The King of Himalaya is Coming

Press Release / 18.02.2016

­Upendra Sunuwar, the king of Himalayan is ready for his first Hong Kong trail running race.  He is the king of Himalayan stage-race running with victories in most of the relentless, day after day, high altitude races in Nepal, including the infamous Himal Race with 22-stages. Well prepared for the relatively short climbs and descents for MSIG Sai Kung 50, he shows great confidence about his first win in Hong Kong trail running race.

MSIG HK 50 series are coming to an end on February as the last race - MSIG Sai Kung 50 - will be held on Feb 20, 2016. As one of the most anticipated and large-scale trail running and hiking races, Sai Kung 50 fills out in record time with over 1000 participants from home and abroad.  More than 1000 participants will fight out for almost $100,000 prizes including $44,000 cash prizes this year.  

Action Asia events is the only and first organiser in Hong Kong to get special permission to extend the course out to Cheung Tsui Chau. With some small changes, runners could run along the beautiful Tai Long Wan and Tung Wan beaches to explore this last stunning place in Hong Kong. The favourable local trail runner Tsang “Ying Ying” Chun-Kit is coming to MSIG Sai Kung 50 this year. He showed his excitement about the race. “I think Action Asia Events’ races are very exciting. The race courses are relatively tough and not easy to complete, and the way is also more challenging compared with other organisations’ courses,” Ying Ying said.

With abundant experience of trail running race, Ying Ying chose MSIG Sai Kung 50. He had different training strategies towards races with different distances. Ying Ying said, “For the 20-30 km short distance races, I focus more on the speed and feet feeling training, while the long distance races demand more control of various factors such as the diet, emotion, attitude, race course and weather, because of the long duration of races.” Marie McNaughton from New Zealand just took third place in the first race of Bonaqua Sprints series. “For me it was about getting out here as I am preparing for MSIG Sai Kung next week. I have 40-kilometre training on Lantau every day, so I really expect MSIG Sai Kung 50 next week, a race with longer and more demanding course.”

Cai Rengui, who ranked among the top 22 in the last MSIG Sai Kung race, hoped to break his records this year. Cai said, “I will be very happy if I could beat my time of last year and finish the race in 6 hours.” Not only as a top trail runner and running coach from Shenzhen, Cai Rengui is also an experienced MSIG series races runner, since that he had participated in the MSIG series races for many times. Cai has his own training plan for the MSIG Sai Kung 50. Cai said, “I do weight training and cross-training regularly. Usually more mountain running will be added in my training plan before the race. And I also practice yoga 2 to 3 times a week.” He continued, “But I do not suggest fixed training mode too often.”

The series could not happen without the kind support of MSIG Insurance, ActionX Store, Salomon, Suunto, OtterBox, Sky Runner National Series, the China Skyrunning Association, Bonaqua, Redback Specialty Coffee, Berrytime, Herbalgy, C3fit, Key Sun Zinke, Rocktape, Oldham Li & Nie Lawyers, Oregon, Around DB, Salonpas, KS Kitsound, GoPro, Del Monte Quality, St John, International Trail Running Association, Qualifying Race 2016 and Action Asia Foundation.

Race Info

Event Name: MSIG Sai Kung 50 - HK50 Series
Date: Feb 20, 2016 (Saturday)
Start Time: 6:30 am (50km start) 7:00 a.m. (12k & 21k start together)
Start Location: Pak Tam Chung Picnic Garden, Sai Kung
Distance: 12km, 21km, 50km (Ultra Skymarathon)
Category: Trail Running and Hiking
Website: www.actionasiaevents.com

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