After starting in Europe and passing through South America, the MSWS arrive in Asia, specifically Malaysia. The Kailas Penang Skyrace®, in Georgetown, kicks off the Asian stages of the circuit with a standout athlete, Marcos Villamuera from Team Scarpa, who won both the 30km overall race and the U23 10km category.
Running the Kailas Penang Skyrace® is a true adventure through lush, humid jungle, hills, steep paths, and technical, winding trails—a combination of terrain and climate that pushes the physical and mental endurance of skyrunners to the limit.
There are two scoring races: the Skyrace®, with 30 km and +/- 2400 m, and the U23 category, with 10 km and +/- 900 m.
Despite confirming his participation in the Sky distance at the last minute, Marcos Villamuera dominated both local and international competitors on their own terrain, in one of the toughest races he has ever participated in.
From Mongolia, Luvsansharav Natsagdorj secured second place, arriving more than 15 minutes behind the young but strong Marcos Villamuera, followed by Malaysian Milton Amat rounding out the podium. Australian Blake Turner achieved a well-deserved fourth place ahead of local runner Daved Simpat.
In the women’s category, the predictions were confirmed, with French runner Iris Pessey (Scott) executing a very smart strategy to control the race from start to finish. She took the victory ahead of Australian Simone Brick (Salomon), who finished second, 8 minutes behind the winner, and Dulamsuren Myagmar from Mongolia, who claimed third place. Russians Dasha Goreva and Elena Gaufman rounded out the women’s top 5.
And on Sunday, the U23 race took place, featuring the same male protagonist, Marcos Villamuera, and the British runner from the Salomon Team, Betty Bergstrand.
Ueda Skyrace®: Second Asian stop
The next stage of the circuit remains in Asia, moving to Japan, in the city of Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, to welcome the Ueda Skyrace®, making its debut in the World Series with an impressive course that, in just 26 km, accumulates ±3050 m of elevation gain, making it one of the most technical and demanding races in Asia.
Besides the Skyrace® taking place on Sunday, the event is completed by the vertical race on Saturday.
Among the favorites, the local runners Takamura Takako (The Skywolf), Kusuda Suzuha (Team Sky Kyoto), Hayashi Kaede (Ssessionzz), Aibara Chihiro (Merrell), Saito Mame, and Samata Akari (Millet) will be ones to watch. Australian Simone Brick (Salomon) and Iris Pessey (FRA, SCOTT) will compete for the second consecutive week, following their duel in Malaysia. The list of favorites is completed by the Nepalese Priya Balsa.
In the U23 category, athletes aiming for a good result to qualify for the Sobrescobio final include Nikola Matkova (SVK), Rio Townsend (USA), and Rachel Hebaus (USA).
In the men’s field, local runners such as Ruy Ueda, Omi Ryunosuke (Salomon), Luvsansharav Natsagdorj (MGL), Matsumoto Shota (Salomon), Maruyama Shoma, Miyagawa Tomofumi (Merrell), and Ichige Fujio (The SkyWolf) are sure to be protagonists. Among the internationals, highlights include John Ray Onifa (PHI / T8), Marcel Hoche (GER, Adidas Terrex), Lucas Mouret (FRA, INVERSE), and Australian Blake Turner (ADCO Construction).
In the U23 category, standout athletes are Daaraneeshwaran Siva Kumar (MGL, Kailas/Suunto), Benjamin Townsend (USA), and the Japanese Hase Ryoshin.
