On 6 May 2018 trail runners can already for the fourth time take part and score Asia Trail Master championship points in the Tengri Ultra Trail in Kazakhstan. A unique race through steppe or grasslands and canyons over a total distance of 70 km, 35 km or 15 km at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Tamgaly Tas, known for its prehistoric cave paintings and drawings. The Tengri Ultra Trail is one those trail and outdoor event experiences you won't easily forget. Participants are required to camp overnight at the race venue along the banks of the mighty Ili River, where mobile connectivity is still a hit-and-miss. Barbecue combined with cultural and mysterious shaman performances are part of the entertainment on pre-race night. 

This is a race suited for quick-legged runners as the total elevation gain over the Grandmaster distance of 70Km is no more than 1450 hm. Nevertheless, the canyon section does require focus as some sections are technical, especially if it is raining like last year at the start. Usually, the weather is dry and hot during the day. 

International runners need to fly into Almaty, former capital of Kazakhstan before it was moved to Astana. Almaty is still the economic and cultural centre of the country and certainly deserves a few days of exploring. Almaty is surrounded by high mountains as well, so after the race you might as well do some training out there as well. Remember Almaty was a candidate to organise the Olympic Winter Games in 2024 but narrowly lost by just four votes to Beijing-Zhangjiakou. 

Air Astana has direct flights to Almaty from a number of Asian capital cities: Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, for example. Book early and you can even get a good price also. 

Have a look at the splendid video documentary below of the 2017 event and get yourself convinced to go and try something new in 2018! Further below is the link to our cover page, from where you can also connect to the local event website (also in English). 

Video 2017 event

Tengri Ultra Trail

One of the fastest races on the Asia Trail Master Championship calendar has opened the registration for next year's edition, scheduled for 1 April 2018. Sungai Menyala Forest Trail offers a 50 km trail in dense ancient rainforest and is also one of the more accessible races with Port Dickson being just an hour's drive away from Kuala Lumpur. 

The event also has shorter distances on its menu for the less ambitious runners, or indeed for people who would like to get a first taste of running on trails as opposed to running on roads. For the ATM Championship, though, it is the 50K that matters with the standard 500 points to be scored by the winners (100 finisher points, 400 performance points). 

Filipino runners set Sungai Menyala alight last April with ATM Champion Manolito Divina beating a star-filled race including the likes of Steven Ong, Arief Wismoyono and Pablo Diago Gonzales. In the women's, Sandi Menchi scored one of her three ATM race victories this season ahead of Jessica Lintanga and Jeri Chua. Also in 2018 race director Razif Yahya expects an influx of fast trail runners into Port Dickson. 

Everybody is welcome to register for the event now via Raceyaya. 

more details:

For the second time in a month, Asia Trail Master championship leader Arief Wismoyono had to tolerate a European guest runner to take a prestigious race victory in his home country of Indonesia. Wismoyono finished second in the 100 miles race of Bromo Tengger Semeru Ultra last weekend behind Matthias Kraus of Austria. Still, the Bandung Explorer ace increased his points lead in the championship by 75 points and is beginning to look like the one to beat with just four races left on the calendar. Ironically, his main rival could become Brunei’s Sefli Ahar, who won he 100km race at BTS with astonishing speed and remains unbeaten! 

The event was overshadowed by the sudden passing of Jakarta ultrarunner Andi Nursaiful, who succumbed to a heart attack in the early hours of Saturday. 

Italy’s Alessandro Sherpa was leading the 100 miles race early on. At km 60, however, he was forced to retire as his drop bag was not available at the chosen checkpoint. Fellow European Matthias Kraus took over, while the local heroes Arief Wismoyono, Fandi Achmad and Dzaki Wardana stayed more or less together for a long time - wise given the very technical nature of some parts of the BTS Ultra course. Kraus proved too fast and claimed the win, but Wismoyono proved once more he is still the reference in male trail running in Indonesia by taking second place. He now totals 2475 ATM championship points and puts additional pressure on all other contenders to catch up with him in the remainder of the season, let alone overtake him!

There was another outstanding performance on the 100 miles as Eni Rosita became only the second woman ever to finish the distance. What a comeback for her after the misery and long recovery folllowing the acid attack last year in October. Since her return, Rosita has been struggling to keep up with the fast pace of the new wave of runners such as Ruth Theresia and Shindy Patricia, but her stamina and determination is as high as ever! Patricia, in fact, was a DNF after 100k last weekend. Even though the Malang runner was one of many who suffered from food poisoning, it is arguably not a coincidence that the toughened Rosita made it all the way to the finish. Overall, ten runners completed the 100 miles this year within the assigned cut-off time of 45 hours.

The 100k race deserves a lot of credit also at BTS and is rewarded with 500 championship points for the winner. Sefli Ahar took full advantage and kept his own ATM championship hopes alive with a commanding victory in a new course record of 19 hours six minutes. The Bruneian did have his troubles during the race, though, as he got lost a few times. Contrary to in Penang Eco 100, Ahar nowadays remains calm and finds back the right trail to continue his rush to the finish. Imagine Ahar had actually won in Penang as well last May. Alas, he now has 1550 championship points but needs 2 more races to actually have a chance to become ATM champion. The women’s 100k  was won by Malaysia’s Reylen James, who finished half an hour ahead of her compatriot Adelinah Lintanga. Sri Wahyuni completed the podium. Lily Suryani did not have her best race of the year, yet still managed to finish in fifth place.

We are delighted to welcome and introduce the Dalat Ultra Trail into the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship. The event is the first major international trail running race in Southern Vietnam and is scheduled for 17/18 March 2018. The main race has a total distance of 70 km - Grandmaster distance - and will be a good mix of runable and technical terrain. 

The 70 km course starts in the historical hilltop town of Dalat and runs over LangBiang Peak of Lam Vien Highland with beautiful sceneries, surrounded by hills, pine forests, lakes and waterfalls. Dalat is also known as a cool retreat from Ho Chi Minh City, the nearest city and international gateway to the event. While the 70K is the one that matters for ATM championship points, less ambitious runners can also go for a 42k, 21k or 10k option. 

The organisation is in the hands of 123Go and Vietnam MTB Series, bringing in lots of experience of outdoor activities in the Dalat area. 

The registration for the event opens THIS wednesday for the general public. Stay tuned for the link and be ready as the event is expecting to sell its 1500 bibs quite soon!

More info can be found also via our cover page:

04/03 - Dalat Ultra Trail (VIE)

The last of the Indonesia races in the 2017 Asia Trail Master Championship has always been Bromo Tengger Semeru Ultra 100 and this year is no different. This weekend’s 5th edition is the biggest ever in terms of participation numbers and the iconic landscape at the event centre waters the mouth of everybody not present. The 100 miles and 100K races are filled with local and international talent - despite several unfortunate cancellations of ATM protagonists - and our Asia Trail Master Championship leader Arief Wismoyono can make a major step towards winning a second title after 2015. 

The original course of BTS Ultra 100 can be used again this year, which implies runners can expect a seriously tough and technical race, particularly at nighttime. Last year’s dominator Jan Nilsen is sadly out of this year’s edition due to his well-known foot injury. As also Steven Ong, Cao Ngoc Ha and Isaac Yuen Wan Ho decided not to travel to East Java, eventually, Arief Wismoyono is clearly the one to watch out for. Especially given his outstanding run at Mesastila Peaks Challenge a month ago, a 100K where he reclaimed the top spot of the ATM ranking. This weekend Arief can extend his points lead over his championship contenders in his sixth race of the season. Arief has pocketed 2400 points in five races, his worst result being 4th place in Tahura Trail at the start of the year. He got 400 points for that one, and winning BTS would give him 525. In other words, he can up his total from 2400 to 2525 points, which would put him 315 points ahead of Isaac Yuen Wan Ho and 425 of Steven Ong, 575 ahead of Manolito Divina. Arief won’t be sure of winning the championship this weekend, but he certainly can put all the others firmly on the defensive! 

Just like at Mesastila, there’s a few international runners who are unknown on the ATM tour and may get in the mix for victory. Otherwise, Wismoyono’s main competitor may be his compatriot Fandhi Achmad. The latter did not have his best day during the 100k of Mesastila, finishing fourth and somehow never into the fight for the win. Yet Achmad proved at Mantra Summits Challenge - beating Nilsen - and Bandung Ultra 100 that he is one of the best runners for these type of ultras. Achmad plays no role in this year’s ATM Championship, yet he can influence the outcome. 

Other podium candidates are Dzaki Wardana - winner of Ijen Trail 100 - and Hendra Siswanto - currently 8th in the ATM Championship with several strong performances in ultras this season. 

To note is the participation of ATM #4 Shindy Patricia and Eni Rosita in the 100 miles race this weekend. To date, only one woman has managed to complete this distance in the history of BTS. Will they be next? For sure both are in good shape, and if anything, they won’t feel any pressure from Tahira Najmunisaa or Ruth Theresia. The Malaysian ATM Champion has accepted her body’s alarm signals at UT Chiang Rai two weeks ago and is resting to be ready for the final race(s) of the season. Ruth Theresia is gunning for the win at Clark-Miyamit Falls Ultra in 3 weeks. That’s the Philippines’ SuperTrail in the ATM Championship, which means 50 useful bonus points. Ruth is very much a contender to win this year’s ATM championship, being only 25 points behind Tahira, who - as mentioned - is on the ropes at the moment. 

Moving to the 100K, where there’s also 500 championship points to be scored by the race winners, we have Brunei’s Sefli Ahar at the start. Ahar is a policeman in his country with limited time and even more limited opportunity to travel abroad. When he attends a race, his only ambition is to win it. Ahar is now clearly the dark horse in the ATM Championship this year. At the moment he is still down in 16th place in the ranking, courtesy of his two victories at Beach Bunch Trail Challenge 100 and Magnificent Merapoh Trail 100. He DNFd due to inexperience in trail running at Penang Eco 100, leading the race till he got lost. After BTS Ultra 100, his calendar still shows CM 50 and Izu Trail Journey, which makes it five races. Sefli Ahar is fast, but will find BTS to be a different cup of tea than anything he has done before in trail running. Runners like Rhenaldi Firdaus - young, bright and a winner of Mesatila 4 Peaks 65k last year - and experienced Frenchman Vincent Chalias  will not give him the victory on a silver platter. 

The women’s race could be a battle between Malaysians and an Indonesian Grandmaster. Adelinah Lintanga has run some great races this year, which puts her in sixth place of the ATM Championship. Two weeks ago in Thailand, Adelinah lost the route like many others in the last 10k of the UTCR race. One of those others was Lily Suryani, who still finished third in that race. Suryani was chasing Lintanga closely and we can expect the same at BTS Ultra 100k this weekend. The only question is how well have they recovered, and can they withstand the challenge of ULTRON runner Puteri Norsharina Abd Aziz. The latter from Malaysia has done great things on shorter distances and is now moving up to ultra on the international scene. 

As usual, we will be reporting live from BTS Ultra 100 all weekend via our social media channels. Stay tuned! 

The backdrop for this weekend's race. 

We are happy to announce the formal entry in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship series of Mantra Summits Challenge in East Java, Indonesia, on 28/29 July. The mountainous and technical race will feature a redesigned 75K race as longest distance, an upgrade of this year's main race. Mantra Summits Challenge was a successful ATM Candidate Race last July, won by Fandhi Achmad who overtook Jan Nilsen in the last sector with Pablo Diago Gonzales finishing in third place. In 2018 we can expect even more international running stars as the event joins the championship, and will be held one week after Ijen Trailrunning, held further to the east in the same region. Both races will be offered also as a Wolf The Trail package for international runners who like to spend a week in East Java. 

The beautiful Kaliandra Eco Resort will again play host to the event in the outskirts of Malang town, approximately 1,5 hours from the airport in Surabaya. While 75K is the distance that matters for the ATM Championship points, less ambitious runners can also opt for a 50K, 30K and 15K option. This year the 50K race got renowned for its technical nature, whereby the descents almost took as much time as the climbing up. The new route for 75 K and also 50 K still has a quite steep downhill from Mount Arjuna (above 3000m!) but it will be more runable as the track is less rocky and more compact soil. The course will pass through a new local tourist area called Budug Asu Hill, which has a beautiful view from there as well .

The 50 K will continue running into a tea plantation and follow the existing route. The 75K instead will continue to a runable section more towards Gunung Mujur and will connect with the 50K section again approaching the finish line at the Kaliandra Eco Resort. 

Stay tuned for all details of the 2018 Mantra Summits Challenge in due course. 

Divina: 2nd place in UT Mapawa. 

ATM Champion Manolito Divina had better fortunes at the Ultra Trail Mapawa in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, compared to last year, but he still had to accept one runner was faster than him. John Ray Onifa from Visaya is a new face in the Asia Trail Master circuit and one we will be following closely in the future! Onifa took the bull by the horns at the Mapawa Nature Reserve and led the race very quickly, even building up an advantage of half an hour over Divina, who ran alongside Dane Kristian Joergensen. Tolitz did what he could to bridge the gap to Onifa in the final 10K, but crossed the line 16 minutes adrift. Second place means 450 points, while for sure he was hoping to get the full pot of 500. Divina is still a strong candidate to keep his Asia Trail Master title, but nothing else than victory at Clark-Miyamit Falls Ultra - a race he won the past three years - may be essential. Divina is now 5th with 1950 points, 450 and 1 race less than championship leader Arief Wismoyono. 

Wilnar Iglesia tried to keep up with the pair, but eventually had to settle for fourth place in his third ATM points race of the season. Aldean Lim from our sponsor AHON gaiters & socks had an excellent run to finish in fifth place, even one place ahead of last year's winner Jonathan Pido. 

Introducing John Ray Onifa: winner of UT Mapawa ahead of Divina and Joergensen!

In the women's 50k race, Sandi Menchi delivered another commanding run and won her third ATM points race of the season. With 1550 total points in the bag and five races to go, Menchi is still a candidate to join Tahira Najmunisaa, Ruth Theresia and Kim Matthews in the battle for the women's championship. Will she run CM50 or will she not? That is the question. Joining her on the podium at Mapawa were Maria Luisa Prado and Agustorain Sabanal. 

Sandi Menchi remains unbeatable in Philippines. WIth 3 race victories in 2018 she still is in the mix for the ATM Championship with 5 races to go

Ultra Trail Mapawa is on this weekend with nearly all the Filipino stars present in Cagayan de Oro. That includes Asia Trail Master champion Manolito Divina, for whom it will be an important race to safeguard his chances to defend his title later this year. Mapawa Nature Park features a rollercoaster of a course that is 50k in length and has quite some technical bits. It is one of two ATM races on the southern Philippines’ island of Mindanao, the other one being the Mt Apo Sky Race in April. 

For ‘Tolitz’, winning this race is not a given. First of all, he only arrived fourth in this race last year, even though he did suffer an ankle injury on the way. Secondly, last year’s winner - local runner Jonathan Pido - is back along with other strong competitors like Kristian Joergensen and Wilnar Iglesia. Especially Iglesia is doing well in the ATM championship himself and will be keen to grab as many points as possible this weekend to boost himself into the top 10. For all top Filipino runners there is still their own SuperTrail coming up next month, Clark-Miyamit Falls Ultra, which means it can be expected several of them will still be making strides forward in the ranking. Other outsiders for podium placings are Thumbie Remigio and Dean Lim, the latter from the AHON squad. 

In the women’s race, the big favourite is of course Sandi Menchi, who will be doing her third ATM points race of the season after winning Cordillera Mountain Ultra and Sungai Menyala Forest Trail. Interestingly, including this weekend’s UT Mapawa, Menchi seems to have a preference for 50K races. Generally acknowledged as one of Asia’s most talented trail runners, Menchi is not out of the championship battle yet, but she will need both CM50 and Izu Trail Journey SuperTrail races to still catch up with the current female top 3 in the ATM Championship. Candidates for the podium of the 50K race in Cagayan de Oro are Patricia Ann Morota, Trisha Reyes and Maria Luisa Prado. 

We will be reporting on our social media channels as usual as soon as information flows in. Connectivity in the area can be modest.

Jay Jantaraboon was the fastest in Chiang Rai

The Thailand blockbuster weekend had a couple of unexpected twists as several of the protagonists failed to reach the finish line! Both in UT Chiang Rai and UT Nan 100, Thailand's own top runners delivered outstanding performances on the other hand. Jantaraboon Kiangchaipaiphana in UTCR 122 and Sanya Khancai in UTN 100 were a class of their own. In the battle for the Asia Trail Master Championship, nothing changed at the top as Steven Soonseng Ong and even Tahira Najmunisaa Muhammad Zaid   did not finish in Chiang Rai! 

Steven Ong was running comfortably in second place, albeit at a reasonable distance behind Jay Jantaraboon. But painful ankles and a couple of wrong turns in the second half seemingly demotivated the Malaysian ace and he called it quits after about 95 km. Ong therefore remains third in the ATM championship, behind Arief Wismoyono and Isaac Yuen Wan Ho. 

Tahira Najmunisaa started as the big favourite in the women's race, but she quickly discovered two things: first, that her body was still in fever and apparently unrecovered from Mesastila Peaks Challenge, and second, that Australia's Joanna Kruk was in superb shape for this race! Half a year ago on the more technical UTKC trail, Kruk finished second and clearly behind Tahira on the 100K. But in Chiang Rai, Kruk found a course that suits her characteristics as a fast runner more and she put Tahira under pressure from the start. Feeling too weak due to the persistent illness, the 2016 ATM Champion and current championship leader decided at the first water station there was no point in racing. Kruk nevertheless continued her stride and even stayed close to Ong, which is remarkable. Joanna Kruk is now a second Australian woman to watch for in future ATM races! The other one, Kim Matthews, sees her potential chances of winning the ATM Championship grow a bit more with Tahira’s DNF, just like Indonesia’s Ruth Theresia. All three remain very close together in the ranking. 

The men’s podium in Chiang Rai was completed by Thailand’s Pornmongkol Phuthong and Britain’s Robert Butcher. They had a nice competition with Yim Heng Fatt, Lausay Niong and Wasin Monghkolmalee. The women’s podium was quite controversial, unfortunately, as seemingly inadequate trail marking in the last 10K section to the finish caused many runners to lose the way at nighttime. Adelinah Lintanga and Lily Suryani were about to finish second and third, but the Malaysian never even got to the finish at all after hours of running in circles. Suryani managed to get back on the right trail but only on Sunday morning and with the assistance of a Thai runner who knew the course. Montha Sunthornwit inherited second place, with Woraphan Kijsawasai third in the official race result. The fact that the same happened to even Joanna Kruk (she needed 6 hours to complete the last 10K for the same reasons) has urged us to consider giving out ATM points to the affected runners according to their ranking at the last CP, due to the impact on their rankings. 

Over in Nan, Sanya Khancai scored his second career ATM victory when co-favourite Pharait Varesin dropped out of the race at CP3. Khancai was never threatened and won comfortably in 14:35. First woman was also second overall in the race, Phichanan Mahachot in 17:32, who stayed just ahead of Atip - the second man. Jan Nilsen again saw his foot spoil his party. After deciding to downgrade to 50K instead of 100K, Nilsen felt it was enough halfway through the race - even though he was in the lead at that point. Nilsen gave it his all last year in the ATM Championship, and clearly seems to have overstretched himself a bit. We wish the Norwegian a speedy but especially full recovery, so we can see him back at his best in 2018! 

Joanna Kruk was an outstanding winner of the women's UTCR 122 race

Next year on 14/15 April we have the return of a meanwhile classic Chinese trail race in Asia Trail Master: Ultimate Tsaigu, previously known as Tsaigu Tangsi Plus. The event features a tough 100K and 65K courses through tea plantations, bamboo forests and rugged mountains. While there are also shorter distances available, the two main races require adequate preparation. The event location is Linhai, a nice tourist place not too far and easily accessible from major cities Hangzhou, Ningbo and even Shanghai. 

There is plenty of English language assistance for this event, which is very international-minded and welcoming to non-Chinese participants. For more details you can go to the summary cover page below. Registration goes via Iranshao:

http://iranshao.com/register/reg_races/TsaiGuTrail2018?locale=en

XX/XX - Ultimate Tsaigu (CHN)

Our sponsor COMPRESSPORT is helping you everywhere you run. So, of course also for the big Asia Trail Master finale in Japan on 10 December: the IZU TRAIL Journey.  Via Qoolmart.com all runners can benefit from serious discounts on a range of COMPRESSPORT items as shown below. 

That is not all, Qoolmart is chipping in itself and provides discounts on all kinds of trail running accessories useful for IZU TRAIL, including energy nutrition and drinks.

Please note that Qoolmart offers Free International Delivery and No Minimum Purchase Required. 

Go to http://qoolmart.com/izu-trail.html

The 2018 edition of the Coast To Coast Night Trail Ultra in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, has been cancelled. The organisers have announced this unfortunate news last weekend. The event was scheduled for 10/11 February as the first genuine ultra race of the 2018 ATM season. 

We will announce in due course if another race can fill the now available spot on our ATM race calendar.