FOLLOWING her back breaking performance in the recently concluded Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in France, Sandi Menchi Abahan returns to training as she gears up for the upcoming Mt. Kinabalu International Climbathon in Sabah, Malaysia next month.
Abahan, in a radio program, said training immediately begins as she seeks to grab another title in the climabathon which features the best skyrunners from all over the world.
The former University of the Cordilleras Jaguars varsity recently conquered one of the UTMB race, crossing the finish line with a time of 23:27:16 and ranked 21st in the distaff side of the Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie.
Abahan’s achievement was hailed by the running community as the best rank a Filipino (male or female) has achieved in the UTMB so far.
During the 2016 edition of the Mt. Kinabalu Climbathon, the 27-year-old clocked two hours, 58 minutes, and 48 seconds winning the crown in the elite category.
The Mt. Kinabalu International Climbathon first started in 1987 where its origins can be traced to the Sabah Parks’ intention of creating a rapid rescue squad made up of a team of rangers who can bring down injured climbers fast.
It was an all Malaysian affair for a year until it was opened to international participants. Sabah Tourism Board saw the potential of the event being a promotional tool to promote Sabah and took over organizing the event in 1995.
The climbathon became a member of the World Mountain Running Association in 1997 and hosted the 15th World Mountain Running Trophy in 1999 at Kinabalu Park.
In 2003, the Climbathon was admitted as member of the International Skyrunning Federation, the international body that promotes sports at high altitude.
Since then, the Climbathon has been a part of the Federation’s Skyrunner World Series until 2012. International top runners from various countries race in the series’ venues to gather points to become the series world champion.