Over 2,100 runners from 35 countries converged in Taiping, Perak, for The North Face Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival (TNF – MMTF) 2019. The race offered four routes for trail runners of varying abilities, from the 13km “Freshman Run” and the new 25km “Ball Breaker Run” to the 55km and 84km Ultra Challenges.

Kristian Joergensen and Veronika Vadovicova are the winners

Said Kristian Joergensen, 35, from Denmark and the winner of the 84km Men’s Open in 10:22:24 hours, “I feel really good bout winning because it was the season finale of the ATM (Asia Trail Masters) Championship series and there were a lot of good runners. So it came as a surprise that I won it.”

He added “I knew I trained well and I was in good shape, so I gave it a go and it feels really good. The course was really tough but also really special and beautiful because you are going through the jungle and forest. The most beautiful experience was when the sun started to rise and the animals woke up so you could hear the sounds from the birds as well as seeing animals roaming about their habitats.”

For the 84km Women’s Open category, the winner was Veronika Vadovicova from Slovakia, who finished in 11:34:42 hours.

Besides winning the race, Veronika also won the overall Women’s ATM title. She said, “I am super happy about the victory of both. Yesterday’s race was probably my best race of the year, so this sums up the year perfectly. The course was very challenging and technical, it had a lot of climbing but it suited me really well and I was enjoying myself the whole time.”

The Men’s ATM title was won by Australia’s John Ellis, who said, “I am pretty ecstatic and also tired. It has been a long season. I did nine races in the end, this competition was so strong and you could never relax. You need to perform at a super high level at every race to get the points.”

Bringing together the world trail running community 

TNF – MMTF aims to congregate the trail running community from around the globe through music and food at the official race venue at Spritzer Eco Park.

Said Ewegene Tan, organiser for TNF – MMTF from MMTF Consultants, “We had an amazing turnout this year. We are proud of all the runners who have made it up here to Taiping as well as completing the race. Out of the 2,100 runners, more than 1,800 were Malaysians. This is a testament that more Malaysians are embracing an active lifestyle and traveling locally to experience the beauty of their homeland.”

Promoting global pace through trail running

As part of its corporate social responsibility efforts, TNF – MMTF also pledged their support too the Perdana Global Peace Foundation – an anti-war movement and initiative of global peace – through trail running this year.

Said Tan Sri Norian Mai, Chairman, Perdana Global Peace Foundation, “Trail running event like this brings people and communities together. We would like to thank TNF – MMTF for giving us a platform to champion our cause and message of world peace.”

Photo Credits @ PIXEO