We are back with an exciting weekend of ultra trail racing with the ATM Championship at the classic TMBT race in Sabah, Borneo. Endurance Asia will be live at the race and finish line on Saturday and in preparation, we caught up with Series Director, Kris Van de Velde and previous guest Chris Timms who will be represeting Singapore.

With Kris we discuss:

• How the ATM season has gone. Some of the highlights? Best performances, most exciting races, best courses.

• The structure of the ATM points system and the finals. How the countries compete against each other. 

• The reason for choosing TMBT as the final race.

• Who he expects to be at the pointy end of the male and female race

• The teams he expects to perform well

With Chris Timms we discuss:

• How he feels representing Singapore at the ATM finals?

• How ATM season has gone for him? The highlights?

• After a top 10 finish in 2022, What his expectations are for this year?

• Who he expects the podium to be? Winning team?

• His recent addition to the T8 ambassador list

• The new Singapore Running Club, Falcons and how that came to be.

• His plans / goals post ATM final

You can follow the race and live streaming at:

• ATM FB page

• Instagram Page

• Dot Tracker

You can follow Chris Timms at:

• Instagram

• Facebook

• SG Falcons RC Insta

This week we were joined by Natalia Dau, Rockstar Arms, to discuss what she has been up to for the past couple of years and more importantly, what’s coming up in the next couple of months.

We discuss:

• Her 4 marathons in Sydney, Singapore, Gold Coast, Tokyo last year

• The 4 ultras she ran in 2023, all of which she won and a couple of the ultras outright

• Her first book Run like a Woman

• Project1000, Natalie’s goal to run 1000km from Thailand to Singapore and raise $150k for GRLS charity

You can follow Project1000:

• www.project1000.run

• https://www.instagram.com/rockstararms

• The charity https://www.womenwin.org/grls/

Ric and Scott catch up after to discuss what’s been going on the world of Ultra Endurance including Tomo’s 3rd fun run at Barkley Marathons.

Vincere Zeng at 31 years old is a record holder in the high altitude mountains, becoming the first Singaporean female to summit Everest and K2 back to back and also the first Singaporean female to summit K2 and to do this all in one year.

We catch up with Vincere to discuss:

• How it came to be. Where her passion for adventure and exploration come from. How she progressed to take on high altitude mountains from trail running in Singapore.

• How she planned for two expeditions in the same year and also 2 mountains in her Everest expedition

• The company she chose, 8k Expeditions and how she worked with them. 

• Tell me about some times you’ve been deep in the Pain cave and how did you get yourself out

• How do you Train for your major expeditions or races. Especially in Flat Singapore 

• How do you think about Nutrition leading up to a challenge and during

• Plans for rest of 2023 and Asia Trail Master

You can follow Vincere on Instagram, Facebook, Strava

We reconnect with Ben Pulham the founder of Coached, a Singapore-based testing lab and - surprise - coaching service for athletes of all stripes. A former pro triathlete himself, Ben - together with in-house sports scientist James (Jim) Webster - is an expert in helping people perform better. 

Listen to our first podcast with the Coached team that goes into more detail about the testing they offer and Ben’s background as a professional athlete. https://www.enduranceasia.com/podcasts/coached

Find them online at https://www.coached.fitness/,  https://www.facebook.com/Coached and https://www.instagram.com/p/CLdWCTzHu3x/?hl=en

In our interview with Ben and Jim, we discuss:

• Diet and the benefits of lower carb

• The athletes they are training inc top triathlete Arif

• State of Singapore athletics

• The track sessions they run every Tuesday in Singapore

• Goal Setting

• Sweat testing and importance or supplementing with minerals in Asia

Podcast hosted by Ultra Endurance enthusiasts Scott Pugh and Ric Stockfis.

We welcome Christ Timms to the podcast this week to discuss the trail running community in Singapore. Chris has been on the podium at a lot of races around South East Asia the past couple of years and was in the top 10 of last years ATM Finals in Mt Apo Philippines. We catch up in Red Dot Running Company store where he is an elite ambassador to discuss his background, training, the Mountain Goat Challenge and plans for the rest of the year.

• Chris’ background. Where he’s from and his day job

• How he first got into running.

• How his running has evolved.

• His recent race performances such as his win at the UTSG in Singapore and podium at Bukit Lawang Orangutan Trail

• His focus on building community?

• The Mountain Goat Challenge and how the event played out.

• How he inspires and motivates his kids so engaged in running, swimming.

• What’s next in his calendar, how he’s looking to improve.

• Favourite gear.

You can follow Chris at:

• Facebook

• Instagram

• Strava

Off the back of the 2023 edition of Hardcore100 H1 Ultra in Philippines, we catch up with race director Jonel Mendoza as well as competitors Nikki Han, Will Hayward and Viirginie Goethals to discuss one of the first and one of the toughest hundred mile races in Asia.

First up we speak with Jonel to discuss:

• The genesis of Hardcore100 and how Jonel decided to map an Ultra Marathon around Mt Pulag and Mt Ugo

• How he managed to get qualifying spots for Western States and HardRock

• How the race evolved over the years

• Notorious for being on of the hardest races in Asia, Jonel tells us how it has changed for 2023

• Talks about the partnership with Robert Watson to run the event

• The plan for 2024 and beyond?

We are then join (35:30) by Nikki, Will and Virginie to talk about how this yeaers event played out from an athletes perspective.

We cover:

• Recovery after H1

• Why they all signed up for H1 this year and what has been their history with the event

• What their expectations were with the new route this year?

• Their preparation and training block?

• How everyone prepared right before the event?

• How the race went for everyone, the high and low points

• The sleep depravation

• Organisation and check points

• Would you come back again?? 

• What they learned, do differently in future races or H1

• What’s next for each of them..

Checkout H1 and their other races https://kotm.intrepidspirit.com/

Follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kotmph

We talk with Janet and Steve about the 2023 edition of HK100, the first in person since 2020. How the race went and what they thought about the performances. We also cover:

• how they both first get into trail running 

• What made them decide to start HK100

• How the race has evolved over the years

• Discuss some of the returnees every year inc John Ellis and Jeremy Ritcey doing every year <16 hours.

• We discuss Janet’s role as President of International Trail Running Association.

• We talk about PTL, one of the toughest races in the world and their 2 finishes

You can follow HK 100 on Instagram and Facebook

Check out the website to look at prior results and sign up to 2024 - https://www.hk100-ultra.com/

Check out ITRA for your race results and score - https://itra.run/

We welcome back Tomokazu Ihara from his 4th attempt of the Barkley Marathons and his best effort yet, achieving a fun run in 35:55 and getting out on the fourth loop with 27 seconds to spare!

A momentous year that saw 3 finishers for only the second time ever and the first finish since John Kelly’s last finish in 2017.

Tomo has been dedicated to this challenge for the past 7 years and it’s inspiring to hear his story of dedication and tenacity to an event that has the highest DNF rate of any known race.

Follow Tomo on Insta, facebook and his site www.tomospit.com

GODZone Chapter 11 , Fiordland is in the books and what a historic week it was. We saw the very last expedition adventure race of Nathan Fa’avae’s career and one last win to cap of a tremendous career with Team Avaya.

We catch up with race director Warren Bates to recap the race and pay homeage to the leader of the greatest ever adventure racing team.

We suggest looking at the Dotwatch map as you listen to view the section discussed in the race

We discuss:

• How has the last week went for RD Warren Bates

• What it was like being back in Fiordland for the first time in 5 years. What makes the area so special and why they chose to go back

• Expectations going into the race. Who did Warren think would be competing at the pointy end, what parts of the course did you expect to be the most challenging 

• Talk about team Avaya. How good are they really??

• Honour Nathan Faavae and what has he meant to this sport

• What the future of the sport looks like. What Warren thinks of athletes and teams like No Idea and Fear Youth coming through.

• How to make GZ more accessible to international teams.

• Talk to us about your history in adventure racing

• What’s up next.. Inaugural GODZone AU event..

Listen to Chris Forne of Team Avaya on the podcast last week and Nathan Fa’avae on the podcast in 2020.

We are delighted to welcome Chris Forne, lead navigator for Team Avaya and winner of the Endurance Asia Male Athlete of the Year in 2022.

He and Team Avaya have just kicked off the GodZone Chapter 11 and you can dot watch here..

We cover:

• His back ground, how he first got into orienteering

• How he first got into expedition adventure racing and worked towards first world champs victory in 2007,

• How the team deals with major challenges when they arise, eg, when they lost their timing card at the last world champs in Paraguay.

• What non conventional navigating techniques he has found useful that you wouldn’t read in a manual. 

• How he and his wife both balance adventure racing competitively

• His typical training block leading up to a big race. Whether they train as a team. How he maintains elite fitness while working full time

• Dealing with sleep deprivation and whether it has taken any toll on him w so many expedition races. How he recovers.

• What this season looks like. GZ this week and then world champs in South Africa?

You can listen to the previous episode with Team Avaya Captain Nathan F’avae

In this episode, we talk to the inspiring Jack Thompson, aka Jack UltraCyclist.

In 2022, Jack climbed an astonishing million vertical metres on his bike, including 52 Everestings, as part of his Million Metres Challenge. That’s a crazy average of over 19,000m of climb each and every week!

It was his latest in a series of incredible endurance achievements, which we cover in the episode.

Jack is also very honest and outspoken about his personal struggles, as well as the centrality of fundraising and raising awareness to all of his challenges.

In our conversation, we talk about:

• His upbringing, family and struggles with his mental health

• His first big challenge, the Transcontinental in Europe

• Subsequent challenges, including the Taiwan KOM, setting a world record for kilometres ridden in a week and riding the Tour De France course in just 10 days

• The importance of fundraising and the challenges of creating a compelling narrative

• His work with Supersapiens

• Upcoming projects, including the Around the World record

Follow Jack:

• On Strava: Strava Cyclist Profile | Jack Ultra Cyclist

• On Instagram : JACK ULTRA CYCLIST (@jackultracyclist) • Instagram photos and videos

• At his website: Jack UltraCyclist – Professional Ultra Cyclist & First Cyclist in Space

• And his YouTube channel is packed with great films and updates: Jack Ultra Cyclist - YouTube

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We catch up with Tomokazu Ihara following his epic performance at HK4TUC. Ric and Scott also catch up to discuss all of the other amazing performances at the 2023 events.

Check out www.hk4tuc.live to rerun the dotwatching fun..

Here are the list off Finishers and survivors:

• Tomokazu Ihara 井原知 - 54:02:36

• Nugo Yamanath Limbu - 56:29:23

• Ryan Whelan - 56:54:19

• Wong Ka Kit 黃家傑 - 57:11:37

• Kevin Cheung Kei Fung 張 - 59:30:45

• Elvis Fu Chin Ping 傅展平 - 63:23:20

• Alger Cheng Sai Kit 鄭世傑 - 66:15:33

• Trevor Meding - 67:26:45

• Kenneth Chan Wai Tik - 67:46:49

• Mayank Vaid - 68:04:39

• Kimmy Leung Hong Kiu 梁 - 68:18:29

• Chan Kwok Keung 陳國強 - 69:43:10

• Chiang Chung Wei 蔣仲威 - 69:56:19

• Kurt Lynn - 70:23:18

• Karen Tse Tze Wai 謝芷蕙 - 70:39:39

Photo cred Lucien Chan.

After another year of this awe inspiring event, we are joined by a survivor and finisher, Alice Mcleod and Mayank Vaid.

We first chat with Alice to discuss:

• Her back story, growing up in Perthshire, Scotland and moving to HK from London in 2019 and exploring the trails

• Her awareness of Four Trails from seeing the legend Nikki Jan finish in 2019

• Her training block for 2024 and the volume and focus

• Four Trails goal

• Sleep and nutrition strategy

• What next?? As the second Scottish lady to reach the green post box, Will Alice come back to follow Nikki Han and finish?

And then we are joined by Mayank Vaid at 43m mark to discuss:

• The 3rd year taking on the challenge, what convinced him to come back after surviving last year.

• How last year went? What he learned from last year that he adapted in 2024

• What he’s been up to since 2023 edition when he did HK marathon just 2 weeks after! Competing in Hyrox and 4 peaks race, triathlons, 15k swim. Was cross training a big part of his plan.

• We go into details about the 4 Peaks Race in HK

• His plan going in to 2024 edition.

• How he got his wife and eldest son Bono to crew him

• The last 30k of Lantau chasing the clock and the 60 hour cut off.

• The feeling to finally finish the challenge.

Hong Kong Four Trails continues to show why it is the most epic ultra running challenge in the Asia region. The community, the difficulty and the drama. It always an epic dotwatching and social media follow. Congrats to Andre, Paper, all the athletes and crew, photographers and everyone involved with this event.

the 12th Edition of HK4TUC is upon us and Ric and Scott connect to discuss the changes to start times and some of the athletes returning and as well as those taking on this epic challenge for the first time.

You can follow live at www.hk4tuc.live.

2023 competitor list:

• Chamelia Suhra

• Milk Li Lai Ting 李麗婷

• Sandy Xiaoqing Sun 孙晓青

• Karen Tse Tze Wai 謝芷蕙

• Kimmy Leung Hong Kiu 梁康翹

• Mayank Vaid

• Nugo Yamanath Limbu

• Kurt Lynn

• Kenneth Chan Wai Tik

• Yu Long Chai Harrods 余朗齊

• Yeung Wing Kent 楊永健

• Wong Ka Kit 黃家傑

• Elvis Fu Chin Ping 傅展平

• Michael H Gay

• Chiang Chung Wei 蔣仲威

• Kevin Cheung Kei Fung 張祺豐

• Steven Ong

• Alger Cheng Sai Kit 鄭世傑

• Chan Kwok Keung 陳國強

• Saranyabhong Singhakrittaya ศรัณยพงศ์ สิงห์กฤตยา

• Elliot Froidevaux

• Trevor Meding

• Ryan Whelan

• Tomokazu Ihara 井原知一

• Phairat Varasin ไพรัช วราสินธุ์

Ahead of the world premiere in Hong Kong, we talk to documentary filmmakers Robin and Ben Lee about their latest project, Four Trails.

Following the success of their 2017 project, Breaking 60, the two brothers return to this most iconic of Hong Kong trail running events to tell a more complete story.

Four Trails documents the 2021 edition of HK4TUC, which saw previous Finishers and Survivors invited back, with some wondering if the previously unthinkable 50-hour barrier might finally be broken.

We also talk to challenge founder Andre Blumberg, in advance of the 2023 edition.

Resources:

• Four Trails trailer

• Breaking 60

• HK Four Trails Ultra Challenge page

• Lost Atlas films

• Robin’s own site

Check out our previous podcast episodes on the HK4TUC here:

• HK4TUC 11th Edition Recap with Richard Kimber

• HK4TUC 11th Edition Preview Show - With Andre Blumberg

• HK4TUC 10th Edition Recap Show Part 2 - With Jacky Leung and Andre Blumberg

• HK4TUC 10th Edition Recap Show Part 1 - With Salomon Wettstein and Virginie Goethals

• HK4TUC 10th Edition Preview Show - With Andre, Stone, Sarah and Salomon

• HK4TUC 2020 Finishers

• Andre Blumberg - The Godfather of Hong Kong Ultrarunning

We kick off the New Year with a look back at the most inspiring performances and challenges of the year just gone. In this special awards episode, we discuss the stories that moved us and the people who mattered in the following categories:

Male Athlete of the Year

• Chris Thorne of Team Avaya: winners of both the Adventure Racing World Championships and the 2022 edition of Godzone

• Stingray with his triple win at the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival

• Nimsdai, who set a new speed record for the Everest-Lhotse Traverse

• Arnie Macaneras, who had a breakout year on the Asia Trail Master circuit, winning the Championship decider at Mount Apo (watch the Tale of the Trail episode here)

Female Athlete of the Year

• Hau Ha, who ran away with the outright win in the 100k at Vietnam Mountain Marathon and went on to be both points winner and championship winner of Asia Trail Master

• Eszter Csillag, who placed 5th at UTMB and 4th at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. Check out our episode with Esther here.

• Sunmaya Budha, of the North Face Adventure Team, who ran the second fastest women’s time in history to finish second at CCC

• Man-yee Cheung, who became the first Hong-Kong born female finisher of the infamous Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge, in 57h51m

Fundraising of the Year

• Nedd Brockmann’s incredible run across Australia which has to date raised over AU$2.2m for homeless charity We Are Mobilise

• Jack Thompson, who rode a million vertical metres and raised close to AU$0.5m for mental health charities

Race of the Year

• Doi Inthanon Thailand by UTMB

• Godzone check out this Video

• Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge

Endurance Feat of the Year

• Mayank Vaid’s 10 marathons in 10 days for a new World Record

• Stephen Redfern and other APAC participants in the 3,100 mile Sri Chinmoy Self Transcendence Race

• Nedd Brockman’s run across Australia

• Wong Ho Chung’s new record of 46h55m at HK4TUC

• Daiki Shibawaki, who ran 86 yards at the Last Samurai Standing

We loved watching these people reset the limits of what’s possible in 2022 and would love to hear from you about who we missed. Here’s to even more amazing achievements in 2023!

In reality there’s nothing accidental about Eszter’s rise to the top of the ultra running elites. She is an incredibly disciplined, focused and committed person, but seems to have even surprised herself at the speed at which that rise as happened and the speed she shows on the trails. 

A very humble but extremely competitive athlete, the last few years have seen Eszter rise from a trail virgin prior to arriving in Hong Kong, to rubbing shoulders with the worlds elite and finding herself on the podium of UTMB and WMTRC. We talk about:

• Her background growing up in Hungary in a family of 6 kids.

• Her tutor being her inspiration as a kid and teaching her discipline and getting her into running.

• What took her to Hong Kong and on to the trails.

• Racing as a mother of young kids and maintaining training during pregnancy

• Her initial races across Asia

• Stepping up to race even more competitive fields in Europe with top 5 places in CCC, Trans Gran Caneria, UTMB.

• Racing in the world champs in Chiang Mai with a 4th spot.

• Her training regime, what her coach plans for her.

• Plans for end of 2022 and 2023 inc possible Western States and a return to UTMB.

• The support of her husband and friends John Ellis of T8 and Andre Blumberg of HK4TUC

You can follow Eszter on:

Instagram

Strava

Itra results

Jay Jantaraboon is the without debt the best outdoor adventure athlete Thailand has ever produced. Part of The North Face Adventure Team, he has twice finished top 50 in UTMB. He also has an incredible record ultra running in Thailand races, coming 1st or 2nd in every race he has competed in on his home turf.

A Background in Mountain Biking and adventure racing, following a 10 year stint competing in Muay Thau as a child and teenager, now 37, Jay is hitting the peak of his endurance career primarily as an ultra runner.

He competes this weekend at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championship in his back yard of Chiang Mai.

We cover:

• His early child hood and starting his sporting career in Muay Thai.

• How Muay Thai set him up to be an endurance athlete.

• Meeting Ryan Blair and becoming part of The North Face Adventure Team.

• Starting in MTB and progressing to multi sport and trail running

• What has been the favourite adventure race you have done?

• Tell us about the team, who do you enjoy racing with and why?

• You have taken to Trail running and are absolutely smashing it on your home turf in Thailand, I think you have won or at least podium ever race in Thailand. What it’s like running on his home soil

• Thailand by UTMB and racing in the UTMB in France.

• What else is coming up? You’ll be racing the world champs in Chiang Mai?

• How have you been with injuries? What do you do to reduce and recover well?

• Are there any runners coming out of Thailand we should be aware of and looking out for?

You can follow Jay at the following channels:

https://www.facebook.com/TrainWithSuperJay/

https://www.instagram.com/jay_jantaraboon/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/TheNorthFaceAdventureTeam

In this episode of the podcast we talk to the winner and the assist - Joshua Toh and Deric Lau respectively - of the recent Singapore edition of the Backyard Ultra Satellite Team World Championships. Joshua set an incredible new national record of 51 Yards (or hours), after. the 14 other competitors had dropped out.

We’re also joined by former podcast guest - and the brains behind the event, Jeri Chua, with the interview conducted at her fantastic Red Dot Running Company store in Singapore.

In the interview we discuss:

• Both runners’ background and how they came to be at the start line. including Deric’s efforts at the HKSG Twin Cities Ultra and Joshua racing UTA, Northburn and Dragon’s Back

• Their training, tactics, nutrition and strategy

• The 2020 edition of the event:

  • Our interview with the competitors

  • Previous Endurance Asia interviews with 2020 winner Abimanyu Shunmugam and 2020 assist Hoong Wei Wong

• Events in Singapore organised by:

  • Ben Swee, including the Mountain Goat Challenge

  • XTrailblazers, including the Ultra Trail Singapore

• The scarcely believable 101 hours of running in the Belgian edition of the Backyard Ultra

For more on Joshua and Deric’s heroic performance, check out this Today article.

In our latest episode, we catch up once again with Kris Van de Velde as his Asia Trail Master series finally takes off again after two years. Among other topics, we discuss:

• Recent races, including TMBT in Borneo

• The incredible performance of Hau Ha at the Vietnam Mountain Marathon

• New events on the calendar, including Ulju 9 Peaks and Doi Nhok Trail

• Changes to the series format

• The season finale at Mt Apo in the Philippines

• Contenders for the crown, including Hisashi Kitamura, Arief Wismoyono and Milton Amat

• The late addition of Hong Kong’s Ferei Dark 45

• The return of past champions Alessandro Sherpa and John Ellis

• The tragic loss of Fredelyn Alberto

And in our chat after the interview, Scott and Ric discuss:

• Singapore’s Craze Ultra

• The Adventure Racing World Championships

• Hong Kong 4 Trails Ultra Challenge

Following an epic weekend up in the Vietnam hills in Sa Pa for the Vietnam Mountain Marathon. We catch up with David Lloyd the race Director to discuss the race and how it all played out.

We cover:

Firstly how are you feeling after an intense weekend organising the Vietnam Mountain Marathon

• Background of VMM and what was prepared for the 2022 edition

• Planning the route

• Torrential rain for almost 24 hours running up to the kick off of the 100M. How that effected the planning at the beginning of the race

• Some of the performances that impressed David most

• Any stories from the race. I saw 3rd spot on the 42k had broken his hand

• The support teams and aid station management

• Plans for Vietnam Jungle Marathon in 1 month

VMM Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/VietnamMountainMarathon/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/vietnamtrailseries/?hl=en

Website - https://vietnamtrailseries.com/

In this episode, we’re back with Ryan Blair of the North Face Adventure Team.

We talk all things UTMB after an INCREDIBLE weekend of racing around Chamonix.

with UTMB happening this weekend we dug out a never published recording from the archives with Mile 27 leader and coach Andy Dubois to discuss training for 100 mile races in Singapore and Asia.

Andy coaches some of the top Ultra Runners in Asia and has coached the North Face Adventure Racing Team in the past who will feature heavily at the 2022 UTMB with Jay, Stingray and Chung all competing.

Check out www.mile27.com.au for info on training for ultras.

Podcast hosted by Scott Pugh and Ric Stockfis

We kick off the New Year with a look back at the most inspiring performances and challenges of the year just gone. In this special awards episode, we discuss the stories that moved us and the people who mattered. Here are the categories and nominees:

Male Athlete of the Year

• John Stingray Onifa with his clean sweep of wins at Asia Trail Masters races including the win in the final

• Tomokazu Ihara with his Four Trails win, Barkey Marathons Fun Run and Grand Slam

Female Athlete of the Year

• Eszter Csillag, who placed 3rd at Western States and a win at Oxfam Trailwalker Hong Kong and Izu

• Sunmaya Budha, who won multiple races across Asia

• Hau Ha, who put in a heroic 4th place at CCC plus wins at Doi Ithanon and Ultra Trail Australia

• Rashila Tamang overall winner of the Asia Trail Masters final 2023

Race / Challenge of the Year

• Doi Inthanon Thailand by UTMB

• Hong Kong 100

• Vietnam Mountain Marathon

• Rinjani 100

• Malaysian Mountain and Trail Festival

• Izu Trail Journey Japan

Fundraising of the Year

• Jo Loder Run for Freedom, running HK 5in5 Trails inc Tinworth Trail, raising HK$880K

Endurance Feat of the Year

• Vincere Zeng Everest Lhotse and K2. Listen to the episode here

• Le Thi Hang of Vietnam who ran a marathon every day in 2023  inc a 2nd place finish in VMM

• Mark Agnew kayaking north west passage. Listen to the episode here..

Listen to the episode to find out who the winners are..

We loved watching these people reset the limits of what’s possible in 2023 and would love to hear from you about who we missed. Here’s to even more amazing achievements in 2024!

We are joined by by Romain Groleau, one of the top Singaporean based ultra runners prior to his relocation to Singapore. We discuss his recent podium of Rinjani as well as him closing in on 3 years of running consecutively every single day.

We cover:

• Romain’s background for endurance sports, triathlon etc

• What is it about running that captured him out of all the disciplines

• We discuss his race experience from UTMB and UTMR to Rinjani and TMBT. Toughest race? Most beautiful? Most remote?

• We talk about his consistency and his every day running challenge. How he thinks about rest days. What he does after a big race.

• Virtual runs during covid and Ben Swees challenges

• Rinjani 2018 and 2022

• Diet - stomach issues before and transitioned to vegan

• Plans now he is moving to NZ

Podcast hosted by endurance enthusiasts Scott Pugh and Ric Stockfis

For the 50th episode of Endurance Asia Podcast we are joined again by the legend and our first ever guest Tomkazu Ihara.

Tomo shares everything he’s been up to over the past couple of years including:

• Race Directing The Last Samurai Standing back yard ultras in Japan

• Attempting the Tokai Trail FKT from Tokyo to Osaka

• Progress on his 100miles100times

• His 3rd attempt at the Barkley Marathons

Check out Tomo’s site Tomo’s Pit to find out more about his coaching and other businesses .

You can also catch him on:

Personal Insta - https://www.instagram.com/rd_tomo

Race Insta - https://www.instagram.com/lastsamuraistanding

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/tomokazu.ihara

We catch up with Richard Kimber AKA The Drone Runner to discuss his recovery from the 11th edition of Hong Kong 4 Trails Ultra challenge. An incredible story of finishing the HK4TUC inspite of bade knee pain and keeping a smile on his face and positive attitude the whole way. There is a lot to be learned from how this ultra long distance newbie came from filming this event in prior year to jumping the other side of the camera to show how it should be done.

Scott and Ric catch up after the interview to discuss the wider event. Congrats to all finishers, survivors and sufferers:

• Wong Ho Chung 黃浩聰 - 46hr55m FINISHER

• Thomas Lam Shing Yip 林成業 - 55hr:32 FINISHER

• Joseph Yeung Chi Shing 楊志成 - 56hr:26 FINISHER

• Richard Kimber - 57hr:27 FINISHER

• Cheung Man Yee 張敏怡 - 57hr:53 FINISHER

• Elliot Froidevaux - 63hr:44 SURVIVOR

• Angie Cheng Wai Yee 鄭慧儀 - 65hr:23 SURVIVOR

• Tanya Bennett - 44hr55 DNF START HK TRAIL

• Kimmy Leung Hong Kiu 梁康翹 - 36hr:02

• Virginie Goethals - 38hr:45 DNF END WILSON TRAIL

• Mayank Vaid - 16hr48m DNF WILSON TRAIL

• Tony Tong Hei Chun 唐煕晉 - 16hr56 DNF WILSON TRAIL

• Samantha Chan Man Ha 陳文霞 17hr:03 DNF WILSON TRAIL

• Joannie Ho Chung Yee ("Jcy") 何頌沂 18:50 DNF WILSON TRAIL

• Rowell Campos - 19hr:08 DNF WILSON TRAIL

• Chamelia Suhra - 18hr:59 DNF END OF MACLEHOSE

You can watch a rerun of the dot watching at www.hk4tuc.live

Follow Richard Kimber at:

The Drone Runner Instagram

Youtube video of Richard reaching the postbox

Richard’s Drone Video of the HK4TUC

Podcast hosted by Scott Pugh and Ric Stocfis

Previewing the 11th edition of the Hong Kong 4 Trails Ultra Challenge with Andre Blumberg.

Here’s the class of 2022:

• Kimmy Leung Hong Kiu 梁康翹

• Virginie Goethals

• Tanya Bennett

• Joannie Ho Chung Yee ("Jcy") 何頌沂

• Angie Cheng Wai Yee 鄭慧儀

• Chamelia Suhra

• Cheung Man Yee 張敏怡

• Samantha Chan Man Ha 陳文霞

• Tony Tong Hei Chun 唐煕晉

• Thomas Lam Shing Yip 林成業

• Elliot Froidevaux

• Richard Kimber

• Joseph Yeung Chi Shing 楊志成

• Wong Ho Chung 黃浩聰

• Mayank Vaid

• Rowell Campos

Follow live on the day www.hk4tuc.live and on Instagram. www.instagram.com/hk4tuc

Hosted by Ultra Endurance enthusiasts Scott Pugh and Ric Stockfis.

This episode we catch up with Philippe Daniel and Jean-Henri Haniquaut following their 200km RTI Round The Island in Singapore.

The challenge went viral in Singapore, getting over 340k views on this Facebook Post. We catch up with Phil And Jean to discuss:

• Their background in ultra running,

• All the crazy challenges they have taken on this past year from 45 Marathons, to Everesting in stairwells

• The RTI route, how they planned the challnege

• How it went on the day and the how they pulled through

• Their support crew

• The Charity they were raising funds for

Hosted by Ric Stockfis and Scott Pugh who also catch up after to discuss all the races and challenges that have been going on in the past few weeks and a challenge they are also drumming up for Singapore in July.

The second part of the recap of the 10th Edition Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge. 298km, 14,500M elevation and cut offs of 60 hours to finish and 72 hours to ‘Survive’.

We are joined in Part 2 by Jacky Leung, a finisher from 2020 who came back for the reunion year and shocked the world with a feat of human endurance that seemed beyond possible.

We are also joined by Andre (40m), who gives his behind the scenes perspective on how this historic event played out. Some incredible stories from a momentous weekend.

Once again we recommend looking at the Dotwatch replay at https://live.dottrack.asia/21hk4tuc/ to relive the challenge on the map as Jacky tells the story of Breaking50.

Photo Cred Vincent Chan “Compose The Story” and Viola and Alan

Hosted by Ultra Endurance enthusiasts Scott Pugh and Ric Stockfis.

The first of a two part recap of the 10th Edition Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge. 298km, 14,500M elevation and cut offs of 60 hours to finish and 72 hours to ‘Survive’. Previous runners were invited back to take on this mammoth challenge, some with the audacious goal to Break 50.

We are joined in Part 1 by Salomon Wettstein who laid out his strategy in the preview show on how he planned to break 50, and Virginie Goethals, who came back after surviving in 2020 with a goal to break 60.

Recommend looking at the Dotwatch replay at https://live.dottrack.asia/21hk4tuc/ to relive the challenge on the map as Virginie and Salomon tell the story of suffering and survival / finishing.

Look out for Part 2 with record breaking Jacky Leung and Challenge Director Andre Blumberg

Hosted by Ultra Endurance enthusiasts Scott Pugh and Ric Stockfis.

Previewing the 10th Edition of Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge with the race Director and 3 competitors:

• Andre Blumberg, Godfather of Hong Kong Ultra Running. We had him on the podcast 2 years ago to talk about his personal story as an endurance athlete and again now to talk about the 10th edition of an event he came up with and has been directing.

• (30m) Stone Tsang, one of the most successful Asia trail runners and previous finisher of a time of 54hrs comes back to see if he can truly break 50! Check out his full interview with Ryan Blair..

• (44m) Sarah Pemberton returns for the 4th time to take on HK4TUC having “survived” in 2020 following missing cut offs in 2018/19. Will she finish in 2021?

• (1hr3m) Salomon Wettstein, the Lantau resident who has been in sparkling form this past year smashing fastest times on LT70 route and Everesting Lantau Peak is also back to better his time of 56 hours. Will he be able to break50

Follow the live event on Instagram at www.hk4tuc.com to witness these and so many other ultra running legends come back to take on this epic challenge.

Joined by Valentin Orange, we recap last weekends Doi Inthanon by UTMB in Chiang Mai Thailand, the major UTMB race of Asia.

We cover:

• Race organisation

• Location,

• Atmosphere at start/finish line

  The races:

• 50k

• 100k

• 100 mile

And we go in to Valentin’s past year covering Sange Sherpa as he documents his life running ultras every weekend.

You can follow Valentin at Insta Facebook www.valentinorange.com

In the second instalment of our 2020 awards, we discuss, debate and decide who should be crowned Athlete of the Year (both Female and Male) as well as Fundraiser of the Year.

Female Athlete of the Year

So many people excelled themselves in 2020, and our final three came down to:

• Nikki Han - in 2019 Nikki became the first female finisher of the Hong Kong 4 Trails Ultra Challenge, but she didn’t rest on her laurels in 2020, completing an Everesting on foot as part of the ATG Vertical Challenge, as well as completing the newly-inaugurated “9 Buffaloes” course - the TransLantau 100km course (with 5000m elevation) and the Lantau70 course (3500m elevation), back to back. Read a route report from Will Hayward here.

• Veronika Vadovicova. Not content with a second place finish at the HK100 early in the year, Veronika went on to set FKTs on the Lantau 70 course and the reverse HK Trail. More than that though, she found time to launch Asia Trail Girls (ATG), which has quickly become the region’s leading forum to spotlight and inspire female trail running. Among other things, they organised The Asia Trail Girls Vertical Challenge, which saw teams across the region racking up as much elevation as possible (and the top all-female team climbing over 53,000m) Listen to our recent episode where we talk all about ATG with Veronika here.

• Xiang Fuzhou, who won the 2020 HK100 in a blisteringly fast 11:28:59

Male Athlete of the Year

• Wong Ho-Chung, who pulled off both the HK360 challenge (360km around Hong Kong in 36 hours) and the MacLehose Trail FKT (for which he won FKT of the Year in our first awards episode)

• Mayank Vaid, who completed the first ever Everestman challenge (swimming the height of Everest followed by an Everesting on bike and an Everesting on Foot) and then went on to complete the HK360Xtreme, which saw him swim 45k around Hong Kong Island, followed by a 215k bike ride and a 100k run. Read more about the Everestman here.

• Stephen Redfern, who not only finished the HK4TUC in 54:56, but completed a 360k ultra in his garage (listen to the previous episode to hear all about this), set a bunch of FKTs at home in Australia, came second at the Adelaide 12 Hour Race and finished 10th at the iconic Coast 2 Kosci Ultramarathon.

Fundraiser of the Year

So many people took the opportunity to raise money for causes close to their hearts in 2020, but three in particular stood out:

• UFit’s Singapore to Santa Challenge, which set out to inspire people to collectively run, cycle or swim the 9,859km to the North Pole, and ended up with participants covering an astonishing 53,095km, raising over SG$18,000 for YMCA of Singapore.

• Mayank Vaid’s HK360Xtreme, for which he raised HK$385,000 for InspiringHK Sports Foundation and Outward Bound Hong Kong. See him mid-swim here.

• Nia Cooper, who completed her Grand Slam of Hong Kong ultrarunning (Oxfam Trailwalker, North Face 100, HK100 and the TransLantau in four consecutive months) and in doing so raised over HK$105,000 for the Brain Tumour Charity, in honour of her husband (and HK trail community legend) Nic Tinworth

Thanks as always to former podcast guest Mark Agnew of the SCMP for the consistently great coverage of many of these endeavours - it’s his articles we’ve mostly linked to above.

Hosted by Ultra Endurance enthusiasts Scott Pugh and Ric Stockfis.

We are joined by the Queen of Asia ultra running Jeri Chua who is race director the “Dead F**king Last” Backyard Ultra in Singapore as well as 5 of the 15 competitors:

Alex Ang

Ned Philips

Winnie

KK Lim

Natalie Dou

We are also joined by the Japanese Ultra Running legend Tomokazu Ihara-San who will be running the Tokyo edition of the World Champs to discuss what he’s been up to lately and give his predictions for the 10 runners competing in Japan.

Phil Snowden, a. military veteran, Personal Trainer and all round machine, joins us to talk about his crazy endurance exploits and the importance of strength and conditioning for endurance athletes..

• His back ground in growing up in the military and getting into Personal Training after the miliirtary

• His first DNF doing the 24 hour Tough Mudder in the US

• Ultra in the Antarctic, Borneo 100 miler

• Pushing and pulling a body weight sled for 46km across the UfIt gym for 50 hours

• Ultra triathlon, 300 miles on Ski erg, Rower and bike

• Then we get in to Hyrox, the years of training that led up to becoming the perfect athlete for Hyrox, concept for the race and plans to commit to the race in future.

You can read more in depth info into Phil’s endeavours and the date on his blog https://www.philsnowdencoaching.com/

Check him out on Insta

Ric Stockfis and Scott Puigh catch up after to discuss:

• Trasnslantau

• World Trail Majors

• Everything else going on in the ultra endurance scene