Dutchman Lodewijk Adriaan Vriens wins first race in Hong Kong 50 ultra marathon series
- Hong Kong 50 ultra marathon got off to a blistering start with Dutchman pipping local favourites in the men’s division, while Cheung dominated the women’s field
- The second leg of the four race series takes place on Lantau on December 10, with HK50 West and Sai Kung 50 taking place in early 2023
The Hong Kong 50 ultra marathon series got off to a solid start on Sunday, with Dutchman Lodewijk Adriaan Vriens storming a field of almost 500 runners to claim line honours.
While Vriens battled strong competition from Chan Ka Keung and Wong Kwok Wai – who came in second and third respectively – the Dutchman paced himself early in the race but surged in the second half to extend his lead and finish with a time of 4 hours and 47 minutes.
“Today’s race was really, really cool and a really phenomenal feeling,” Vriens said. “It’s a really tough course, but I had a lot of fun. The organisers did great, really good spirit out there and some really good competition.”
Chan, one of Hong Kong’s top up and coming runners, had a very strong finish, putting the hammer down on the final 1km to squeeze by Wong for second place with just a few hundred meters remaining.
“I was happy with a strong finish catching Wong Kwok Wai who tried very hard also at the end. The race was really exciting and the scenery on the last 20km was beautiful which made the change of scenery from my home training area in Tsuen Wan very different,” Chan said.
“Coming down Jardine’s Lookout I took a fall kicking a step, but brushed it off and kept pushing as was top three at the time.”
Crossing the finish line in 3rd overall in the Men’s 50km was Wong Kwok Wai who ran a fantastic race leading and trading places for almost half. He came within striking distance of the Dutchman and Chan, but did not have the legs in the last few hundred meters to mount a full tilt attack.
Karen Cheung Man-yee dominated the women’s field to win in a comfortable 5 hours 30 minutes 38, almost 30 minutes ahead of her nearest rival Wong Mei Ying, who took second place.
“Overall, the race was great,” Cheung said. “I thought my run was very smooth. The weather was good and I was happy with my performance. I am very happy to be able to run in a physical race like this as I enjoyed it so much being around others in competition.
Third on the women’s 50km podium was South African Deena Schwan who took up ultra running just over a year ago.
The second leg of the four race HK50 series will take place on Lantau on December 10, with HK50 West and Sai Kung 50 taking place in early 2023.
