Race Media

2019/20 HK50 Series

Oct 26, 2019 - HK50 – Hong Kong Island 50

Dec 1, 2019 - Lantau 50 - HK50 Series

Jan 11, 2020 - Hong Kong 50 WEST

Feb 15, 2020 - Sai Kung 50

Korean elite Kim shows his talent in Lantau 50 grabbing Mens title while Japanese Ueda takes Women's

Korean and Japanese runners do country proud - Lantau 50 - Race 2 of HK50 series

HONG KONG, December 1, 2019 – Lantau 50, the second race of the Hong Kong 50 series finished on Sunday with over 750 runners taking in the astounding views of Lantau Island with Korean North Face elite Ji-sub Kim dominating the Men's field while Ayaka Ueda from Japan took the Women's honors for the 54km races. Kim smoked the field in a blistering 6 hours 3 minutes 47 seconds while Ueda was top of the Women's podium in 8 hours 28 minutes 22 seconds respectively.

Standing with a big grin on her face and heading straight for the airport as if she timed her run to perfection to catch her flight back home to Japan, Udea commented, “To CP4 (Pak Kung Au) was my favorite, going over Lantau Peak from Shek Pik Reservoir with a huge climb. It’s very difficult, I like it. But I suffered” Ayaka mentioned. Hong Kong's Flora Wing Yee Ching grabbed 2nd overall in the Women's just over 5 minutes later in 8:34:07.

The race started from Tung Chung heading to Ngong Ping, then out on the Keung Shan Ridge line and down to the South Lantau Country Trail back to Shek Pik reservoir before a monumental crazy punishing finish over Lantau Peak, Sunset Peak and contouring out to Pak Mong, before heading back to Tung Chung challenging even the most experienced elite runners with close to 3,500m of elevation in total over the 54.8km organizing by Action Asia Events.

Overall winner Ji-sub Kim arrived in HK just 3 days before the race. I felt good before the race and this distance suits me as I love the mountains, but this was very difficult as the downhills were punishing, but loved the course and would love to come back to improve" said Korean Kim who finished a full 30 minutes in front of 2nd place overall John Ray Galutera Onifa (Stingray) from the Philippines (6:33:48) and 3rd overall Frenchman Adrien Konareff (6:40:07) who won the HK50 West earlier this year.

Logan Marshall who was crowned the 27km male champion thought that the weather has added to the difficulty for the runners to finish the demanding race. “The sun is always quite hot. Feeling the sun’s out, it’s quite exposed. You’ll have to suck it up and finish it off. Tips for friends: lots of stairs, ups and downs. You’ll be able to do this. You should be. Conclusion: perfect day, tough race, a lot of climbing. Managed to finish, makes me strong, pretty heavy.” The experienced runner said.

On the other hand, Katrin Gottschalk who took the championship of the 27km race in the women category also found running the steps on trails to be a challenging experience. “But it was hard and tough and technical, and my legs were screaming. All those steps were difficult; it was very difficult from the very beginning; I wasn’t expecting that. Then probably everything up to Lantau Peak was really difficult.” Katrin expressed that she is glad to have company with her and the view alongside with her to conquer the route. “I’m glad that I have company, I have a few guys to run with. That helped. My tips for runners joining next year: work on technique for the step, putting your hands on your knees, that probably helps. I’m happy I didn’t fall on the downhill, that’s my specialty. Enjoy the views, look left and right.”

The 16km men champion Thomas Kirkwood also acknowledged the scenes he took in after he finished running up the hills thru the Wong Lung Hang valley on Lantau Island with 1 hour 46 minutes 55 seconds. “I enjoyed the climb, after once you’re in the mountain, the view is amazing and the grass looks really nice now, it all looks overcoloured. So that was probably my favourite part at the trail.” Kirkwood was commenting also on the silver grass which this time of year attracts hundreds, if not thousands of tourists and locals up Sunset Peak to take photos in the grass.

Lucretia Prasad, despite her first experience participating in the Action Asia event, has topped the 16km race among women category with a record of two hours 33 minutes and 21 seconds. “This is my first event with Action Asia Events. It was great, I really enjoy the route, I’ve been training with my friends. It was a fun event. The downhill coming down Pak Mong is the most fun. Good part.”

The event is organized by Action Asia Events and is possible thanks to the generous support of all supporting partners: Action X store, Pizza Hut, Royale International, ISF, Bonaqua, Camelbak, Cathay Pacific, Salonpas, Nectar Hydro, Theragun, Plantronics, Herbalgy, Bu sunscreen, AroundDB, New Life Plastics, Horizon Sports and Del Monte.

Result
Name-Nationality-Time

54km
Overall top 5 Men
1. Jisub Kim-South Korea- 06:03:47
2. John Ray Onifa -Phillipines-06:33:48
3. Adrian Konareff-France- 06:40:07
4. Bryan Crane-Canada- 06:57:46
5. Michael Skobierski-Austria- 06:58:58

Overall top 5 Women
1. Ayaka Ueda-Japan- 08:28:22
2. Ching Wing Yee Flora-Canada- 08:34:07
3. Sabrina Ettedgui -France-09:06:33
4. Shuk Nga Suan Chan-Hong Kong- 09:23:56
5. Man Chi Yip -Hong Kong-09:40:28

27km

Overall top 5 Men
1. Logan Marshall-New Zealand-03:26:25
2. Weng Wa Leong-Macau-03:37:10
3. Michael Galligan-United States-03:43:42
4. Daniel Alan Brown-United Kingdom-03:48:48
5. Igor Gal - Croatia -03:51:29

Overall top 5 Women
1. Katrin Gottschalk-Germany-04:05:51
2. Ni Si Nixon-Canada-04:38:30
3. Delphine Riche-Franz-France-04:45:36
4. Mak Suk Man Iri-Hong Kong-04:50:12
5. Qingbo Lu-China-04:56:20

16km
Overall top 5 Men
1. Thomas Kirkwood- United Kingdom-01:46:55
2. Pascal Larowmanie -France-01:55:40
3. Pau Lap Ming -Hong Kong-02:03:00
4. Evgeni Sheinker -Isrel- 02:03:27
5. Chow Chi Yeung -Hong Kong-02:04:37

Overall top 5 Women
1. Lucretia Prasad -New Zealand-02:33:21
2. Jane Cheong-Singapore- 02:56:03
3. Marine Denier -France--03:00:55
4. Lily Pinckney - United Kingdom -03:05:07
5. Laura Jane Ayers - United Kingdom -03:11:40

 

Event Name	Lantau 50 - Race 2 of HK50 Series
Date	Sunday, Dec 1, 2019
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 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.