VHTC Elite Day Virtual Race Results
Yvonne Lui
On Sunday 12 June, The Violet Hills Twins Challenge Elite Day Virtual Run was successfully held in shady conditions. In addition to raising funds for breast cancer patients, the The Violet Hills Twins Challenge was fully sponsored by the Yvonne Lui Trust in order to support and develop the local trail running community. Having also provided cash prizes to the top five finishers, on the Elite Day Virtual Run, the event also attracted many local and foreign runners to compete on the same day, including the international cross-country elite Wong Ho Chung, the Japanese long-distance runner Masashi Stake; and the champion of many Southeast Asian events, Filipino John Stingray Onifa., women’s triathlete Leanne Szeto, women’s Asia Trail Master 2019, Veronika Vadovicova of Slovakia, and former Irish Olympic marathoner, Caitriona Jennings, all competed for the prize.
After the storm, the sun will shine again
Before the race began, in the early morning, it rained heavily in Hong Kong but fortunately the rain eased an hour before the start and the participants did not have to brave the bad weather during the competition. At 7am, a group of 50 km and 28 km elite runners, fearing unstable weather, set-off in batches from the starting point at Wong Nai Chung Gap’s Children's Playground, with the intention of returning to the Hong Kong Parkview to cross the finish line. They passed through Violet Hill and famous for its thousand-step “long-life” staircase - The Twins, which heavily influenced the name of the event. Although the weather was not hot on the day, the consecutive days of heavy raining had made the track slippery, and many of the trails had become muddy, which was an added challenge for the runners.
28 km Men's Event
After 10.30 am, the 28km trail-runners crossed the line one after another. First place in the men's group was won by Tse Kok Wai, with the second place secured by Ryan Whelan from the United Kingdom. Third place was taken by Yeung Ho Yin, fourth place was Chan Ka Keung, and in fifth place was Richard Kimber. They had all completed a climb of about 1,300 meters and 28 kilometres in more than three hours. When they returned to the finish line, they all felt that although it was a foggy and cloudy day, the dry, baking weather made it difficult to sweat and affected their performance.
28 km Women's Event
As for the top five in the 28 km women's group, Erin Brown placed first, second place went to Leanne Szeto, third place to Fung Naomi, fourth place to Wong Mei Yan and fifth place to Cheung Chiu Man. Erin Brown led the way throughout, while Leanne Szeto fell behind, despite ranking in the front section at the beginning, she worked hard to catch up to second place with an excellent performance on the flat road and use of the reservoir road in the second half of the race. Facing the same foggy and rainy weather, the women's group had a slightly different opinion from the men's group, and they all said that they liked the coolness of the day. They reported that it was very comfortable to run and that they also enjoyed the running process.
50 km Men's Event
Even after mid-day, the 50-kilometer male Elite were staying together, crossing the line one after another. The Japanese long-distance runner Shirotake Masahi led for 47 kilometers, but when reaching Siu Ma Shan brought a cramp to his calves, it forced him to slow down. Wong Ho Chung, who had been behind him, was not in a very good state, having come off the back of his own personal challenge to "Run 500 Kilometers Without Stopping", at the end of May. He could only follow in the first half, with Shirotake Masahi leading by 5-6 kilometres. In the second half, Wong Ho Chung seemed to be getting more and more into his stride, slowly narrowing the gap. In the last three kilometers of escalating Siu Ma Shan, he took advantage of Shirotake Masahi calf cramps to take the lead and become champion. Shirotake Masahi crossed the line shortly after, in second place with cheers from the crowd. He completed the race through sheer grit and perseverance, which was admirable to all onlookers Wong Kwok Wai followed and took home third place in the 50 km men's group.
Shortly after starting, there was a small episode in which Filipino John Stingray Onifa accidentally slipped on the mountain road to Aberdeen Water Pond, in Hong Kong. Bleeding profusely, he had to retire. An unfortunate incident as he had been in very good shape lately, winning the 100 km category of Thailand's Amazean Jungle Trail in early May, which is one of the biggest titles and accomplishments of this event.
50 km Women's Event
The big hit runner in the women's category was Veronika Vadovicova from Slovakia, who held the title of Asia Trail Master in 2019 amongst many other local and regional awards. She has been in great form recently, and was not threatened in the race, in that she completed it in less than 6 hours, almost 41 minutes ahead of Liang Shi Qiong who boasted second place. Compared with other opponents, Liang Shi Qiong can be considered at a disadvantage, due to her age, but she repeatedly beats her junior challengers. Her strength is impressive. Third place went to Leung Hong Kiu who, because of work responsibilities, had not run a race for eight months. Given the circumstances, her ranking and result was rare. Fourth place went to German Angelika Hahn, a regular on many competition podiums. In addition, Caitriona Jennings, a former Olympic marathon runner for Ireland, also participated in the 50-kilometer race, and although she made good progress in the early stages, due to physical discomfort at The Twins Hill, she had to unfortunately withdraw from the race.
Caitriona Jennings (left) did not perform to her normal standards upon reaching 23 km. Angelika Hahn (right) runs past Hong Kong Parkview, ready to tackle the last 12 kilometres.
Bonus prizes encourage more people to join the trail running to help promote trail-running in Hong Kong
The Violet Hills Twins Challenge, supported by the Yvonne Lui Trust, attracted many professional runners to compete in order to promote and develop the community of Hong Kong trail runners. The Trust awarded cash prizes to the top five winners of the virtual running races, on Elite Day, creating a precedent for cross-country events in Hong Kong.
Race route features
The Violet Hills Twins Challenge is named after the Violet Mountains and the Twin Hills, because the two mountains descend in a row. The race is a challenge to one’s physical strength. The 28-kilometer route passed through Violet Mountain, The Twins Hills, Siu Ma Shan, Jardine Mountain, etc., and also passed through the reservoirs of Wong Nai Chung Reservoir and Tai Tam, namely Tai Tam Tuk Reservoir, Tai Tam Intermediate Reservoir, Tai Tam Byewash Reservoir and Tai Tam Upper Reservoir Dam. The selected route is not only beautiful, but also very challenging. After starting the 50-kilometer trail, it is necessary to go west to Aberdeen Reservoir via Black’s Link, then follow the path to The Peak, passing through Barker Road, Coombe Road and Black’s Link, returning to Wong Nai Chung Reservoir and then take the 28 km group route. The "runnability" score of this section is very high, and yet it also tests the runner's physical strength distribution skills. If you are not careful in terms of energy distribution, the competitor’s physical strength will be tested with the hilly sections of the second half.
