The North Face® Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival is presented to you by Jabatan Perhutanan Negeri Perak and MMTF Consultant. The North Face® Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival 2023 (V6.0) will be held between 2 – 5 November 2023 at Esplanade, Taiping, Perak, West Malaysia.
The North Face® Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival 2023 will see runners gunning for honour in the Vertical KM (VK), 13KM Freshmen Challenge, 25KM Ball-Breaker Challenge, 50KM Ultra Challenge and 100KM Ultra-Trail® Challenge.
Runners will be taken through the pristine jungle trails which for the VK, 50KM and 100KM categories would include an adventure into the Virgin Jungle Reserves in Taiping. Runners will be tested with multiple elevation gains of 1000m for the VK, 350m for the 13KM, 1360m for the 25KM, 2960m for the 50KM and 5330m for the 100KM. The race will give every runner a chance of a lifetime to experience different trails around Taiping Lake Gardens and the iconic Maxwell Hill.
The Vertical Kilometre (VK) is the only VK race of its kind in Malaysia. The VK Challenge is a time trial challenge that will take runners up to 1000m asl in just over 5KM.
The 13KM race is the “Freshman Run” which has well-mixed terrains that we trust best fits the beginners.
The 25KM race has undulated uphill and downhill, which seems endless and best fits the synonym “BALL BREAKER” made famous by the hashing community around the world.
The North Face® Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival will have 2 versions of Ultra Challenges, namely the 50KM ULTRA CHALLENGE and the 100KM ULTRA TRAIL CHALLENGE.
The North Face® Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival 2023 will also see the introduction of a new race category (100KM DUO Ultra-Trail® Challenge) in line with #TogethernessInTrail initiatives. This is to allow runners to encourage and motivate each other in completing the challenge coupled with a chance for the more experienced runners to guide the new runners in the 100KM distance who might be fearful of being alone especially overnight long hours navigating through the Virgin Jungle Reserves (VJR) which represent a large section of the race course. However, there is only 3 main categories (MEN OPEN/ WOMEN OPEN/ MIXED OPEN) with the Top 5 teams in each category to be awarded.
The North Face® Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival 2023 is the 1st race in Asia accepted into TORX® eXperience Circuit 2023. 50 lucky runners who complete the 100KM Ultra-Trail® Challenge at The North Face® Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival 2023 will gain direct entry into TORX® 2024 without having to go through the balloting process.
The 50KM race course has also been certified by International Skyrunning Federation (ISF). The North Face® Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival is the 1st race thus far in Malaysia to be accorded the ISF Certified Course Label and is the 2nd race in South East Asia and 5th in Asia-Pacific to be given such recognition. Runners who complete the race will have their results submitted to ISF for the exclusive global ranking system in 2023.
The North Face® Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival 2023 is part of Asia Trail Master (ATM) 2023 Championship Series. We trust by having the best in the region to compete against one another by being in the ATM Championship Series, will help enhance the standard of “ultra-trail” running here in Malaysia.
The 25KM and 50KM race course which has 1 ITRA POINT and 3 ITRA POINTS respectively in 2022 will be sent for re-evaluation with the 100KM race course to International Trail Running Association (ITRA), and are expected to be accorded 1 POINT, 3 POINTS and 5 POINTS respectively. The 13KM Freshmen Challenge, the 25KM Ball-Breaker Challenge, the 50KM Ultra Challenge and the 100KM Ultra-Trail® Challenge are part of UTMB® World Series Qualifiers.
We are collaborating with MILE 27 ENDURANCE TRAINING to provide runners with The North Face® Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival 2023-specific training program with the intention to help runners achieve their true potential and to go beyond their limits in the 2023 race.
Besides the above, we have worked closely with SUUNTO HQ since 2022 to generate route flyby of the respective race course with the hope that it will give every runner a better understanding of what’s in store during the race weekend. We have also built the race course profiles into SUUNTO PLUS GUIDE APP with the intention to guide runners through their respective races.
We hope with the collaboration with MILE 27 ENDURANCE TRAINING and SUUNTO HQ, we are able to assist everyone to successfully complete the challenges ahead as our success are determined by the no of FINISHERS and not the no of DNFs.
Part of the existence of The North Face® Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival is to give back to society. #LoseYourMindDiscoverYourSoul signifies projects that we believe would contribute to the community where the race is held. From mountain porters to less fortunate students, and from front liners to the champion amongst us in the likes of Soh Wai Ching (current world No.1 tower runner) and Daved Simpat (Malaysia’s No.2 ranked trail runner). Part of the registration fees since 2018 had been paid to Bukit Larut/ Maxwell Hill Management for maintaining and upgrading our Bukit Larut/ Maxwell Hill and since the summer 2022, the organizer has moved upwards to develop Maxwell Basecamp in its effort to make Taiping a trail running and hiking destination.