Race Media

Oversea elites create a star-studded line-up at the 2018 Lantau 50 – Asian Skyrunning Championships 

International field for the 54km trail race includes Singapore national champions of MSIG SG50

Singapore, Wednesday, November 28, 2018 – Two Singaporeans, Feng Wei, 49 and Lim Jun Zhen, 46, will be among the region’s best athletes battling for the Asian Skyrunning Championship titles. Both first-timers to the race earned their slots by being the top Singaporeans of the 50km event at the MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50 in September.

Feng, who started trail running nearly three years ago, is delighted to have the opportunity to race in Hong Kong thanks to the generous sponsorship by MSIG Singapore. Both him and Lim also won a three-month training programme with fitness performance & retail hub TripleFit, which has helped them get into tip-top condition for the Asian Skyrunning race.

Feng said: “My goal is to finish the race in eight hours. It would be great if I could come close to seven hours. Nevertheless, I’d enjoy running in the mountains. Although the climbs are much higher and harder in Hong Kong comparing to Singapore, the weather would be much more pleasant to run in.”

Lim, who did her first trail race in 2015, thanked MSIG for the chance to race in Hong Kong. She believes training in Singapore has made her a stronger athlete mentally.

She explained: “You can train in different mountains in Hong Kong and enjoy different scenery. Although trail runners in Singapore have fewer trails to train in, I believe we are just as psyched mentally for the race.”

A strong mind will be as important as a strong body for the race. The Lantau 50, with a total of 3,500m of elevation gain over technical terrain, is one of a handful of races in the world that is an International Skyrunning Federation-qualified race under the Ultra category.

The 54km course will flag off from Man Tung Road Park in Tung Chung and head up to Ngong Ping, go along the Keung Shan ridge down to the Shek Pik area, back over Lantau and Sunset Peaks, then contouring around and down to Pak Mong before heading back to Tung Chung.

Lim’s is relishing the opportunity to experience Lantau’s pristine trails. Her love for the mountains is so great that even an injury can’t keep her away.

She said: “I am fascinated by the charming scenery and smell of nature on the trails and fell in love with trail running after my first trail running event, which was UTMB - OCC in 2015. At this point in time, I just hope to finish the race as I had an accident a month ago and have been suffering from an annulus tear on four of my spine discs and have been resting for recovery.”

For Feng, his love for the mountains requires a careful juggle of family, work and training time.

He said: “I have a family with two young kids, and I have a full-time job which prevents me from running for long hours during weekdays. Normally I wake up at 5am to train, and during weekends I do a bit longer runs because my kids won’t wake up until after 8am. This has been working well for me so far.”

Doubling as the Asian Skyrunning Championships, the prestigious race has attracted a deep international field, including:

Men

• Francesco CUCCO, Italy – 1^st Salomon Gore-Tex Maxi-Race 2018, 5^th Le Grand Raid De La Réunion 2018 - La Diagonale Des Fous, 10^th The North Face Lavaredo Ultra Trail 2018
• Attila TOTH, Germany – 1^st Sachsen Trail Ultrarun 2018, 5^th Innsbruck Alpine Trail Run Festival 2018, 9^th Grossglockner Ultra-Trail 2018
• Josep MORALES, Spain – 6^th Ultra Pirineu 2018 - Mitja Marathon
• Yuichi MIURA, Japan – 1^st Hasetsune 2018, 10^th Salomon Skyline Scotland 2018 - Ben Nevis Ultra, 1^st Kitatanzawa 12Th Adventure Race 2018 - 44Km, 2^nd MSIG Lantau 50 - 2017
• Tomohiro MACHIDA, Japan – 1^st Sky View Trail Yamada Noboru 2018 – 70, 1^st Osj Amani Jungle Trail 2018 - 50 Km, 1^st Spa Trail 2018 - Ktk 38K, 2^nd Osj Okukuji Trail 2018 - 30 Km, 3^rd Ultra-Trail Mount Fuji 2018 – STY, 10^th MSIG Lantau 50 - 2017
• FENG Wei, Singapore – National champion of MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50, 16^th Ultra-Trail® Ninghai 2018, 5^th Greenrace Forest Ultra 2017
• CHOU Ching, Taiwan – 1^st  MSIG Taiwan Action Asia 50 - 2018, 2^nd MSIG HK50 - 2017
• John Ray Onifa (a.k.a.‘StingRay’), Philippines - 1st Moontreker HK.

Women

• Kelly YOUNG, USA – 5^th Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run 2018
• Maja DORFSCHMID, Switzerland – 1^st Salmon Alpen X 100 2016, 8^th Ultra Tour Monte Rosa 2017 - 4 Stage Race 170 Km, 14^th Eiger Ultra-Trail 2017
• Shelly SCHENK, Switzerland – 2^nd Salomon Gore-Tex short race 2018
• LIM Jun Zhen, Singapore – National champion of MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50, 8^th Cameron Ultra-Trail 2017
• SUNG Li-chun, Taiwan – 3^rd  MSIG Taiwan Action Asia 50 - 2018

 

The Lantau 50 will also offer two shorter distances: a 16km course contouring the ridge from Sunset Peak to Pak Mong, and a 27km Skyrace course going over Lantau and Sunset Peaks down to Pak Mong and following the 54km route to the finish.

Race Info

Event Name	HK50 Series - Lantau 50 - Asian Skyrunning Championship
Date	Sunday, Dec 2, 2018
Start Time	6.30am: 54km (sunrise at 6:45 so first 15min in dark) 7.30am: 27km 7.45am: 16km
Start Location	Man Tung Road Park next to Novotel Citygate, Tung Chung
Distance	16km, 27km, 54km

 

For more race details, please check out the links below:

www.actionasiaevents.com

www.facebook.com/ActionAsiaEvent/

www.instagram.com/actionasiaevents/

www.twitter.com/ActionAsiaEvent

www.youtube.com/user/ActionAsiaEvents

 

About MSIG Insurance Singapore

MSIG Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (“MSIG Singapore”), a member of the MS&AD Insurance Group, is Singapore’s leading general insurer. With a local presence of over 100 years, MSIG Singapore offers an extensive range of insurance solutions for personal and commercial risk protection, enabling the security and safety of individuals and businesses. Wholly owned by MSIG Holdings (Asia) Pte. Ltd., MSIG Singapore holds an A+/Stable financial rating by Standard & Poor’s.

About Action Asia Events

Action Asia Events is the operational arm of the premier adventure racing series in Asia, Action Asia Challenge with responsibilities to plan and manage the Action Asia Challenge series of races. These responsibilities range from selection of the course venue, dates and race format to raising the funds essential to run the race as well as liaising with the Hong Kong registered charitable section of the Challenge, Action Asia Foundation, to determine fund raising activities associated with the Challenge.

About Skyrunning

Since the first extreme races in 1992, the first World Championship in 1998 and the introduction of the Skyrunner World Series in 2003, Skyrunning has grown to become a globally renowned sport governed by the International Skyrunning Federation. In 2015, the Continental Championships were introduced and includes Asia, Europe, North America, Africa and Oceania. The sport is practiced in more than 40 nations and counts followers from 126 countries.