Muallim Ultra 2026 7E 30: Results and Race Report

Osama Afif B. Zainol Abiddin won the Muallim Ultra 2026 7E 30 in 4:43:15, almost 27 minutes clear of the field. Yong Kok Lam was second in 5:10:07 and Teh Kah Seong third in 5:12:46, after Teh went off course about 500m from the finish. Najwa won the women’s race in 5:43:30.

The real race was further back. Five runners left the last checkpoint within 51 seconds of each other, and by the finish the final 6.8km had spread them almost ten minutes apart. Leading that charge was Chong Chin Min, racing in the over-50 Veteran category, who finished fifth overall.

This was the fifth edition of “The Forbidden Passage”. The weekend also had the Liang 50, Ujana 15 and Diamond Creek 5.

Race facts

• Event: Muallim Ultra 2026, 7E 30
• Date: 10 October 2026, 4:00am start
• Venue: INSTUN (Institut Tanah dan Ukur Negara), Tanjong Malim, Perak
• Course: out to the Sungai Dara trailhead at UPSI Edu Forest (CP1), then 7.5km and about 1,260m up to Camp 7E at roughly 1,395m. From there it’s 7.5km back down to the same trailhead with no water station in between, then home. Officially 30km and 2,000m of climbing; on GPS about 32.4km and 1,765m.
• Conditions: the DOE station at UPSI read API 170, in the unhealthy range, at the 4am start. It was still 168 at 10am. Under the forest canopy the air was noticeably clearer.
• Finishers: 154, with 23 DNF and 13 DNS
• Winner: Osama Afif B. Zainol Abiddin, 4:43:15

How does the 7E 30 course work?

The race has three parts, and the middle one is the race.

The first 10.6km out to CP1 at the Sungai Dara trailhead is mostly run in the dark. It’s a warm-up compared with what comes next.

From CP1 the trail heads up the lower slopes of Gunung Liang toward Camp 7E. The first 4km to Lubuk Hantu is the gentler part, climbing from about 200m to 575m. It follows old estate and logging tracks into lowland forest, with several stream crossings along the way. Under the canopy the humidity doesn’t move.

Then it gets serious. From Lubuk Hantu to Camp 7E the trail gains about 820m in roughly 3.5km, an average of around 23%. It’s steep single track with almost nowhere flat to recover, and the final stretch up to 7E is a mass of roots. This is where hands go on knees and the field spreads out.

At 7E the 30km runners turn round, while the 50km field carries on toward Liang peak. The descent is 7.5km back to the same trailhead, which becomes CP2. Those roots are just as hard to manage going down on tired legs.

There is no water station on that 15km loop. There may be seepage near the camp, but you can’t count on it. Whatever you carry out of CP1 has to last until you’re back. In the top 10 the loop took between 3:08 and 3:47, so even the leaders were on their own for over three hours.

From CP2 it’s about 6.8km to the finish. On paper that’s the easy part. In practice it decided four places in the top 10, because of what the loop had already taken out of people.

Top 10, checkpoint by checkpoint

Positions shown are among the final top 10.

Women’s podium

Osama, in a class of his own

Osama reached CP1 at 4:56am, still in the dark. He was already 12:17 clear of the next runner and almost 15 minutes ahead of Teh.

Most runners would settle into the climb with a lead like that. Osama pushed on. He went round the 7E loop in 3:08:22, carrying everything he needed for over three hours, and nobody else in the top 10 got within seven minutes of that time. On a climb that averages 23% in its steepest section, that is a big margin.

He finished with 38:15 for the last 6.8km, the fastest closing split in the field. He crossed the line at 8:43am, 26:52 ahead. He led at every checkpoint, extended his lead on every section, and never looked like being caught.

Teh lost second with 500m to go

Teh’s run deserves more than the wrong turn at the end. He was fourth at CP1 and paced the start well. On the 7E loop he passed Ku Seng Lip and Nor Hafiz. His loop of 3:16:29 was the third-fastest in the top 10, and it brought him through CP2 in second with a 57-second lead.

About 500m from the finish he went off course. Yong ran the final section in 41:07 and Teh in 44:43, so Yong finished second in 5:10:07 and Teh third in 5:12:46.

For most of the morning Teh was in second. He finished third, but it was a run worth more than that.

Five runners, 51 seconds

At CP2 the race behind the podium was still wide open. Five runners came through the trailhead within 51 seconds of each other:

After 24km and more than three hours on 7E, they were almost level. Over the next 6.8km they finished 9:34 apart. Chong Chin Onn, three minutes behind the group at CP2, came through and passed two of them.

What separated them was what each runner had left after the mountain.

Chong Chin Min, fifth overall at over 50

Chong Chin Min’s run was the standout of the day after Osama.

He raced in the over-50 category and finished fifth overall against runners decades younger. He was fifth at CP1 and sixth after the 7E loop. Then he ran the final 6.8km in 44:30, the fastest closing split outside the top three.

He left CP2 9:25 behind Nor Hafiz in fourth. He took back 9:17 of that in 6.8km and finished eight seconds behind him.

That was a veteran’s race in the best sense. He was patient on the climb and steady on the roots, and he still had the legs to run hard when it mattered.

Nor Hafiz held on for fourth

Nor Hafiz ran at the front from the start. He was second at CP1 and fourth at CP2, more than nine minutes clear of the pack behind him.

The last section was hard on him. It took 53:47, and his lead almost disappeared. He held fourth by eight seconds, 5:40:23 to 5:40:31. When everything was running out, he kept going hard enough to keep the place.

Najwa controlled the women’s race

Najwa led the women from the first checkpoint to the finish. She was 2:59 ahead of Ang Yee Mei at CP1. Ang closed that to 41 seconds by CP2, and that’s when Najwa ran her best section of the day.

She ran the last 6.8km in 47:51 to Ang’s 53:43 and won by 6:33. She finished sixth overall and was never headed by another woman.

Ang raced for Malaysia at the 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. She came to Muallim a week after the Asia Trail Master Championship in Vietnam and wasn’t fully recovered. She still took second in 5:50:03 and pushed Najwa hard over 7E.

Siao Ai Lim took third in 5:58:27. She ran an even race, 11th overall at both checkpoints and at the finish.

The rest of the top 10

Mohd Faizal Hashim (7th) was last of the top 10 at CP1. He moved up one place on the 7E loop and two more after CP2. Of everyone in the CP2 pack, he lost the least ground to Chong on the run-in.

Chong Chin Onn (8th) came through CP2 tenth, three minutes behind the pack. He ran 45:24 to the finish and passed both Ang and Ku on the way in.

Ang Yee Mei (9th) was seventh at CP2. Racing on legs still tired from Vietnam, she slipped two places on the final section but held a top-10 finish and second woman.

Ku Seng Lip (10th) was third at CP1 in 1:09:55, running with the leaders. A stomach problem hit him on the 7E loop. Many runners would have stopped there. Ku kept going and finished tenth, two seconds behind Ang.

Final results

What does Muallim teach?

Muallim is won and lost on 7E, even when the places change later. The climb and descent are 15km without water, three to four hours for a strong runner and longer for everyone else. Whatever state you come off the mountain in decides how the last 6.8km goes.

The numbers show it. Seven of the top 10 ran the final section in under 49 minutes. Five of them gained a place or held one. Teh dropped one after his wrong turn, and Najwa dropped one only to Chong’s late charge. The three who took 53 minutes or more either lost places or, in Nor Hafiz’s case, held on by eight seconds. Ku Seng Lip’s stomach trouble on 7E cost him seven places from CP1.

So treat CP1 as your last chance to prepare for a 15km unsupported stage. Fill every bottle and carry more food than feels necessary. The Lubuk Hantu to 7E section is so steep that eating and drinking gets hard, so start early on the gentler first 4km. When you plan how much to carry, it helps to know how much sodium you lose in Malaysian heat.

And look at Chong Chin Min. At over 50 he ran the second half of this race better than almost anyone. A well-managed climb is how that happens.

If you’re racing here next year, respect the loop. The places that change after the trailhead were mostly decided on the mountain.

Stamina Sports race notes. We cover endurance racing in real Malaysian conditions: heat, humidity, long climbs and afternoon storms. For a race this long, Elec Stamina has 220 mg of sodium per caplet, for use during or after sustained physical activity.

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