Bonnet and Kaspersen Win Lantau 2 Peaks in HK
News Release / 04.10.2015
The much-anticipated Lantau 2 Peaks™ race in association with Hyundai, Salomon and Suunto started at 7:30 am on Lantau Island this morning. As one of the Skyrunner® World Series races and the only qualifying race in Asia this year, the race filled out in record time with over 1000 competitors signed up.
Swiss Salomon team 20-year-old runner Remi Bonnet grabbed the overall champion title in a blistering 2 hours 14 minutes 7 seconds. Salomon top runner Yngvild Kaspersen took women’s champion title in 2 hours 42 minutes 4 seconds.
“Lantau 2 Peaks ™”, like the name says, reaches the 2nd and 3rd highest peak of Hong Kong’s highest peaks on Lantau Island – Sunset Peak and Lantau Peak. It is the 4th Skyrunning race under 2015 Skyrunner® World Series. It is also the only Skyrunning race selected by the International Skyrunning Federation in Asia this year which attracted many international elite runner to descend on Lantau Island, Hong Kong this morning and brought us a fierce and exciting race.
Swiss Salomon 20-year-old runner Rémi Bonnet, the first runner summited Lantau Peak today also grabbed the overall champion title in a blistering 2 hours 14 minutes 7 seconds. Bonnet expressed his excitement after winning the Skyrunner® World Series race in Hong Kong. “I like travelling a lot so it was a perfect chance for me to discover a new country, new culture and new trails during this race. Because of the weather and the technical stairs, I had a wonderful experience. I also found Chinese people very friendly during this trip. I would like to come back to Hong Kong next year for the same race,” said Bonnet.
After conquering the occasional heavy thunderstorms on the course, the second place of 2015 Lantau 2 Peaks ™ went to Spanish Manuel Merillas of team Mammut / Compressport. “This race is very special to me. I’ve never been to place like Hong Kong before because only 60 people live in my hometown and I have not been to a city with so many skyscrapers and people. The heat, the humidity and the beautiful landscape here is also very different from Europe which all brought me new experience. I had so much fun in the race ”, said Merillas who finished in 2 hours 24 minutes 29 seconds.
Italian Crazy Idea teammate Tadei Pivk grabbed the third place and finished the race in 2 hours 26 minutes 39 seconds. “This was definitely a great and challenging race because of the technical down hills and the heavy rain. Comparing to my hometown, this trail has a lot more stairs and the weather here is more humid too. The last downhill was for sure the most challenging part for me! ”
Yngvild Kaspersen won the female champion and finished the race in 2 hours 42 minutes 4 seconds making Norway proud. “The race was very nice. I enjoyed the whole course as I could rarely experience this type of weather in my country so it was very fresh and new to me. I feel really tired after the race and the most technical part for me was for sure the stairs and the last downhill”, said Yngvild Kaspersen.
Spanish Salomon runner Laura Orgue won women’s first runner up and accomplished the course in 2 hours 49 minutes 58 seconds. Although she was satisfied with her result but she thinks she could have performed better. “I am quite satisfied with my result and I did really enjoy the race. The stairs and the trails in the woods were all very technical. I think I could have had better performance, if the weather were better,” said Spanish Salomon runner Laura Orgue.
Maite Mayora Elizondo from Spanish La Sportiva Team placed third in women’s category finishing in 2 hours 51 minutes 19 seconds. Maite was one of the fastest runner at downhill at the first part of the race. “For me, Lantau 2 Peaks™ is very special because it’s in Hong Kong. It would be very hard for me to find those stairs and this kind of weather in my country,” said Maite Mayora Elizondo.
Dai Matsumoto, the winner of MSIG Sai Kung 50 in February finishing in 2 hours 32 minutes 18 seconds and became the first Asian runner crossing the finish line. “My physical condition was not as good as the other runners in this race but I’m very satisfied with my result as my goal was to get in the top 10. I’m glad that we were running in rain because I prefer running in cooler weather.”
As a signature race in Hong Kong, participants climbed and descended Sunset Peak (third highest summit in Hong Kong) running over 800m in elevation and Lantau Peak (934m) with runners summiting before contouring around Nei Lek Shan before descending to Tung Chung at sea level. Participants climbed a combined elevation gain of 1987m and combined elevation loss of 1988m with a total elevation gain loss of 3975m. Lantau Peak offers one of the best views in Hong Kong, so runners can enjoy the breath-taking view during the race.
Many top international runners have competed in Lantau 2 Peaks™, male elite runners including Italian superstar runner Tadei Pivk (Crazy Idea Team), Italian Marco De Gasperi of Scott Sports, Swiss legend Salomon teamRémi Bonnet, Dai Matsumoto (Salomon), Gregory Vollet (Salomon), Ondrej Fejfar (Czech Skyrunning Team), Manuel Merillas (Mammut / Compressport), Inaki Uribe-Etxebarria (EMF), Hassan Ait Chaou (EMF), Iban Letamendi (EMF), Ionut Alin Zinca (Valetudo), Pere Rullan Estarelles (Selecció Catalana de Curses), Pere Aurell Bové (Selecció Catalana de Curses), Sintu Vives (Andorra), Dimitry Mityaev (Russian Skyrunning/Adidas), Daniel Jones (New Zealand Team) and so on.
Female elite runners included Spanish runner Maite Maiora Elizondo (La Sportiva), Italian runner Elisa Desco (Scott Sports), Stevie Kremer (Salomon), Yngvild Kaspersen (Salomon), Laura Orgue (Salomon), Kanako Hasegawa (Dynafit), Azara Garcia (Compressport), Aritz Egea (EMF), Hanny Allston (TNF/Suunto) and Ekaterina Mityaeva (Russian Skyrunning/Adidas).
Action Asia Events is thankful to the supporting sponsors Suunto, Salomon, ISF, Sky Runner World Series , Action X Store, Hyundai, Australian Nutrition & Sports, Redback Specialty Coffee, Forward by Norman, GoPro, OtterBox, Gatorade, Del Monte, Herbalgy, Watsons water, OL&N, Salonpas, Hong Kong Chiropractors Association, Action Asia Foundation, HKCA, VRZRC and St Johns.
