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

  Gatorade Juggernauts Win Royale International Kayak n Run Opener

Perfect weather as adventure thrillers scare off typhoon

Hong Kong - May 28, 2016 – The weather was cool and cloudy, which was good conditions for a normally hot race like Royale International Kayak n Run held today at Deep Water Bay with HK's first typhoon of the year just passing 12 hours before the race leaving cool breezes, clear weather later and fairly nice water conditions with some bigger surf around Middle Island. The race was made from 2 categories: Family category and Adult category.

Before the adult teams had their hard fought battle, family teams had a good time bright and early for the 7am start in the 1.5km ocean kayak -1.5km run course with funs and laughter as they navigated their way down Deep Water Bay towards Ocean Park near the back of the HK club and returned for a run along the Mills and Chung Path with many parents saying the distance was perfect as a lot of young children below 7 years old entering.

In the family category Kurt Lynn and Taiki Lynn of Team Gatorade came back to the finish point ahead of some of the other families who looked like they had done a bit of family training before the event. “The kayaking part was challenging, but I like it the most!” said the son, Taiki. The father and son just got back from the holiday last night and didn't have much time to do the training they said, but clearly their lungs were working. “Taiki was fast. The kayaking was fast and he ran fast, all I could do was follow him,” said Dad, Kurt, “Last year, we ran with a team the whole time, while this year, we got a team following us the whole time, pushing us all the way down. It was fun and definitely challenging.”

Four family groups caught people’s attention with kid’s from ESF. In order to increase their confidence, the school PE teachers encouraged them to join the race with their parents since these kids are high-functioned, can obey commands correctly and with fully coordinated body functions like others. Au Ka Yan, the mother of one of the kids, Shum Hiu Lok, was very happy of having this opportunity racing with her son, “The kayak n run emphasized teamwork. During the kayaking, we encouraged and tried to coordinate with each other. This race gave us a great opportunity to learn the importance of corporation. More importantly, finishing the race can give the feeling of success to the kids and encourage them to stay healthy. All of us are so happy we joined and will definitely recommend this event to other school kids as so meaningful” said Ms Au.

In the adult category it was Kurt Lynn and Ali Watts of Team Gatorade Juggernauts (Kurt jumping back into another kayak fresh from family category warm-up), showed their strong paddling skill and teamwork, grabbing top of the podium with a blistering time of 01:33:46 winning overall and the mixed category at same time. Uglow Asia (01:35:35) and the Invaders (01:36:05) came right behind.

With their strong performance in today’s race, Team Gatorade Juggernauts was happy to finish the race as the overall champion. “Two events in a row and kept up with two strong teammates were exciting and tiring", said Lynn with smiles. "The kayaking was still my favorite part of the race and it was challenging to keep up with my teammate Ali at the uphill running part as she is very good at the hills." Watts agreed with Lynn, “I did like the uphill running part the most, and thanks for Kurt, I can just sit there and enjoy the kayaking. He will do all the paddling for me.”

Just around 2 minutes later, arriving at the beach finish came Uglow Asia with Jerome Laboulais and Adrien Choux, grabbing the second overall place and regulars at numerous Action Asia Events over the years with many podiums and a lot of experience under their belts. “We have attended several years of the Kayaking and Running series in a row" said Jerome Laboulais of Uglow Asia, “The weather was quite good for running, cool with no rain. We were the first team out of the water from kayaking, but got taken up in the hill by the Gatorade team. We pushed hard and tried not to be overtaken by others. But we are the first European team!” said Adrien Choux with a big smile on his face. “The views were great from the hill up by Mt Nicolson and partnering with Jerome made the race really funny and enjoyable” Choux continued saying.

Grabbing 3rd place overall was the Invaders with Romain Demarre and Jeremy Borne who finished in 01:36:40. Frenchman Demarre and Borne both Hong Kong residents for many years have done these kind of races several times, but today is their first time to partner with each other. Borne shared his experience with us,” The overall experience was pretty good. The downhill was slippery, but the view was wonderful. The most challenging part was the kayaking because of the big waves around Middle Island.” The team will also compete in the Royale International Tai Tam Bay event. “We are looking forward to a good result there” Borne said.

The top women’s team was British Imi Bond and Jo Eades both Hong Kong residents for over 20 years who finished in 1:51:43. As the top women’s team, Jo said “the most interesting part was running up hill and chasing the boys. But of course we met many difficulties during the whole race, especially the steps, which was the most challenging part in the race. We are looking forward to the Tai Tam race later and we hope we can perform better at that time as enjoy these kayak n runs.” Imi said.

Race 1 of the Royale International Kayak n Run series at Deep Water Bay had a full entry list with 60 adult teams and 60 family teams with the adult race including a 4km ocean kayak, and 5km trail run, while the families had a 1.5km ocean kayak and 1.5km run. Race 2 will start at the Discovery Bay on June 11^th, 2016 with a 3km kayak 5km run 3km kayak course for adults and .

RESULTS - TOP 3 PODIUM

Royale International Kayak n Run - Deep Water Bay

ADULT CATEGORY (8am start)

Rank – Team/Sponsor – Name – Time

Overall Team Top 3

1st        Gatorade Juggernauts – Kurt Lynn (New Zealand) / Ali Watts (Australia) – 1:33:46

2nd       Team Uglow Asia– Adrien Choux (France) /Jerome Laboulais (France)  – 1:35:35

3rd        invaders- Jeremy Borne (France) /Romain Demarre (France) – 1:36:05

 

[Top 3 All Categories]

Men Combined Age 36+

1st – Reecho– Tsz Kin Chung (China) /Check Hin Ng (China) – 1:45:38

2nd – PB- Patrick Angell (Canada) /Brandon Kandt (United States) – 2:02:55

3rd - WaaaaBear– Ka Chun Choi (Hong Kong) /Hing Lun Tung (Hong Kong) – 2:18:09

Men Combined Age 60+

1st – Team Uglow Asia– Adrien Choux (France) /Jerome Laboulais (France) – 1:35:35

2nd – invaders- Jeremy Borne (France) /Romain Demarre (France) – 1:36:05

3rd – Al’s Diners– Robbie Broomhead (Hong Kong) /Ruaraidh Smeaton (United Kingdom) – 1:47:15

Men Combined Age 80+

1st – Church 1– Lau Yu Cheung (Hong Kong) /Kan Fung Choi (Hong Kong)  – 2:00:30

2nd – Tung Chun Triathlon- Kin Wai Chan (China) /Davy Ng (China) – 2:02:30

3rd – SS 88– Angus Chu (Hong Kong) /Damien Liu (Hong Kong) – 2:19:21

Mixed Combined Age 36+

1st – Uglow– Antoine Epinette (France) /Elsa Jean De Dieu (France) – 1:36:40

2nd – Team Tiger- Magdalena Cvetkovic (Switzerland) /Chris Davis (United Kingdom)– 1:38:45

3rd - Team Uglow TU1– Charlotte Henry (France) /May Leng (Cambodia) – 1:41:45

Mixed Combined Age 70+

1st – Gatorade Juggernauts – Kurt Lynn (New Zealand) / Ali Whtts (Australia) – 1:33:46

2nd – Double Trouble – Anita Zhang (Hong Kong) /Christopher Gunns (Australia) – 2:02:33

3rd – Baymax – Charmaine Kwan (Hong Kong) /Andrew Ng (Hong Kong) – 2:18:52

Women’s Team

1st – Jimi – Imi Bond (United Kingdom) / Jo Eades (United Kingdom) – 1:51:43

2nd – Team Canada – Katie Tang (Canada) /Emily Honsberger (Canada) – 1:55:47

3rd – Team Garlic – Kwan Tai Wong (Hong Kong)  / Kwan Heung Wu (Hong Kong)  – 2:02:03

                                   
Race Info

 RESULTS UPLOADED ON TOOLBAR ABOVE AND ALSO IN PAST EVENTS PDF DOWNLOAD AT http://www.actionasiaevents.com/our-events/past-events/2016/2016-kayakdwbay/overview.html