HOPING to improve his chances of accumulating more points in the King of the Mountain (KOTM) Series, James Tellias is eyeing another podium finish either in the penultimate Pulag 100 Trail Ultra or the Hardcore 100 Miles (H1) slated later this year.
Tellias is fresh from topping the tough Four Lakes 100 after clocking 14 hours and 13 minutes as he bids to test himself in the KOTM races accredited by the France-based International Trail Running
Association (Itra) which fires off runners on May 19 at the Kayapa Central School.
“Hopefully I stay healthy,” Tellias told VoxPop Baguio. With the Itra accreditation, KOTM races are assured of standards for quality of organization, characteristics and difficulty of the course and care for the Environment.
Pulag 100K (P1) follows the first 100-kilometer route of H1, the center piece event of KOTM which is approximately 112 kilometers in distance with demanding ascents and breathtaking descents.
The Hardcore 100 Miles which also starts on May 19 on the other hand is the longest trail race in the Philippines at 160 kilometer and belongs to an exclusive club of 100-mile races worldwide with a total elevation gain of more than 35,000 feet worth six points in the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB).
Organizers said the trail course, with less than 10 percent of the route made up of concreted roads, and the rest, of single track trails, dirt and gravel paths, dry stream beds, grasslands, farmlands, forest trails and hanging bridges. It takes runners to two Mount Pulag (2747masl) and Mount Ugo (2150masl), and several hills and hamlets in between.
Since 2013, KOTM events have also been point-earning races for the UTMB, the largest and most popular ultra-marathon trail in Europe.
For the UTMB 2017 edition, Mount Ugo Marathon 2016 has been rated two points, OST 50K – three points, Four Lakes 100K – five points, and Pulag 100K – five points.
Additionally, Hardcore Hundred Miles or H1 is the only race in Asia, aside from UTMF in Japan that stands as a lottery entry race for a popular trail endurance event in the United States called Hard Rock 100 Miles. (Roderick Osis)