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26 Jun, 2021

Thunderstorm postpones Bonaqua Action Sprint for a week

Thunder postpones Bonaqua Action Sprint Half Marathon by a week

Hong Kong - Sat June 26, 2021 - Thunderstorm warnings kept participants of the Bonaqua Action Sprint Half Marathon standing at the start line in Pak Tam Chung, Sai Kung as listening to participants who drove from drier areas across Hong Kong you would think Sai Kung had the brunt of the bad weather with other parts not hit as hard in the early hours of Saturday morning. With organizers arriving early conditions were ok to go, then after the warning went up until 730 and rain slowing down to light drizzle with visibility opening up on nearby mountains, everyone thought they could wait it out, then the warning was extended again until around 830-9am, then 1030am before lifted, so organizers pulled the plug on the event around 9am.

The rescheduled Bonaqua Action Sprint Half Marathon with 12km & 21km will be next Saturday July 3 at 630am.

“Was frustrating as every hour kept getting extended and 200 runners standing in front of you wanting to go as actually perfect conditions with light rain and cool conditions, but felt, not safe to send them up the mountain with potential thunderstorms as safety first. After we loaded all the wet gear back at our warehouse we immediately opened the entry again, so a little good news for those who couldn't get in the first time, as entry will be open until Thursday,” said Michael Maddess, the Race Director and Course Designer of Action Asia Events.

Participant Alistair Ward was a bit more sympathetic saying to the Action Asia Events team, “yes they had a tough day at office today, can't control the weather, but looking forward to the rescheduled race”.

“Would have been nice to run given it’s rainy and cool, but safety first” said past podium finisher Flora Ching who grabbed 2nd in the past 24km Ultimate Champs Action Asia Events race on Hong Kong Island.

Jeff Campbell commented while posing with Ryan Whelan in front of a picture of Mo Devlin who is slowly recovering from a bike accident said, ‘not Action Asia’s fault as everyone understands”.

Full details can be found on the organizers website at www.actionasiaevents.com

Both distances of 12km & 21km take runners and hikers on the road from the Pak Tam Chung gate to the Lok Wu Country Trail entrance on Pak Tam Road, following Lok Wu Country trail around 6 km with mixed terrain of dirt trails, stone steps and a small river crossing with a few uphills and the highest elevation of 298m before arriving a Sai Wan Road. Then the event turns into a road run with a water checkpoint and continuing 5km on Sai Wan road along the scenic and quiet reservoir to the 11km mark at the junction of Sai Wan Road & Man Yee Road where the 21km runners will do a left turn following the MacLehose on Man Yee Road for another 4.3km to a second water checkpoint around the 15km mark before returning to the same location and all following Tai Mong Tsai Road to Pak Tam Chung finish for both 12km & the 21 km Half Marathon. Elevation gain on the 12km is around 507m and on the 21km elevation gain around 539m.

The event could not have happened without the kind support of Bonaqua as the official water with additional support of Walch, Amcham, Royale International, Action X Store, Nectar, Hydro, SportBiji, LR masks, Bix, Herbalgy, C3fit, New Life Plastics.

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Race Info

Event Name	*Bonaqua Action Sprint Half Marathon*
Date	26 June 2021 (Saturday) - postponed to 3rd July 2021 (Saturday(
Start Time	6:30 am
Start & FinishLocation	Pak Tam Chung, N.T. Sai Kung, Hong Kong
Distance	(12km & 21km)
Category	Trail Running and Hiking
Website	www.actionasiaevents.com