Race Media

Ixel and Williams storm thru CBRE Lantau 2 Peaks season opener

Hong Kong, [October 8, 2023] – The CBRE Lantau 2 Peaks in association with OCA had Australian national Vlad Ixel and British HK resident Zein Williams storm thru the shortened trail running course taking male and female solo wins under T3 wet conditions, with over 550 participants going from Tung Chung up to Ngong Ping, Nei Lek Shan before descending back to Tung Chung over a 15.5 km course covering an estimated 854m elevation gain and 854 elevation loss.

Storming ahead of others Ixel (BIX Hydration) was the overall male solo winner in an impressive time of 1 hour 15 minutes 54 seconds. “Obviously we got to go a little shorter, but love the course, great event and good way to start the trail running season, Hopefully even more will join next year as a real challenge this time of year after the hot summer. Did have a little slip going uphill at beginning of the race on those MTR wooden stairs which would recommend MTR to do an upgrade with more sandpaper added to the wooden section, but this is my 3^rd time doing this and my favorite race in Hong Kong especially as a season opener” said Ixel who just arrived from Australia couple days before the race after previously living in Hong Kong many years and a previous Lantau 2 Peaks winner.

Zein Williams a Lantau native proved she can excel in all weather conditions as the more wet, slippery or muddy the better. “Fun morning out on the trails. Perfect weather, a little slippery at times, but the cool weather made it easier to push hard on the climb. Great super clear markings along the course and such happy volunteers. Thanks to Action Asia Events, all volunteers and sponsors - Loved the race!” said Williams grabbing the overall Women’s in a time of 1 hour 38 minutes 20 seconds.

In the Men’s field of the original 23km 730am start, 2^nd place overall went to Hong Kong’s Rex Lo (TPH) in 1:18:35, 3^rd place went to Hong Kong’s Harry Loasby Hideo (BuffCo) in 1:21:50, 4^th place went to New Zealand national Logan Marshall in 1:27:11 and 5^th overall in Mens went to Hong Kong’s Cheng Tsz Yeung 鄭子洋  in 1:27:31.

In the Women solo original 23km 730am start category, 2^nd place went to Hong Kong’s Ng Chin Nam 吳芊楠  in 1:46:10, 3^rd overall went to Belgium national Sofie Jacobs (Southside OCR) in 1:47:30, with 4^th place going to Hong Kong’s Betty Yau  邱海容  in 1:49:18 and 5^th overall in the Womens to Philippines national ilyn Vaso Alina  in 1:51:00.

In the Team of 2 category Team Uglow was off to a good start this season in the Men’s with 2 well known runners with a wealth of experience with Salomon Wettstein (Switzerland) a previous Lantau 50 winner and many podiums teaming with Mat Leng (Cambodia) who is no stranger to past podium places at Action Asia with the duo winning team of 2 in 1:34:30. “Fingers crossed, but looks like we’ll have our first proper trail season in 5 years, so didn’t wanna miss its opener! Lantau 2 Peaks is such an iconic race where we have so many great memories: just this week good old Jerome sent a 10 years old picture of us racing as a team of 4 on a beautiful day! Didn’t get as lucky with the weather today, but thanks Michael and Action Asia Events team for letting us have a bit of fun, albeit on a shorter course.” Said Leng after winning with his teammate Salomon. “Needed to get my good friend and teammate out of his newly acquired dad bod, so decided to run it as a team of 2, for once. It was super fun in perfect weather conditions, once again perfect organization, thanks AAE!” said Wettstein from the Uglow team.

In the team of 2 category the 2^nd place went to Sy Tak Chun (HKG) and Yeung Wing Kent (HKG) in 1:48:13 with 3^rd place in the team of 2 category gong to Patrick Chow (HKG) and Kenny Yiu (HKG) in 1:48:44.

For the mixed team of 2 category the overall winning team was Yu Kaman (HKG) and Ng Chun Kit (HKG)  finishing in 1:51:28, while 2^nd place went to Ng Chi Lit (HKG) and Wu Ho Kwan (HKG) in 2:00:43 while 3^rd place went to Yeung Bozco Yik Chun (HKG) and Kwan Wing Hei (HKG) finishing in 2:02:37.

The overall Women’s team of 2 winner was Team Tranki of Ainhoa Mombiela (Spain) and Nicola Han (UK) with a smoking time of 1:48:00 flying thru the course.

In the 8am wave start of the 15km it was Chris Davis (UK) and Magdalena Cvetkovic (Swiss) displaying their crossfit OCR experience taking wins in each category. “Oh, we always love these and look forward to the Action Asia Events as so much fun and meet people we know together with a great workout. Thanks for making sure this went ahead as cool conditions” said Cvetkovic finishing in 1:54:20 with Davis finishing in 1:30:00 starting 30 minutes behind the other original 23km category with some traffic to navigate thru in the 2^nd wave.

“It was terrific to see colleagues, friends of CBRE and avid hikers joining the CBRE Lantau 2 Peaks race today. CBRE Hong Kong is delighted to support the Lantau 2 Peaks race for the third year. With sports being a big part of our corporate culture, we are very proud to continue our commitment to promoting a healthy and active lifestyle among our colleagues, clients and the hiking community in Hong Kong, as well as to support environmental sustainability by contributing to Recovery Alliance’s plastic reduction programmes.”, said Mr. Tom Gaffney, Regional Managing Director, CBRE Hong Kong.

Michael Maddess, the Director of Action Asia Events was happy with the feedback. “Fantastic seeing CBRE support this event again and the lifestyle of these participants. It’s always amazing listening to the feedback at the finish as tells you people love the outdoors of Hong Kong, love giving themselves goals to challenging themselves together with caring for the environment. Look forward to inspiring more to visit Hong Kong as definitely the trail running capital of Asia”, said Maddess from Action Asia Events.

The Lantau 2 Peaks could not have happened without the presenting sponsor CBRE. Special thanks to the association sponsor and plant-based energy drink OCA, together with to all supporting partners including Royale International, Action X Store, Watsons Water, Del Monte, BIX hydration, SIS gels, Citygate, Fitz, Cosman Health Group, ITRA, C3fit, St Johns Ambulance, Around DB, Life on Lantau, New Life Plastics, Action Asia Sports Academy and Ocean Recovery Alliance. Lastly and very grateful to all the staff, marshals and volunteers who waked up so early to make it the event.

RESULTS – CBRE Lantau 2 Peaks in association with OCA – 2023

Shortened from 23km to 15km (T3)

Top 5 Men

Rankings Timing

Overall Category BIB Team / Sponsor Last Name First Name Nationality Race Time

1 1 385 BIX Ixel Vlad Australia 01:15:54

2 2 106 TPH Lo 羅 Rex 樂賢 HKG 01:18:35

3 3 117 BuffCo Loasby Hideo Harry HKG 01:21:50

4 4 169 - Marshall Logan New Zealand 01:27:11

5 5 138 DUO.HK Cheng 鄭 Tsz Yeung 子洋 HKG 01:27:31

Top 5 Women

Rankings Timing

Overall Category BIB Team / Sponsor Last Name First Name Nationality Race Time

17 1 366 - Williams Zein UK 01:38:20

33 2 345 - Chin Nam 芊楠 Ng 吳 HKG 01:46:10

38 3 370 Southside OCR Jacobs Sofie Belgium 01:47:30

45 4 360 - Yau 邱 Betty 海容 HKG 01:49:18

53 5 408 - Vaso Alina ilyn Philippines 01:51:00

All results being uploaded to https://www.actionasiaevents.com/results.html

 

About CBRE Group, Inc.

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2022 revenue). The company has approximately 115,000 employees (excluding Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE serves a diverse range of clients with an integrated suite of services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.

 

About Action Asia Events:

Action Asia Events is the organizer of spectacular, extraordinary remote marathons for adventure travel seekers & trail running enthusiasts that inspire and push the boundaries of participants. Having organized over 290 events over the past 23 years Action Asia Events constantly keeps inspiring and pushes the boundaries of adventure travel, ultra-marathon and team building. Responsibilities range from designing courses, selection of the venue, dates and race format to raising the funds essential to run the race as well as liaising with NGO’s and non-profits for fund raising activities related to environment, education and health.

END