Bonaqua Action Sprint - Sai Kung
Riche And Williams Rock Too Wins In Sai Kung Scorcher Sprint
Press Release / 05.06.2014
Frenchman Romain Riche and British racer Zein Williams each took the overall win at race 3 of the Bonaqua Action Sprint Series at Sai Kung in energy sapping hot conditions in the best 2 out of 3 race solo series.
The race was sold out at 500 capacity in the final 3rd leg of the series and adventure trail runners hiked and ran up the 408m Tai Cham Koi using steep single track trails for over 3km, then descended 3 km straight down clay and rocky 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 2 km. With heavy rains in the last few weeks water levels were high with many pools to swim in and to cool down temporary. Next they ran out on the Lok Wu hiking trail for 1 km before repeating the same Tai Cham Koi hike up to 408m a second time, before descending technical single track 3 km and running back to Pak Tam Chung for 13km.
“Today was more about handling the heat then running, that was the key today, trying to take advantage of the water in the pools in the gorge and trying to cool down was good and that helped me finish. Of course the pools in the gorge were my favourite as on a day like today you needed them especially the last one swimming across before the final climb out up the ropes was great” said overall Bonaqua Sprint series and race winner, Frenchman Romain Riche, winning in 1 hour 32 minutes 06 seconds.
Just over 1 minute behind, a trail runner or more a long distance walker as he calls himself and someone who has improved considerably over the past few years was Nepalese Santosh Tamang. “I’ve been living in Hong Kong 4 years but don’t really run - I do more long hikes and walks for my training. Today was so hot, but I enjoyed the water in the gorge a lot. This year I only wanted to enter the sprint series which was my goal.” The Nepalese runner Santosh Tamang finished very close to Riche in 1 hour 33 minutes 17 seconds and is a big inspiration to the Nepalese community in Hong Kong.
3rd overall and the top local Chinese male finisher, and 2nd place in the last Discovery Bay Sprint Cheung Hing Hung, had a great race. “In the last race injured my arm and knee, but this time everything went smoothly. I also had better sunglasses to stop the glare which helped and the equipment I used was much better. I have a group of team club runners from Chinese Hong Kong University that has helped me in my training to prepare for this for which I am grateful.” Cheung’s overall time was 1 hour 35 minutes 23 seconds.
Zein Williams had a great race in the Women’s field winning all 3 Bonaqua Action Sprint races, making her a true Women’s Sprint Queen. “Today’s beautiful scenery was 100% stunning. The plunge pools were perfect and it was a great course with a bit of everything - one of my favorites” said the Raidlight sponsorerd Williams, who won the race in 1 hour 43 minutes 36 seconds and grabbed the series win as best 2 out of 3 races.
“Lovely, lovely course, especially the rope sections together with the swimming in the pools. Running in the heat is always good for me and I caught a lot of people in the 2nd half as I felt good, but I couldn’t catch Zein” said Team Salomon HK member Olya Korzh. She finished as the 2nd Women overall in 1 hour 54 minutes 20 seconds after winning a 50km SkyMarathon race just 7 days ago in Yunnan.
The top local Chinese women was Dennex Lui who did well against an all-star women’s line-up. “Wow so hot. I love these kind of challenges as it keeps me motivated to train harder. I always like the technical hilly courses as its more my style” she said after finishing in 2 hours 7 minutes 39 seconds.
Category winners are shared prizes from series sponsors such as Salomon, Oregon Scientific, Ocean Potion. Special thanks for making the series happen goes to Bonaqua, Action X Store, BonActive, Oregon Scientific, OtterBox, , OL&N, Ocean Potion, Nature Valley, Salonpas, Around DB, DBay and the Action Asia Foundation.
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