On a beautiful Sai Kung fall day, the Cosmo Boys showed the trail running world that they are ready to defend their Trailwalker title. Three of the first 4 overall finishers and five of the first 15 to complete the rough Sai Kung Mountain Marathon course were Cosmo Boys. Only Alex Morgan's strong second place effort prevented a clean Cosmo sweep of the top places. Alex led most of the race, but lost his 4 minute lead due to some confusion at the Mosquito Hill checkpoint and eventually watched Lau Yu Chun overtake him on the last up hill. This was Lau's first ever mountain marathon win and could be a scary portent of things to come for at the age of 25, he is well below the age at which people usually begin winning mountain marathons. Cosmo Boys Chan Kwok Keung and Mak Ping Yin were the first M-40's across the line and came in 3rd and 4th respectively. Team Green showed that they also have a strong Trailwalker team with three top places among the first 14, but will be hard pressed to challenge the Cosmos.

Wong Pak Kun edged Marc Progin in the M-55 category, ahead of Chow Wo Kwan and John Lane (who admitted to being a bit tired following 10 hours of training the day before).

Jenny Roper celebrated turning 40 this year by winning the women's marathon outright, less than one minute ahead of fellow veteran Fung Yuk Ling. Fung headed up a strong Cosmo Girls contingent who have their sights set on breaking the all-female team Trailwalker record.

The fast and relatively smooth half marathon course attracted many top runners more normally seen on the roads. With Peter Faarbaek, John Myatt and Clive Saffery helping to push the pace, it wasn't surprising that several course records were broken.

Most spectacularly, John Powers destroyed the old course record and literally ran away with the race. His time of 1:45:29 put him almost six minutes clear of his nearest pursuer, Peter Faarbaek. Kwok Wah Kun and John Myatt both shattered Andy Pickle's M-40 record with Kwok finally eking out the win by a mere two seconds in 1:51:45. Not to be outdone, F-40 superstar Marie Helene Arnauld dominated the women's half marathon and set a new age group record of 2:09:17.

Special thanks must go to the Kin Hang Hiking club who provided course race marshals for the event. Aware of the large turnout and the warm weather, they sent several people on extra trips up the hills to supply the checkpoints with adequate water for all the runners. Thanks also to Swire Coca-Cola for beverage support and to Sunhing Millenium which took over title sponsorship of the King of the Hills series this season.

The next race in the series takes place in Taipo on December 16th. See www.seyonasia.com for further details.

Results - Full Marathon
Male Open: 1) Lau Yu Chun, 4:13:49; 2) Alex Morgan, 4:16:45; 3) Justin Searle, 4:39:26
Male Veteran: 1) Chan Kwok Keung, 4:19:34; 2) Mak Ping Yin, 4:28:41; 3) Raymond Li, 4:50:22
Male Senior: 1) Wong Pak Kan, 5:16:00; 2) Marc Progin, 5:21:07, 3) Chow Wo Kwan, 6:30:55
Ladies Open: 1) Fan Sui Ping, 5:28:26; 2) Melissa Frauenfelder, 5:30:45; 3) Cheung Yin Kei, 5:43:22
Ladies Veteran: 1) Jenny Roper, 5:23:50; 2) Fung Yuk Ling, 5:24:16, 3) Patricia Clapacs, 6:15:45

Results - Half Marathon
Male Open: 1) John Power, 1:45:29; 2) Peter Faarbaek, 1:51:11; 3) Greger Anderson, 1:51:13
Male Veteran: 1) Kwok Wah Kun, 1:51:45; 2) John Myatt, 1:51:47; 3) Rob Appleby, 1:58:53
Male Senior: 1) Bob Nipperess, 2:27:27; 2) Peter Widmer, 2:29:00; 3) Lee Kwok Kwon, 2:29:34
Ladies Open: 1) Julie Mackenzie, 2:20:22; 2) Antonia Middleton, 2:29:02; 3) Ivy Yew, 2:39:41
Ladies Veteran: 1) Marie-Helene Arnauld, 2:09:17; 2) Caryl Hartwright, 2:28:21; 3) Grace Miranda, 2:28:45

Keith Noyes