Seyon Asia Limited
Hong Kong Mountain Marathon Report, Jan 27, 2008

Report | Results | Splits

27January 2008 (Repulse Bay, Hong Kong, overcast with temperatures between 10-13 and 80-90% relative humidity)

King of the Hills Hong Kong Mountain Marathon – Great Weather Attracts Record Field Cool weather created ideal running conditions. The trails however, were quite slippery from rain the previous 2 days. A record 320 runners started the race and 302 completed it.


Full Marathon – The King and Queen Claim Their Crowns

Tsang Siu Keung Stone didn’t waste anytime claiming his third consecutive KOTH title. He led from the start and equaled the second fastest time every run on the course to claim his third victory in the series and lock up the championship. Few people have entered as many races as Stone this season, and even fewer have such a high winning percentage.

The one person who may have a higher winning percentage than Stone is Jeannette Holmes-Thomson. Jeannette is undefeated in trail running races this season and added new bragging rights to her resume today. Not only did she wrap up her second consecutive Queen of the Hills title, she also broke the ladies course record by 2 minutes. Jeannette has been talking recently about having another child and her opponents are certainly looking for something to slow her down at this point.

Second overall in the race was William Davies in a time of 3:14:41 – good enough for outright victory in many years. Trailwalker teammate Peter Lee was third once again, while another Trailwalker teammate, Rob James, was 4th overall and the first M40 veteran. Chan Kwok Keung (KK) was 5th overall and the first M45 veteran. KK just edged male open Mikkel Larsen in a battle across the sandy beach finish. Andy Thomson was next in to claim the second M40 podium finish. He was most happy, however, about finally beating his wife Jeannette in a running race.

Chan See Kau and Patrick Ford filled out the M45 podium places and Lee Chun Wai grabbed the final M40 podium slot.

Ng Chau Yan won the M50 division. Wong Kwong Cheong finished second in his favorite course in the series with Ng Wing Kwong third.

Tom Walker wrapped up the M55 category for the series with another dominant victory. Tom was 7 minutes clear of Law Kwong Chow in second place with So Wai Kwong third.

Jeannette Holmes-Thomson was one of 2007’s female-record-setting Trailwalker team members. Unsurprisingly, her teammate, Claire Price finished second in the ladies’ race. Ida Lee, from the 2007 mixed-team-record-setting Trailwalker team was third, with another of Jeannette’s teammates, Hiko Takeda, fourth. Hiko’s finish was impressive because she played a full game of rugby the previous day.

Marlboro Ann Miles wrapped up the F40 veteran’s series with her third victory. Monica Ng was second with Maggie Ma Yan wah third.


Half Marathon – First Blood for Ritcey

After being passed on the final section the previous 2 races, Jeremy Ritcy made no mistakes this time. He finished 2 minutes clear of teammate/runner up Adrian King and joined an elite group of runners who have finished the course in under 1:50. Ryan Blair finished in third for the second race in a row.

Anthony Davies was 4th in overall and the first M40 veteran. Anthony attributed his first victory in this age group to the fact that he regularly trains on these course trails during his weekly runs.

Derek Irwin was 5th overall and the first M45 veteran. Next in was the second M40 veteran, Tim McCosker.

Kevin Claus headed in 4 consecutive male open runners after that, before Yip Kam Shu became the second M45 to finish. Mark Leeper rounded out the hardware in the M45 category and attributed his recent improvement to the tough powder ski training he had done one week earlier. Chau Man Chung followed just behind to claim the final M40 prize.

Choi Fu Loi finished in 12th overall and first among the M50 veterans. Tsang Sing You ran a competitive race to finish second in the age group with Shek Kong third.

Lucy Marriott wrapped up her season title with a fine victory just one minute off the female course record. Triathlete Chow Pui Yan gamely finished second despite her preference for smoother terrain. Katrina Hoy was third.

Anne Knecht-Boyd threw off her long-sleeve shirt just before the race start and ran to victory in the F40 veterans division just to stay warm. Marcy Trent Long finished second, just 2 minutes behind, with Luk Yuen Yee third.

We contiue to receive tremendous support from our sponsors, ADM Capital Foundation, Swire Coca-cola, Powerbar, and Protrek/Montrail and had record attendance for this race. Encouragingly, course sweeps reported seeing virtually no rubbish left by our racers during this race. My great thanks to everyone who has embraced the anti-littering message.

The last race in the series takes place in Sham Tseng on Sunday, 24th February. The Sham Tseng race is the tiebreaker for the categories yet to be decided. These include Jeremy Ritcey and Adrian King battling for the overall half marathon championship. This race offers the longest stretches of forest running in Hong Kong and scenery uniquely different from the other races. See www.seyonasia.com/koth for further details.

Happy trails.

Keith Noyes
Race Director
KOTH

2008 KOTH Hong Kong Island Half Results

MO 1) Jeremy Ritcey, 1:49:51; 2) Adrian King, 1:51:42: 3) Ryan Blair, 1:53:53
M40 1) Anthony Davies, 1:56:42; 2) Tim McCosker, 1:59:24; 3) Chau Man Chung, 2:09:29
M45 1) Derek Irwin, 1:58:00; 2) Yip Kam Shu, 2:04:00 3) Mark Leeper, 2:09:18
M50 1) Choi Fu Loi, 2:06:38; 2) Tsang Sing You, 2:13:05; 3) Shek Kong, 2:16:09
M55 1) Wong Chun Tung, Peter, 2:16:35; 2) Cho Yan Kwong, 2:25:59; 3) Claus Rolff, 2:28:30
FO 1) Lucy Marriott, 2:07:44; 2) Chow Pui Yan, 2:18:17; 3 Katrina Hoy, 2:26:29
F40 1) Anne Knecht-Boyer, 2:36:42; 2) Marcy Trent Long, 2:38:55; 3) Luk Yuen Yee, 2:47:15

2008 KOTH Hong Kong Island Full Results

MO 1) Tsang Siu Keung, 3:03:20; 2) William Davies, 3:14:41; 3) Peter Lee, 3:26:32
M40 1) Rob James, 3:27:20; 2) Andy Thomson, 3:30:25; 3) Lee Chun Wai, 3:54:27
M45 1) Chan Kwok Keung, 3:27:45; 2) Chan See Kau, 3:39:11; 3) Patrick Ford, 3:40:17
M50 1) Ng Chau Yan, 3:43:45; 2) Wong Kwong Cheong, 4:01:21; 3) Ng Wing Kwong, 4:06:39
M55 1) Tom Walker, 4:17:14; 2) Law Kwong Chow, 4:24:09; 3) So Wai Kwong, 5:14:28
FO 1) Jeanette Holmes-Thomson, 3:35: 08; 2) Claire Price, 3:43:47; 3) Lee Bik Sai, Ida, 4:07:44
F40 1) Ann Miles, 4:23:23; 2) Monica Ng, 4:37:11; 3) Ma Yan Wah, Maggie, 4:42:10