Technical skills make the difference in river gorge at Sai Kung Sprint – Showdown has to wait until final race at DBay
Bonaqua Mountain Hardwear Action SPRINT adventure race series
Race 1 – Mar 4, 2012 - 12 km - Repulse Bay, HK Island - 9am
Race 2 – Apr 1, 2012 - 12 km – Mui Wo, Lantau – 9:30am
Race 3 - April 15, 2012 - 13 km - Pak Tam Chung, Sai Kung - 9am
Race 4 - May 6, 2012 - 12 km - Discovery Bay, Lantau - 9am
Map of courses on official website www.actionasiaevents.com
Hong Kong – April 15, 2012 – With some of the best trail runners & adventure racers lined up at the Bonaqua Mountain Hardwear Action Sprint Sunday morning in Sai Kung, there was some nervous faces in the sea of faces knowing that there would be a fast pace set by race leaders.
“That was very hard. We pushed to hard I thought on the first half and paid the price with fatigue setting in at the gorge. My race strategy is always the same on this course as I wanted to be 1st in the gully (6.5km and halfway into the course), as I knew the other technical runners had an advantage. That was the story today as only so much I could do against these guys as there strong in these technical conditions. Once I hit the gorge, it was finished as I couldn’t do much except defend my position. So tired” said the New Balance sponsored Portuguese runner Pedro Ribeiro of Macau who grabbed 3rd place in 1 hour 21 minutes 2 seconds. Ribeiro holds the series lead at the moment with 2 wins and a 3rd.
“We all started very fast and I just said to myself, let them go, as Clement Dumont, Klayten Smith and Pedro Ribeiro blasted the first Tai Cham Koi (408m) straight up. It wasn’t long however before a nice flowing downhill where I caught them all and took the lead into the gorge with Pedro only 1 second behind on my shoes. It took a few minutes to get my legs working as haven’t been on the rocks in a while, but the S-Labs held their grip while we all constantly were changing places in the river gorge. Half way up the gully we set our positions as Clement got by and I pushed really hard on the final climb and downhill thinking I could catch Clement, but it didn’t happen”, said Salomon Bonaqua Racing member Jeremy Ritcey finishing 2nd overall in 1 hour 18 minutes 42 seconds.
“It was hot. I started fast. It was very nice and competitive with lots of lead changes. Pedro started with the lead, and then I took over on uphill. Pedro took over again. Then Jeremy flew by with Pedro chasing and staying with Jeremy. I started to overheat, pushing too hard. Jeremy pushed hard in the gully and all 3 of us were together in the gully for around 10 minutes. It was great in the gorge as after swimming at least 3 times in different pools, I cooled down, felt better and moved in front by around 1 minute. I knew Jeremy was fast on the downhill so I just had to push so hard on the final downhill (400m to sea-level) hoping he didn’t come by and he didn’t”, said overall winner Raidlight member Clement Dumont winning in 1 hour 17 minutes 28 seconds.
Know it looks like all will have to wait until Discovery Bay final race May 6 to find out who will win the overall series with Ribeiro promising he’ll be back.
In the Women’s race all top 3 women finished in just over 4 minutes from each other with Williams grabbing her 2nd win of the series.
“It was tough. The middle section of the Lok Wu gorge was great as the swimming cooled me down and hydrated me, giving me a 2nd wind after 7km of hills with no wind out there. The gully was so beautiful with all the waterfalls. The reservoir was amazing color on the final downhill, but I couldn’t stop to take a photo as I could feel Emma on my tail” said Raidlight Zein Williams winning in 1 hour 44 minutes 22 seconds.
“I really loved it. Loved the technical bits in the gorge. Wasn’t as hard as 2 years ago when it was very wet. Loved the plunge pools. Gorgeous. Cool fixed rope lines on 1 section on the side of a cliff. I was thinking at that section of swimming instead as looked so inviting. Coming back over the Lok Wu trail it was nice and flat as could stretch the pace a bit more, before running the stunning downhill as nice colors coming off the reservoir” said Emma Bruce grabbing 2nd overall in 1 hour 45 minutes 29 seconds.
“Amazing race, and my favorite scenery in Hong Kong in this area. Loads of fun in Lok Wu gorge. Loved the plunge pools. Rope rigging was great and well done. Liked the dual ropes in many sections that allowed passing” said 3rd overall 2XU member Claire Chapman finishing in 1 hour 48 minutes 29 seconds.
Over 420 participants registered in the 3rd leg of the Bonaqua Mountain Hardwear Action Sprint at Sai Kung on Sunday. Trail runners hiked with some running up the 408m Tai Cham Koi using steep single track trails for over 3km, then descended 3km straight down clay and muddy trails to the Lok Wu gorge where the real fun started with river rock scrambling up 7 waterfalls rigged with fixed rope hand lines for 2km. Then out on the Lok Wu hiking trail for 1 km before repeating the same Tai Cham Koi hike up to 408m a second time, then descending technical single track 3km back to Pak Tam Chung for a total of close to 13km.
The last race of the series finishes at Discovery Bay May 6th.
A little different than your average trail race.
More information about the race can be found at www.actionasiaevents.com
IF YOU LIKE ADVENTURE DON'T FORGET THE ADVENTURE FILM FESTIVAL COMING TO HONG KONG MAY 15 AT WANCHAI ARTS CENTRE. SEE HOW TO GET TICKETS WITH DONATION UNDER EVENTS ABOVE ON TOOLBAR OF THIS WEBSITE.
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Top 3 Results – Sai Kung race 3 – Bonaqua Mountain Hardwear Action Sprint May 15 2012
Overall Men – Top 3
1. Clement Dumont – Raidlight - 1:17:28
2. Jeremy Ritcey – Salomon Bonaqua Racing - 1:18:42
3. Pedro Ribeiro – New Balance - 1:17:28
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Overall Women – Top 3
1. Zein Williams – Raidlight – 1:44:22
2. Emma Bruce – 1:45:29
3. Claire Chapman – 2XU - 1:48:29
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Past Course Winners
Sai Kung
Men
May 2005 - Mark Williams - (longer with river start) 1:17:02
Mar 2006 - Gary Mandy - (longer with river start) 1:17:56
Apr 2007 - Wong Wai Kin - (longer with river start) 1:25:22
Mar 2008 - Jeremy Ritcey - 1:16:14
Apr 2009 - Clement Dumont – 1:20:00
Apr 2010 - Jeremy Ritcey - 1:24:49
Apr2011 - Clement Dumont - 1:14:25
Women
May 2005 - Kei Bun Kin - (longer river start) 1:52:06
Mar 2006 - Rebecca Climie - (longer river start) 1:51:40
Apr 2007 - Jeanette Holmes-Thomson - (longer river start) 1:40:27
Mar 2008 - Claire Chapman - 1:36:16
Apr 2009 - Claire Chapman - 1:43:23
Apr 2010 - Juliane Rethfeldt– 1:46:38
Apr 2011 - Nadia Koucha - 1:44:09
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PHOTOS TO BE UPLOADED UNDER PHOTO GALLERY OF www.actionasiaevents.com WEBSITE BY TUESDAY APR 17 2012. RESULTS ON WEBSITE BY WEDS APR 18 2012.
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