Malaysia Ultra-Trail By UTMB Draws Runners From 63 Countries
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 (Bernama) -- More than 2,700 runners from 63 countries have registered for the Malaysia Ultra-Trail by UTMB, with more than 1,000 international participants expected for the event's third edition in Taiping from Sept 10 to 13.
Based at Dataran Warisan Taiping, Perak, the event is the only UTMB World Series event in Malaysia and is part of the 2026 UTMB World Series, which features 64 events across 23 countries.
Race director Ewegene Tan said the strong international response reflected the event's continued growth since its inception as the Malaysian Mountain Trail Festival in 2018 before becoming a UTMB World Series event in 2024.
“We wanted to bring an international event to Malaysia that could connect our runners with the rest of the trail-running world while showcasing what Taiping and Malaysia have to offer,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
The event features five categories -- MY100, MY50, MY25, MY13 and MYKIDS -- catering for runners of different ages and abilities.
The MY100 covers 97.7 kilometres (km) with 4,802 metres (m) of elevation gain through technical and non-technical tropical rainforest trails, including the Virgin Jungle Reserves surrounding Maxwell Hill, while the MY50 covers 54.5km with 1,977m of elevation gain.
The MY25 spans 25.9km with 1,012m of climbing and includes two river crossings, the MY13, dubbed the “Freshman Run”, is aimed at those taking their first steps into trail running while MYKIDS provides younger participants with an introduction to the sport.
For Malaysian runners, the event also offers a pathway to the UTMB World Series Finals in Chamonix, France, without having to race overseas first.
The top three men and women in the MY100 will earn direct entry to the 2027 CCC (Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix), the 100K category at the finals, while the top three men and women in the MY50 will secure direct entry to the OCC (Orsières-Champex-Chamonix), the 50K category. MY100, MY50 and MY25 finishers will receive three, two and one Running Stones respectively.
This year's MY100 international field includes Nepal's Arjun Rai, China's Zhaoying Lu, Japan's Yutaro Yokouchi and Mika Taniguchi, and Hong Kong's So Kit Ying, while the MY50 field features China's Erqing Wu and Yue Cui, Malaysia's Lim Jia Jen, France's Evan Bordeau, Britain's Catherine Hicks, Hong Kong's Ho Ting Yu and Taiwan's Chen Yi Ling.
Adaptive athletes, including one-legged Philippine runner Renson Embradura in the MY25 and deaf Indonesian runner Yuni Warzuqni, are also expected to take part.
-- BERNAMA
