TAIPING: Japanese athletes Yutaro Yokouchi and Mika Taniguchi won the MY100 men’s and women’s titles at Malaysia Ultra-Trail by UTMB 2026 on Sunday (Sept 12), overcoming a demanding course in the forest trails of Taiping.
Yokouchi completed the 97.5km race in 12 hours 18 minutes 44 seconds (12:18:44), finishing 82-minutes ahead of Myanmar’s Duyakar Bahar Duu (13:40:19), while Japanese Hiroyuki Kawachi came in third (14:09:47).
The 33-year-old Yokouchi swiftly made his way from third to second as he arrived at the first checkpoint, before he gained the lead at the third marker.
Yokouchi went on to dominate the race from then on, pulling away from his closest competitors to win his second ultra-trail race of the season, and third win of the year.
“I didn’t finish a UTMB World Series race in Thailand in May. After that, I struggled to believe in myself for a few months. Finally, I’ve been able to win again. This is also my first victory in the 100K category. I’m so happy,” said Yokouchi.
Starting at 3am, MY100 challenged runners with approximately 4,800m of cumulative ascent. They had to negotiate the opening hours in darkness and manage their effort over steep climbs and long descents.
This year’s course also incorporated the Vertical King/Queen challenge, a timed 7.96km segment from the metal bridge at Murugan Temple to AS1 Angkasa. Its approximately 1,200m of climbing added a demanding early test for all the MY100 competitors.
Malaysia’s Ibrahim Karim led the local challenge in the MY100 men’s race, finishing eighth with a time of 15:50:38, while Yen Sim Yip came in as the fastest Malaysian in 11th with a time of 23:42:59.
The MY50 saw China dominated in both the men’s and women’s categories.
Japan’s Koyo Ogasawara completed the men’s podium after finishing in third, while Daniel Yap was the highest-placed Malaysian, finishing in a commendable fifth position.
“Having raced here before, I knew what to expect from the terrain and weather, so I made adjustments beforehand and ran steadily. I didn’t have a particular expectation. The most important thing was to follow my own pace.
“The toughest part was at the last checkpoint. I could barely lift my legs and couldn’t run any more. My only thought was to keep going and get through the remaining distance,” said Wu, who finished third in last year’s edition.
There was a huge cheer when local competitor Michelle Ng came in behind her in second place with a time of 7:29:42.
The Malaysian turned in a gritty performance for an unexpected finish, having injured her ankle last week. “I was unstable on the downhill, so I just went slow and pushed hard on the flat surface,” she said.
Hong Kong’s Li Sham Ming completed the podium classifications after coming in four minutes behind Michelle. The 54.02km course featured approximately 1,800m of climbing.
In MY25, India’s Bir Bahadur Rai was crowned male champion after he finished in 2:25:01, while Hong Kong’s Ho Ting Yu showed her class in the women’s category after coming through in 3:24:56.
The MY13 titles, meanwhile, went to Elodie Desporte Duperry and Tracy Power respectively.
Over 3,000 participants from 63 countries entered this year’s event, including more than 1,000 from overseas. The programme features MY100, MY50, MY25, MY13 and MYKids.
Malaysia’s only UTMB World Series event is in its third edition under the UTMB banner, having started as the Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival in 2018.
The MY100 podium finishers also secured entry to the CCC at the 2027 UTMB World Series Finals in France. The top three men and women in MY50 earned places in the OCC.
