edition of the Mount Apo Sky Race is organised by the Vertical 2 Sky Team, which has set up several nice races in Davao and on Mindanao island. In 2018 the main points race will be upgraded from 70K to 100K, yet remains an out-and-back route to the summit of the highest mountain of the Philippines. The registration is open earlier than ever soon, and with Air Asia now flying directly from Kuala Lumpur to Davao, the event has become more accessible than ever as well! 

One week later we travel to Nepal for the Ultra Trail Nepal event, which commemorates the devastating earthquake of 2015. Running from Kathmandu to the Batase Valley, also this course has been extended from 86K to a full 100K for the next edition of 28 April. Although this is Nepal, this event actually has quite some runable sections as well. 

Meanwhile a classic on the ATM calendar is the Kazakhstan pioneering race in UNESCO World Heritage Site Tamgaly Tas, 100K from Almaty. The 4th Tengri Ultra Trail is scheduled to retain its 70K main course, which is characterised by grasslands with snowcapped peaks on the horizon, and a rocky canyon to be traversed. Registrations for non-Kazakhs will be open in due course. 

Finally, Penang Eco remains the Malaysia SuperTrail on 12/14 May 2018. This is a big event with the first 100 miler of the season, along with a 100K as main race as well. Less ambitious runners can also do the 50K or 35K, but those do not offer any ATM Championship points. The courses are expected to stay as they are more or less. As everyone who has done Penang Eco knows, this one is not about the elevation, but about the humidity and mental resilience as the techical sections come at the end and after a very runable first part. 

Tengri Ultra Trail

Penang Eco 100

the 2018 ATM Calendar so far

As every year we have been evaluating our points attribution system for the Asia Trail Master Championship. Without changing too much and always sticking to the principle of "easy to calculate, easy to follow" , the 2018 system sees a few modifications that may be relevant for those fast runners gunning for a top placing in the championship. The most significant of these amendments is that B-races of 70K will no longer offer the full 400 performance points for the winner, but only 300. In our attempt to harmonise everything across the whole event calendar, we felt that B-races of a few events were overvalued - points-wise - in 2017. 

While the 'five-best-count' rule remains for the final classification at the end of the season, it should be noted that we require one of those five races to be a SuperTrail in 2018. If no SuperTrail is among the races run by an individual, his or her points total will be reduced by 250 points. This amendment is being introduced to avoid a situation whereby a runner collects high doses of points in some of the more remote or less competitive races on our calendar. 

There will be six SuperTrail races in 2018, whereby UTKC in Thailand, the 9 Dragons Ultra in Hong Kong and the Penang Eco 100 in Malaysia have already been confirmed. The allocation of the SuperTrail event for Indonesia, Japan and Philippines will be done soon. 

The Asia Trail Master Championship series continues to offer challenges and opportunities for runners of all levels and characteristics, mountain goats and quick rabbits. 

In a nutshell: 

2018 ATM Championship Points System - The key facts

• The best 5 results in terms of points count for the final classification after the last race
• Standard races: 500 championship points for winners:
  • 100 finisher points + 400 performance points
• Performance points for winners:
  • A races: 400 
  • B races of 100K: 400
  • B races of 70K or C-races of 70K: 300
  • B races of < 70K: 200
  • Exceptions to this rule possible in selected cases
  • Performance points overview table link
• Bonus finisher points:
  • SuperTrail bonus: 50 
  • 100 Miles bonus: 50
  • Abroad bonus: 50 (when 1 of minimum 3 races outside of resident country)
• NEW: SuperTrail requirement
  • To avoid fast runners collecting high doses of points in very remote or less competitive races, we introduce the SuperTrail requirement, which says that 1 of the - minimum - five races that count for the final classification must be a SuperTrail for the runner to keep all his or her points. If the runner did not compete in a SuperTrail, his or her points total will be reduced by 250 points after the last SuperTrail race of the year has taken place. 
• There will be 6 SuperTrails races in 2018. Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia are already confirmed. Japan, Indonesia and Philippines will be announced in due course