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Sai Kung Mountain Marathon Report, Nov 25, 2007
Report | Results | Splits King of the Hills Sai Kung Mountain Marathon – A Warm Start to the Season It looked like it was going to be a really good day for running. And, in fact, the half marathon times were generally quite good. However, after the cloud cover burned off, the heat took its toll on the full marathoners. Full Marathon – Stone Alone Tsang Siu Keung Stone set the tone with a commanding start-to-finish full marathon victory, leaving all in his wake. He was first through the half marathon finish and looked like he had a chance at besting his course record time from last year. However, heat and thirst took their toll and he slowed up a bit on the second half. Nice to know he’s human! He said afterwards, that he even thought about stopping to drink stream water he got so thirsty on the second half. He still finished in 3:33, more than 30 minutes ahead of his next closest competitor. It seems like the only people in HK who can run with Stone over long distances on the hills are his Fire Services Trailwalker teammates. No wonder they won that race outright this year too. William Davies and Peter Lee were 2 people who tried to keep up with Stone on the first half and paid the price through dramatically slower second half runs. Peter and William were recently Trailwalker teammates so it was interesting to see them battling each other to the finish line. In their generational battle with the M-40’s, the M-45’s were once again dominant. Patrick Ford won the M-45 division against strong competition from Chan Kwok Keung, Chan See Kau and Wong Wan Ling. The MV-40 race was won by newcomer Chan Kin Kwok was the only MV-40 to crack the top 10 overall. Tim Hallworth was second with former Cosmo Boy Tse Chun Shing returning from a prolonged absence to take third. In the new MV-50 category, Mak Ping Yin celebrated turning 50 with a solid victory with Ng Chau Yan, next, followed by Ho Hon Ming. Tom Walker set an MV-55 age group record for the course of 5:14:37, still looking very strong at the end. His second and third place competition, Bob Whitehead and Yeung Wing Kai were fairly far off his pace, though it should be noted that both of them would be entered in the MV-60 category if it existed. Jeannette Holmes-Thomson was fresh off helping to set the female team record in Trailwalker 2 weeks ago and therefore in peak shape. She coped with the heat reasonably well, but finished a disappointing 26 seconds off her course record time of 2006. Jeannette joked that she might have to consider an old fashioned women’s trick for getting faster – having another baby. Lam Lai Po was second, followed by Jane Mason, who salvaged family pride after her husband dropped out partway. Ann Miles won the FV-40+ category again, but clearly wasn’t her normal self. Ann has been nursing a knee injury since Trailwalkr and like many runners, refuses to rest long enough for it to heal. The injury was a good excuse for her to get a 15-minute leg massage from the attending medics so perhaps she does know what she’s doing after all. Carolyn Kng, another runner who probably shouldn’t be out there (a lower back disc that’s wearing out) was the second veteran home. Lui Chi Ho, who in contrast appears completely healthy, rounded out the female veteran podum finishers. Half Marathon – King in a Close One Adrian King and Bob Shorrock fought a tough battle over the entire race, with Adrian only pulling ahead on the home straight to win the race. This was Adrian’s fastest time ever on the course and clearly the result of all the dedicated Trailwalker training he had put in. Bob had to be content with second place and a new MV-45 course record. Times were generally fast on the half marathon. Both 3rd place overall, Ryan Blair, and 4th place overall, Jeremy Ritchey, also finished in under 1:40, in another battle that wasn’t settled until the final home stretch. Jan Little wood finished 5th and was the last male open runner to finish for some time. Next up came Tm McCosker (MV40), followed by Chris Wadlaw (MV55), Derek Irwin (MV45), Leung Ping (MV45), Wong Ip Chor (MV45), Peter Northam (newly minted MV45), Anthony Davies (MV40), Yip Kam Shu (MV40), Choi Fu Loi (MV50), ladies open winner Lucy Marriott (an excellent 1:50:26) and three more male veterans before the next male open runner crossed the line. We are pleased to be able to organize another season of KOTH. This wouldn’t be possible without the tremendous support we receive from our sponsors, ADM Capital Foundation, Swire Coca-cola, Powerbar, and Protrek/Montrail. The next race takes place in Taipo on Sunday, 16th December. The half is probably the hilliest and toughest of all the half marathons in the series, while we roll out a new full marathon second half that provides a scenic tour of the old villages of the northeast New Territories as well as a few hills. See www.seyonasia.com/koth for further details. Happy trails. Keith Noyes Race Director KOTH KOTH Sai Kung Mountain Marathon Results, 25 November 2007 Half Marathon Results: MO: 1) Adrian King 1:35:54; 2) Ryan Blair, 1:39:08; 3) Jeremy Ritchey, 1:39:19 MV-40: 1) Tim McCosker, 1:45:19; 2) Anthony Davies, 1:48:02; 3) Peter Faarbaek, 1:51:05 MV-45: 1) Bob Shorrock, 1:36:13; 2) Derek Irwin, 1:46:57; 3) Leung Ping, 1:47:10 MV-50: 1) Choi Fu Loi, 1:50:22; 2) Shek Kong, 1:58:52; 3) Phillippe Guillo, 2;02:08 MV-55: 1) Chris Wardlaw, 1:46:52; 2) Wong Peter Chun Tung, 1:56:452:01:32; 3) Cho Yan Kwong, 2:14:04 FO: 1) Lucy Marriott, 1:50:26; 2) Sarah Walker, 2:00:44; 3) Chow Pui Yan, 2:01:01 FV-40: 1) Fiona Somerville, 2:08:00; 2) Anne Knecht-Boyer, 2:21:57; 3) Roushana Sjahsam, 2:27:10 Full Marathon Results: MO: 1) Tsang Siu Keung 3:33:28; 2) William Davies;, 4:12:17; 3) Peter Lee, 4:12:37 MV-40: 1) Chan Kin Kwok, 4:29:19; 2) Tim Hallworth, 5:18:16; 3) Tse Chun Shing, 5:23:25 MV-45: 1) Patrick Ford, 4:19:18; 2) Chan Kwok Keung, 4:28:01; 3) Chan See Kau, 4:39:59 MV_50: 1) Mak Ping Yin, 4:38:36; 2) Ng Chau Yan, 4:50:13; 3) Ho Hon Ming, 5:08:27 MV-55: 1) Tom Walker, 5:14:37; 2) Bob Whitehead, 5:33:15; 3) Yeung Wing Kai, 5:44:10 FO: 1) Jeannette Holmes-Thomson, 4:33:39; 2) Lam Lai Po, 4:51:04; 3) Jane Mason, 5:51:59 FV-40: 1) Ann Miles, 5:13:09; 2) Carolyn Kng, 5:57:35; 3) Lui Chi Ho, 6:13:57 |
