The North Face Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival 2019 (TNF-MMTF 2019) flagged-off with a bigger turnout this year where over 2,100 runners from 35 countries converged in Taiping, Perak for the competition from Dec 13-15, 2019.
Contestants challenged four routes at 13km, 25km, 55km and 84km with various difficulty elevations at the pristine yet challenging trails of Taiping.
The 25km, 55km and 84km courses were certified by the International Trail Running Association (ITRA) and have been added into the list of qualifying races for the world-renowned Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) competition.
Kristian Joergensen, 35, from Denmark won the 84km Men’s Open category after crossing the finish line with a time of 10:22:24. The Danish athlete said, “I feel really good (about winning) because it was the finale of the ATM Championship series and there were a lot of good runners. So it came as a surprise for me that I won it. 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, you could hear the sounds from the birds as well as see the animals roam around their habitat.”
The 84km Women’s Open Category was won by Veronika Vadovicova, 29, from Slovakia with a time of 11:34:42.
“I am super, super happy about the victory of both. Yesterday’s race was probably my best race this 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 so I enjoyed it the whole time,” she said.
“We had an amazing turnout this year, and 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 of them were Malaysians. This is a testament that more Malaysians are embracing an active lifestyle and travelling locally to experience the beauty of their homeland,“ said Ewegene Tan, the organizer of TNF-MMTF from MMTF Consultant.
The event also saw Australian Johh Ellis, 41, crowned the new men’s Asia Trail Master Champion. “I am pretty ecstatic and pretty tired. It’s been a long season. I did 9 races in the end; the competition was so strong and you could never relax. You need to perform at a super high level at every race just to be able to get the points’’, said Ellis.
TNF-MMTF is co-organized by the MMTF Consultant, Jabatan Perhutanan Negeri Perak, Spritzer, Perdana Global Peace Foundation and Larut Matang Hash House Harriers and Harriets.
For more information about The North Face – Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival 2019, visit https://mmtf.my
