Ultra-Trail Koh Chang, aka UTKC, is again the first SuperTrail of the Asia Trail Master Championship this year, and despite Chinese New Year sees a remarkable line-up of international and domestic trail runners. Contrary to last year, it also looks very likely that the host country will have one or more athetes on the podium of the main event, the 100K race.  Two of the country’s best trail runners, if not the best, will be at the start: freshly married Jay Jantaraboon - the dominator at Ultra-Trail Chiang Rai last October - and Sanya Khancai, the most successful Thai runner in ATM so far with race victories in Ultra Trail Nan 100 and Vietnam Mountain Marathon on his record already. 

The men’s 100K, which starts in the early hours of Friday, is a meanwhile renowned tough and technical race with over 5000m of elevation gain. Taking place mostly during the day, the heat can be scorching in certain areas of the course. On the positive side, runners can enjoy the fantastic scenery of Koh Chang island to the maximum, and the fastest runners are expected to be back at the finish in the late afternoon and evening, in prime time in other words. 

Astonishing views during UTKC (P; Adventure III)

While many athletes can legitimately dream of a podium finish tomorrow, if Jay Jantaraboon showed the same kind of form as in Chiang Rai a few months ago it would be hard to bet against him. Having said that, UTCR and UTKC may be organised by the same company Teelakow but they are two very different animals. This one is a lot more technical and tactical. Last season, Japan’s star runner Wataru Iino looked set for a grand victory in UTKC, yet completely disintegrated in the final 20 km and got caught by Soonseng Ong. The Malaysian was kind enough to stay with the dehydrated Iino until the finish, but the Japanese ace made it clear to everyone Ong had been the stronger man. A scenario like this can repeat itself always in ultra running and especially in a tropical climate. Yet Jay Jantaraboon is no rookie. How close can Sanya Khancai stay with Jantaraboon? Will Khancai and Italy’s Alessandro Sherpa take off like bullets again, as they did in Ultra Trail Panoramic 100 miles last December? Another traditionally quick starter could join them in an early attack: Arief Wismoyono from Indonesia. The runner-up in the 2017 ATM Championship can definitely not be underestimated and has been showing excellent form in the past six months in both ultra and medium distance races. This trio could take the fight to Jantaraboon, of course with the risk of running against a massive counter punch. Wismoyono and Sherpa will have a battle between themselves as well this weekend, namely for the points lead in the ATM Championship. Sherpa was third in Tahura Trail, Wismoyono fourth. That’s a difference of just 25 points. 

Other podium candidates on a good day are Frenchman Clement Dumont, third in Korea 50K in 2016, Britain’s Robert Butcher and Filippino Jared Teves. 

In the women’s 100k start list we see perhaps fewer known and big names, but one stands out: Ruth Theresia. The always smiling second runner-up in the 2017 ATM Championship launches her 2018 campaign in Thailand this weekend. Ruth Theresia has the experience to bring this to a good end as well. The Indonesian will be competing against a whole field of Thai runners, of whom Montha Suntornwit is likely the biggest podium candidate, and against her own compatriots and fellow Grandmasters Shindy Patricia and Lily Suryani, fifth and sixth respectively in the 2017 ATM Championship. Filippino Ann Julian Pulanco could also be a podium contender on a good day. As this is ultra, there can of course always be a new name popping up from nowhere. 

Apart from Wismoyono, Theresia, Suryani and Patricia, there’s two more ATM Grandmasters at the start of the 100K tomorrow. Brunei’s Ali Ajis Rasil and Filippino Cheryl Bihag. Both accustomed to the ultra distance, they will be adding another point on their march towards a second Grandmaster star. 

As announced via social media last weekend, we are happy to confirm that Borneo TMBT Ultra Marathon returns to the Asia Trail Master Championship series after a 2-year-hiatus. The classic event near Kota Kinabalu in Sabah was the first ever ATM points race in Malaysia, and this year will offer 100K runners again with a chance to boost their 2018 championship points and their Grandmaster Quest. The event will be held on 1/2 September and also marks the beginning of a very busy September in ATM, with Hakuba Trails, Bandung Ultra 100, Vietnam Mountain Marathon and Ijen Trailrunning occupying the other weekend slots that month. 

Race registration for Borneo TMBT Ultra Marathon is already open, and you better do not wait too long! 

The event will stay loyal to its traditional courses of 100K, 50K and 25K and is a genuine test of physical and mental strength through the mountainous rainforest of Sabah on Borneo. Please note that only the 100K will offer ATM Championship and Grandmaster Quest points. 

The TMBT is Malaysia's oldest Ultra-Trail® Marathon with the inaugural race held in 2011. The acronym stands for "The Most Beautiful Thing", and makes reference to the iconic Mount Kinabalu, which at 4,100 m is one of Southeast Asia's highest peaks and a world heritage site. The TMBT course is set over the ridges and in the river valleys around the base of Mt. Kinabalu, with the highest elevation on the race course just under 2000m.

The event takes runners from the quaint native villages at the foothills on the western side of Mount Kinabalu towards the southern side of the mountain. The 100k category continues around the base of Mount Kinabalu and to the South-Eastern ridges of the mountain to finish in the village of Kundasang.

The routes are challenging but beautiful and give runners an opportunity to experience remote villages and follow village trails through a varied landscape of forest and cultivated areas. Trails pass paddy fields and climb steep ridges clad in pineapples with amazing views to Mt. Kinabalu and over the surrounding ridges and valleys which are often shrouded in clouds. The routes cross numerous streams with refreshing water on a hot day, while most larger rivers are crossed via hanging, bamboo or log bridges. Part of the trails follow the old heritage trails that used to be a part of the old buffalo trading routes linking villagers from Kota Belud to Bundu Tuhan.

The race has a reputation for being challenging to complete with a combination of steep terrain and technical trail sections, and the weather, usually hot in the first part of the day and with a good chance of tropical showers in the afternoon, often add to the challenge.

Borneo TMBT Ultra Marathon

For the third year in succession, Trail Fifty Mapawa, previously known as Ultra Trail Mapawa, will be the second points race for the Asia Trail Master Championship in Mindanao, the large southern island of the Philippines. The event in the Mapawa Nature Reserve, close to major city Cagayan de Oro, is scheduled for 28 October as usual and will again feature the hilly rollercoaster of 50 km and approx 3000 hm of elevation gain. Trail Fifty Mapawa is a very popular local event and over the years has seen the best runners of the country taking part in it. Last season, the trail world got to know current Filippino hot newbie John Ray Onifa in this race, when he dropped Manolito Divina and gave him nearly 30 minutes come the finish line. 

The local organisation in Cagayan de Oro is very welcoming to international runners. There's two main ways to get there. Via a domestic flight from Manila or Cebu, but you could also consider just to fly to Davao and take a bus from there. 

Registrations for Trail Fifty Mapawa will open soon, and technical updates for the 2018 course are also expected in due course.  

Trail Fifty Mapawa

Bandung Ultra 100 is not only a new entry in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship, the event has also been selected after a long deliberation as the Indonesia SuperTrail this year! The organisation by the renowned Bandung Explorer Team - which has Arief Wismoyono and Ruth Theresia in its ranks - was impressive last year when BDG 100 was a Candidate Race, and the race courses technical, beautiful and challenging. All in all, we believe BDG 100 is a great new SuperTrail! 

The event is held on 15/16 September and has an A to B course with start at the well-known Tahura Park. That is the only similarity with the Tahura Trail of last month. BDG 100 chooses an entirely different route that mainly goes up and up and up. You will be surprised how high the mountains around Bandung are! There is about 6500 metres of elevation gain to be conquered, which means the new Indonesia SuperTrail has one of the hardest mountain courses on our calendar, which of course is rather typical of Indonesia. Yet, these events remain very popular precisely because they are so amazingly beautiful. In a nutshell, do not take this race lightly, prepare yourself properly and enjoy Bandung Ultra 100 mid-September. Registration is open.

Please note that only the 100K will be credited as a points race for the Asia Trail Master Championship. This being a SuperTrail, all finishers will get 50 bonus points. The race winner will collect 550 points instead of the regular 500. 

More details can be found here and will be added as they become available. The race course will be the same as in 2017. 

News from East Java: the Ijen Trailrunning event in Bondowoso has to be postponed from July to 29/30 September this year due to a local political event. As such, Ijen Trail will be the fourth points race in Indonesia this season, two weeks after Bandung 100 Ultra on the westside of Java island. Egon Trails, technical organiser of the event, apologises for the inconvenience this may cause to runners who had already planned to race in July, but this date change is beyond their control. 

Registration will open by next week. Both the 100K and 70K courses are points races for the Asia Trail Master Championship, but there's also shorter distances available if you're a beginning runner or simply not that much into long distance: 42km or 21km, it's all on the menu at Ijen.

Please note that Ijen Trailrunning is one of the very few ultras in Indonesia with a relatively generous cut-off time of 32 hours for the 100 km. So, if you want to try and finish a 100k race, this one is a perfect opportunity. The 100K has 4200 metres of elevation gain, which does mean you need to keep moving nonetheless. 

Ijen Blue Fire Trail

Just one week after John Ray Onifa confirmed his status as up-and-coming Filippino trail star at Rizal Mountain Run, two more pinoys with a road running pedigree defeated the established trail guard at the excellent Pilipinas Akyathlon event in Baguio last weekend. Elias Tabac from Davao on Mindanao Island in the south of the Philippines won the 46 km and 3250 hm mountain race in a stunning time of 5 hours and 42 minutes, trailing local runner Jeffery Alligan for 43 km before launching an impressive dash to the line. Tabac’s attack was so explosive the gap to Alligan had grown to  7 minutes at the finish. Cordillera trail star Marcelino Sano Oy had just about caught up with the front duo in the final 4k, but the end verdict was ten minutes behind the winner!

Before the start of the race at 4:30 a.m., Mount Apo Sky Race organiser Doi Calbes said to us: “keep an eye on Elias”. Elias Tabac turned out to be a young 2:44 marathon runner, who was doing his third trail race but his very first at Asian high level. Untested in other words, and surely the Akyathlon with the long climb up Mt Ugo and the 3250 meters of elevation gain in just 46 km cannot be compared to any road marathon. Yet is seems to be the new trend in the young 2018 season that road runners are taking the trails by storm and giving the established trail runners a lesson in speed. Second-placed Jeffrey Alligan reportedly only ran his second ever trail race, and his first was way back in 2015. The two were leading a well-stacked field from early on. 

Elias Tabac from Davao: another new pinoy name to remember

Marcelino Sano-Oy was keeping up and so was Wilnar Iglesia, until the latter took a wrong turn. In-form Iglesia realised his mistake timely, yet had to chase and never saw the front runners again. Sano Oy, who admiitedly is not yet 100% recovered from an injury and who fell again in the early part of the race, was 10 minutes behind the leading duo on the summit of Mt Ugo. Showing his technical skills in the long descent, he reduced that gap to barely 2 minutes at checkpoint 5 with just 5km left to the finish. It looked like he was going to grab and drop them, but then Tapac still shifted to a higher gear… 

Al Telias, likewise in excellent shape these days, gave it all he got and was seemingly disappointed with his fifth place at the end, close behind Wilnar Iglesia. A further look at the top 10 proves just how good this competition was. Lipa six, Carranza seven, regular podium placer Aldean Lim eight, Dean Perez - 3rd in Rizal - ninth and last year’s Cordillera Mountain Ultra winner and #5 in Vietnam Mountain Marathon, Arnold Lozano, had to be content with tenth! 

Lozano admitted he had probably been a bit nonchalant at the start by lining up towards the back of the pack. Yet nobody seemed to have expected Tapac and Alligan to step on the throttle like they did from the get-go. Both athletes love running on trails, but they will continue to combine trail with road races. It goes without saying that both could become a contender for the Asia Trail Master championship with this level of speed. Speaking of which, Vancouver-based Dean Perez is the new points leader in the men’s championship standings. He’s the best of the runners who have already finished and scored points on two of the three ATM points races in the beginning of this 2018 season. Dean Perez is Filippino, very experienced trail runner in North America, and expressed his admiration and surprise of the competitive races in his native country. Still on holiday till March, Perez has also signed up for the Cordillera Mountain Ultra on 4 March, so we may find his name on the leaderboard still for quite a while. 

Wilnar Iglesia showed good form, but fourth was the highest possible

If there was any betting on the women’s podium of Pilipinas Akyathlon, either someone brave got very rich or nobody won anything. Sandi Menchi, Gretchen Felipe and Rizal winner Aggy Smith Sabanal were all at the starting line… but not at the finish. What happened? Sabanal already said she was feeling unwell before the race began and quit in the early stages. Sandi Menchi and Gretchen Felipe were leading until they both took a wrong trail and continued to follow that one for what eventually turned out to be nearly 5 km. Their mistake proved very costly and eliminated all chances of a podium finish, as they had to run those 5 km back… mainly steep uphill  even. Also the women’s field had competitive runners including Majo Liao, who anyway was expected to put some pressure on Sandi Menchi. Majo Liao took the lead and held onto it with a well-paced and consistent effort in what was her first trail in nearly half a year. For the 28-year-old Manila-based Liao it was the third career ATM race victory. Behind her, Baguio girls Marjorie Sofla and Marjorie Velo had a nice tight batlle for the second and third place steps of the female podium. 

When she got back to the arena, Sandi Menchi accepted her mistake (note that there were no complaints about the markings in this race at all), and seemed to realise this should not happen. All top stars have a day-off for some reason, be it due to fatigue or lack of focus, but for Menchi’s chances in the ATM championship this is a bitter pill to swallow. Not in a position to do that many ATM points races over a year’s time, she missed out on 500 points… 

Pilipinas Akyathlon was a new entry in the ATM championship and a successful one. Taking place on the other side of Mt Ugo compared to Cordillera Mountain Ultra, runners will not be disappointed by choosing to run both races. 

Video footage of the finish including interviews is available to watch on facebook. 

The next points race is the first SuperTrail of the season: Ultra-Trail Koh Chang in Thailand. Finishers of the 100k and 70k races will score 50 additional bonus points for the championship. 

Majo Liao and Elias Tapac win the Pilipinas Akyathlon and score 500 ATM championship points

Fantastic weather on race day

Dean Perez was 9th after 3rd in Rizal last week: he's the new ATM championship leader

Pilipinas Akyathlon is a new entry in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship, and the second one in Philippines following Rizal Mountain Run last week. A great chance for the pinoy runners especially to claim the spotlight in the ATM championship ranking. A number of Rizal finishers will indeed be racing again this Sunday. Not in the least: Aggy Smith Sabanal, the female winner, and Dean Perez, 3rd place in the men's!

The Akyathlon is a 46km mountainous race featuring Mt Ugo but from another side than in Cordillera Mountain Ultra. Start and finish is at Binga Lake. 3250 metres of elevation gain in 46 km means this is a race for mountain goats, and of course the local armada of trail runners will be omnipresent. Baguio City is just an hour away from the race venue, and that's a city with a lot of Philippines' strongest mountain runners. Marcelino Sano Oy, Al Telias, Arnold Lozano are all racing this Sunday! They will be joined by Wilnar Iglesia and Rexell Aguirre from Mindanao Island, to name just a few more podium and race win contenders. And let's not forget the abovementioned Dean Perez. Perez stayed ahead of Pablo Diago Gonzales at Rizal, and that's no mean feat. 

Also in the women's race we have an interesting last-minute addition to the start list: ATM joint championship leader Aggy Smith Sabanal will be competing with none other than Sandi Menchi for the women's race victory. The still very young Sabanal, age 21, looked strong and a consistent pace at Rizal. She might find Akyathlon even more suited to her characteristics as a trail runner. Still, Sandi Menchi should be regarded as the top favourite. Will the local star finally aim for the ATM championship title as well? Last year, she finished three ATM points race and won all three of them. Also on the start list this weekend is Grandmaster Cheryl Bihag. 

Aggy Smith Sabanal: back in action already after winning Rizal Mountain Run last weekend

Marcelino Sano Oy

Al Telias

Updated 31 January 2018. 

The 3rd edition of Rizal Mountain Run in Basekamp, San Mateo, in the rugged mountainous suburbs of Manila goes into the history books as the toughest so far. Not only was the total race distance and elevation gain increased to 53km and 3100 hm, the hard rainfall in the days leading up to the event made the trails slippery and technical to the extreme. As a result, the DNF rate was high for the 50K athletes at 40%. Rizal Mountain Run delivered two outstanding winners of whom we can be expected to see a lot more still this season. 

John Ray Onifa burst onto the trail scene last October when he defeated Manolito Divina by half an hour in Ultra-Trail Mapawa 50k, and since then many have wondered if the 24-year-old from Visayas could repeat that performance. The answer is yes. Onifa took the bullet by the horns from the start, and opened up a gap in the first, technical and even dangerous 10K of the race. Onifa never looked back. Local boy Elmer Retolado was going fast behind him until he twisted his ankle in the very muddy conditions. As such, Rizal expert Kristian Joergensen inherited second place and was the only one who kept Onifa within potential striking range until the km 45 mark. Joergensen trains in the Rizal mountains and was very familiar with the course, which he ran entirely in training a fortnight ago. When Joergensen crossed the finish line in 7:04 (six minutes faster than during his training session in dry weather!), he could not believe he was nearly half an hour behind Onifa: “I was 10 minutes behind before the last checkpoint, so how did I lose 20 minutes in the last 8 km?” The answer was as straight as it was overwhelming: Onifa still had the strength and energy to run up the whole last climb of 4 km while others were walking up. An impressive run by the youngster, who could become another serious ATM title contender from the Philippines this season. 

JR Onifa is still new to trail running, coming from a few solid road run performances, and has never gone beyond 50 km in racing conditions. Interestingly, that is a characteristic he shares with Jeff Campbell, who won last week’s Tahura Trail in Indonesia. They now both top the 2018 ATM Championship ranking with 500 points. 

At the end of the tough 53K race, Onifa was still running up the last long climb!

Aggy Sabanal Smith was the strongest woman

The third place on the podium was occupied by Filippino Dean Perez, who did very well by staying ahead of Pablo Diago Gonzales. Last year’s winner of RMR, Manolito Divina, was present at the event, but only as a sweeper for the short distance race. “Tolitz” confirmed he suffered a lot from his stomach cramps in UT Panoramic early December and, combined with the demands of a new business initiative, his 2018 trail running campaign will only begin in March. 

At CP1 after a tough 10km, the women’s race looked like it would be a dual between Agostoralin Sabanal, also known as Aggy Smith, and Melanie Hingpit. Only a minute or two separated both runners at that point, but eventually Sabanal turned out to have too much power on the day and completed the 53 km as 8th overall in just over 10 hours. Hingpit held onto second place, and another Filippino runner, Maricar Hiponia, completed the podium in third place.

The third points race in the 2018 ATM Championship is set for next weekend and it is again in the Philippines. We move further north to the Cordillera area, where on Sunday the Pilipinas Akyathlon 46k takes place with some of the country’s finest expected to be at the start. 

The 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship series continues in Philippines for the next two weekends. First the Rizal Mountain Run in the mountains east of Manila, and second the Pilipinas Akyathlon in the Cordillera region. Two crispy points races that offer the local pinoy runners, especially, an excellent opportunity to put themselves in the spotlights early in the season. The 3rd edition of the Rizal Mountain Run, organised and directed by experienced trail runners Dean Lim and Majo Liao, takes place this Sunday with start and finish in Basekamp, San Mateo, and is a bit of an underestimated race. The 50k course - the one that matters for ATM championship points - has over 3000m of elevation and that requires an effort. Four athletes have shaped the race in the last two years by occupying the podium on both occasions. Kristian Joergensen won the inaugural race in 2016 and came second behind Manolito Divina last year, while Diorella Cerujano achieved the same but the other way around: 2nd in 2016 behind Cheryl Bihag, victory last season. In fact, Bihag took bronze last year as well, and in the men’s Mark ‘Koi’ Grey fought great battles with Joergensen in both editions to score second and third place respectively. Joergensen and Cerujano return to Rizal this weekend so it’s fair to say that anyone who wants to win this race will need to get passed them. 

There is competition for them, though. Danish-born Joergensen is expected to be at the top of his game as he has been preparing for an extreme ultra in Hong Kong next month, and that may be needed to repeat his triumph of 2016. On the start list we find top runners such as Pablo Diago Gonzales and John Ray Onifa. Diago Gonzales was fourth in the 2017 ATM championship and has scored 4 career race wins in the ATM series so far. Most notably in the Philippines, the Singapore-based Spaniard was the best on Mount Apo last season. Diago Gonzales likes the 50 to 70K distance, yet in the last direct confrontation he finished behind Joergensen at CM50 Ultra last November… The big question for many trail insiders is whether the two European expats are a match for hot Filippino rookie John Ray Onifa. Onifa raised many people’s eyebrows at UT Mapawa last October when he ran away from Manolito Divina and gave him nearly half an hour at the finish of a 50K race! Onifa is a young talent who comes from the road but has developed a taste for trail. Coming from a modest background, it is great to see him return to the ATM scene so early in the new season and it will be interesting to see if he could repeat that exhillirating Mapawa performance at Rizal this Sunday. While these three are expected to challenge for the podium spots, it is a new season so there’s always the possibility for new names, new faces.

The same goes for the women’s race, where Cerujano is expected to compete with her compatriot Melanie Hingpit - third at CM50 Ultra recently - and Grandmaster Ina Budiyarni from Indonesia, the latter having seemingly recovered from quite a bad fall on her hip halfway through Tahura Trail last week. Budiyarni brings a lot of trail experience to this event compared to the others, will that be sufficient for her to claim the win on this technical course? 

In conclusion it is worthwhile mentioning that local hero Manolito Divina has opted to function as as an official this weekend rather than run the race. The 2016 ATM champion feels not recovered enough from his unpleasant DNF due to bad stomach cramps at UT Panoramic early December. Divina is on the start list of Pilipinas Akyathlon next week, though.

John Ray Onifa: can he repeat what he accomplished at UT Mapawa last season?

2017 ATM #4 Pablo Diago Gonzales launches his 2018 campaign at Rizal

Grandmaster Ina Budiyarni is a podium candidate in the women's 50K race this Sunday

Melanie Hingpit was third in CM50 last November and will challenge for the win this weekend

Ultra-Trail Chiang Rai will be the longest points race in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship. While keeping last year's inaugural 122 km race course, the people at teelakow in Thailand are adding 'The Ultimate 200' to the programme. And actually the course is 220 km.... For lovers of long ultras, this will be a feast! Both the 220 km and the 122 km are marked as A-races, meaning the winner scores 400 performance points on top of the 100 for finishing. The 220k finishers will receive the additional 50-point '100 miles' bonus. Also the top 10 of the 66K C-race will receive ATM championship points according to our points system.

Venue of the event will again be the great Singha Park in Chiang Rai, which is relatively close to the airport as well. Chiang Rai is a tourist area, so your companions can visit the sights while you are doing the running. The 220k starts on the 19th of October at 6 am, the 122 km starts 24 hours later. 

Registration is open!

Ultra Trail Chiang Rai

We are pleased to announce the support of Singapore's Red Dot Running Company for this year's Asia Trail Master Championship series. The brain child of Asian ultra legend Jeri Chua, Red Dot Running Company aims "is aimed at becoming a focal point for the running community in Singapore, starting with the trail and ultra runners who will always have a special place in our mountain-loving hearts". RDRC works closely with niche brands that are born from sheer passion, looking to provide aspiring adventurers with the perfect kit. In addition, Red Dot Running Company wishes to showcase the work of local and regional photographers, and the incredible trails we have in the region. Runners from Red Dot will be taking part in several Asia Trail Master races this season. 

To find out more about RDRD, approach the runners on the tour or visit the website here.