Race Media

Thrilling battle till the beach - 2 seconds between winners - Action Asia Kayak n Run at Discovery Bay, Lantau

HONG KONG, July 13, 2019 – Adrenalin pumping, screaming at your teammate to give it everything you have, the other team perfectly beside you, inches in front, no, inches behind, pushing for the lead, who’s in front now, arms feeling like jelly, more yelling at your teammate, the sound of the other team just meters away screaming at each other to give it everything they have while pushing the paddles thru the water, the finish line beach of Nim Shu Wan next to Discovery Bay just 20 meters away. Yes that close. What a battle. Both teams hit the beach at exactly the same time absolutely exhausted after being side by side for almost 3km in the final ocean kayak leg after a 5km mountain trail run and an opening 3km ocean kayak leg.

Antoine Epinette from Team Uglow is at the back of the kayak and jumps out first to sprint past his teammate Elsa Jean De Dieu for the finish just 5 meters away. Then Team Never Stop kayaking jumps out with Chi Hang Leung & Lee Wang Yeung, but Elsa jumps between them and literally makes it 1 second in front of Chi Hang Leung. Timekeepers said 2 seconds, but after playing the video more like 1 second difference with Uglow winning in 1 hour 30 minutes and 28 seconds.

‘‘It was such a good fight actually, the 2nd (Hong Kong) team is pretty strong, they reached the mountain check point just ahead of us, then we arrived together at the beach (after the mountain run) and they were just behind us. On the way back, we were paddling together and even neck and neck. We talked aloud to each other to make sure the other one was okay and we managed the rhythm well. We finished at the beach with sprinting and yelling, it was such a good form. We never pushed that hard on the kayak part like today, it’s the first time and that’s fun!’’ said French national and HK resident Jean De Dieu. Epinette also a French national living in HK also added: ‘We started 10 metres ahead of the 2nd team, we kept this lead in the entire race, we thought they would catch up so we increased the pace meter by meter. Sprinting to the beach. So thrilling. Pretty fantastic,’’

Only 2 seconds apart, the Hong Kong Team Never Stop Kayaking grabbed the Overall 2nd in a time of 1 hour 30 minutes and 30 seconds. With a better result than last year, Leung Chi Hang and Lee Wang Yeung shared: “Compared to last year, the race is relatively stressful this year since we didn’t perform well in the trail run orienteering and we had to catch up the leading team at the same time. We will definitely come back for the champion title next year and we are quite confident to it.”

Overall 3rd was French national and Hong Kong resident Matthieu Maury and British Leanne Claxton finished the race in 1 hour 37 minutes and 05 seconds. “It’s our first time doing the Discovery Bay race and it was fun! But I found it’s harder than the last leg in Tai Tam Bay as my teammate pushed me too hard today. It was challenging when going downhill on the trail run and my teammate was really fast and I just tried to follow him,” shared Claxton. “We did very well. It’s was really hard for us to be completing with the first two teams. The trail running section was really technical. When we came back to the beach, the first 2 teams were far away as they ran really fast on the way down,” said Maury.

The Antibiotics Team 1 from Hong Kong won the women’s champion in a time of 2 hours 05 minutes and 01 second. Sze Ying Jennifer Cheung and Crystal Hui both shared that it was their first time teaming up together and it was easier to handle the race with a female team mate do to the similar physical strength and pacing.

The Family Category started at 8:00 am which is designed for parents and kids to paddle for fun. Family teams kayaked from Nim Shu Wan for 1.4km then had a 3km fun run. Elvie Baker and Vincent Honor, the Team Baker finished their 2nd kayak n run race with laughter. Mother Elvie shared: “This is our second time together, we did the Tai Tam and this is our second one. We miss the earlier one, but will do next year again. We enjoy kayaking and running so we came back for the final leg of the series.” Her twelve (12) year-old son Vincent Honor said: “There’s adrenaline rush and satisfaction when you finish the entire race. If you feel satisfied then you want to do it again. So we want to join the race again next year!”

The Action Asia Kayak N Run Series – Discovery Bay could not happen without the generous support of Action X Store, Royale International, C3fit, Key Sun Zinke, Salonsip, Banano, Herbalgy, HKRI, Watsons Water, Lorence & Company, RID, Horizonsports.tv and Lion Rock Brewery.

Race Info

Event Name: Action Asia Kayak N Run Series – Discovery Bay
Date: July 13, 2019 (Saturday)
Start Time: 8:00 am. for Family Category & 9:00 am. for Adult Category
Start Location: Discovery Bay (Nim Shue Wan Beach), Lantau, N.T., Hong Kong
Distance Family category: 1.4 km kayak & 3km run
Distance Adult category: 3km kayak & 5km run & 3km kayak
Description: Kayaking and running along the beautiful Nim Shue Wan coastline to Man Kok Tsui
Aim: To see beautiful scenery in the ocean and off the main trails and into locations people don't usually go.

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