Race Media

Royale International Kayak n RunSeries 2016

Race 1 – May 28 – Deep Water Bay

Race 2 – June 11 – Discovery Bay

Race 3 – July 9 – Tai Tam Bay

 Fast, Intense, Shortened Course

Royale International Kayak n Run at Discovery Bay

June 11, 2016, Hong Kong – Organizers of the The Royale International Kayak n Run at Discovery Bay had to shorten the course due to a potential thunderstorm that never came in the end, forcing adventure racers to only paddle 3km in glass flat water ideal conditions with a steep shorter 4km trail run up above the Monastery next to Discovery Bay. Heavy rain could not be avoided in and out of the race, but didn’t stop experienced racers Antoine Epinette and Jerome Laboulais of Team UGLOW who the overall adult race in 1 hour 4 minutes 57 seconds. Tim Foster and James Park of team All About the Banter following closely finishing 16 seconds behind grabbing 2^nd place in 1 hour 5 minutes 13 seconds.

The family fun team event started at 8 am with the cool rain and perfect conditions with a very short 1.5km kayak n 3km run along the coastline. James and Peter Dingley were the first team to break the finishing line with time of 31 minutes 15 seconds. It was their first family event in Discovery Bay though they have lived here for years. “The Royale International event was awesome especially in kayak part. At first other teams were hundreds meters ahead of us, however, James was pushing me up all the way in the running part, and now we are the champion. It is great to win with my son!" said the dad, Peter, "I need to keep up with him this time, and hope next year, the situation will be the other way around."

Just 3 seconds after the 2^nd family team in the fun category, Hong Kong local father-and-daughter team Mito came back 3^rd. As only 11 years old, daughter May has already had more than 5 years’ racing experience. When asked which part she liked the most, May answered, “The running, because it was easier!” Dad Oscar is very proud of his daughter, “Five years ago, we had joined this Kayak n Run race for the first time, when May was too young to take the paddle. But now, she has already made it! We did other sports like running in our spare time. It is so cool to finish so fast as the first local team with my daughter in this cool weather!”

Back in the Adult category, Team UGLOW were crowned champions with a blistering time of 1 hour 4 minutes 57 seconds with Antoine Epinette and Jerome Laboulais both from France, living in Hong Kong for 3 years. This was their first time to team up together in this Royale International event. “The race was fun, and I was a little bit surprised about the change of the route. Antoine is very good at running, so I bet on him to push me on the way. The most challenging part for us is the end of the race, because the other two teams chased closely after us.” said Laboulais. “I was unfamiliar with the Kayak, and Jerome gave me a lot of help. It was a very good team race.” Epinette added.

Team All About the Banter with Tim Foster (Australia) and James Park (New Zealand) grabbed 2^nd overall in 1:05:13 as was the first time for them to team up together and felt confident of winning even before the race. “We knew we would get interviewed,” said the team with a big laugh. Foster added, “The uphill part is challenging because of the rain. The trail became very slippery. The boys in front of us did really well. We couldn’t quite catch up with them. The race was all fun. We will come back next year for sure.”

Team Al's Diners from took the final place on the sandy podium grabbing 3^rd place. They dressed up like cave men. Robbie Broomhead pointed out, “It was a good race, and we would prefer that the kayak could be longer, so the race would be more challenging, but understand about the weather today.” Ruaraidh Smeaton said this was their second time in Discovery Bay, “I love races in Hong Kong, and we are looking forward to the next race in Tai Tam Bay.”

First in the mixed was Team Gancarz and Watts with Iwona Gancarz (Polland) and Andrew Watts (United Kingdom). “We both felt the kayaking was fun but challenging, as we didn't get many chances to do it too much. The slippery downhill with us chasing others made it more intriguing” said Goncarz.

Winning the women’s team was Kwan Tai Wong and Kwai Heung Wu from Team Garlic. This is their second women’s win in the Kayak n Running Series races. They teamed with each other since last year’s Discovery Bay, and they were both from the same interest group, Garlic. “We usually do a lot of sports with people from Group Garlic, for example, marathon, dragon boating, and orienteering. Last year we found the kayaking was a little bit hard to handle, but after the dragon boat training this year, we are more confident with it,” said Cherry Kwai Heung Wu.

The Royale International Kayak n Run Series could not happen without the generous support of the presenting sponsor Royale International, and supporting partners Action X Store, LIFEPROOF, Salonsip, Herbalgy, Gatorade, OL&N, Socam, Key Sun Zinke, Hong Kong Resorts and Action Asia Foundation.

Royale International Kayak n Run – Discovery Bay

ADULT CATEGORY (9 am start)

Rank – Team/Sponsor – Name – Time

Results

Overall Top 3 Teams

1st - Team UGLOW – Antoine Epinette (France) / Jerome Laboulais (France) – 1:04:57

2nd - All about the banter – Tim Foster (Australia) / James Park (New Zealand) – 1:05:13

3rd - Al’s Diners – Robbie Broomhead (United Kingdom) / Ruaraidh Smeaton (United Kingdom) – 1:07:20

Mixed Combined Age 36+

1st – Team Tiger – Magdalena Cvetkovic (Switzerland) /Chris Davis (United Kingdom) – 1:09:33

2nd – Gogogo - Cyrus Chui (Hong Kong) /Kin man Tong (Hong Kong) – 1:21:19

3rd - Bunny Bear– Eugene Tsang (Hong Kong) /Mihoko Tsang (Japan) – 1:23:54

Mixed Combined Age 70+

1st – Gancarz and Watts – Iwona Gancarz (Polland) / Andrew Watts (United Kingdom) – 1:07:24

2nd – Dream Chasing Action – Mo kwan Chan (Hong Kong) /CHAK LAW HO (Hong Kong) – 1:14:10

3rd – Lithium – Siu Kin, Iris Mak (Hong Kong) /Cedric Poon (United Kingdom) – 1:19:03

Women’s Team

1st – Team Garlic – Kwan Tai Wong (Hong Kong) / Kwai Heung Wu (Hong Kong) – 1:21:36

2nd – Made by Asphodel – Vanessa Cheung (Hong Kong) /Mikyung Kim (Republic of Korea) – 1:24:32

3rd – Ladies – Jacqui Donaldson (United Kingdom) / Ame Engelhart (United States)  – 1:28:11

 

FAMILY CATEGORY (8 am start)

Top 3 Teams

1st – Team Dingley – Peter Dingley/James Dingley – 00:30:51

2nd – Boaty Macboatface – Iona Gladstone/Xen Gladstone –00:31:08

3rd – Mito – Oscar Kwok/May Kwok –00:32:10

Results uploaded in Past Events DBay Kayak n Run page under pdf download and check results tab main page next week.

http://www.actionasiaevents.com/assets/images/Events/Kayak_n_Run/Discovery_Bay/year_2016/2016%20Kayak%20n%20Run%20DiscoveryBay%20Adult%20Provisional%20Result.pdf

http://www.actionasiaevents.com/assets/images/Events/Kayak_n_Run/Discovery_Bay/year_2016/2016%20Kayak%20n%20Run%20DiscoveryBay%20Family%20Provisional%20Result.pdf

Race Info