Hong Kong 50km event ends in dramatic fashion as trail runners finish in 3-way tie for first place
- HK50 series opens with remarkable men’s race, with Jeff Campbell, Chan Ka-keung and Wong Wai-hung agreeing to take tape together
- Frenchwoman Sophie Hedou claims female 50km prize, while new-mum Veronica Leng and in-form Vlad Ixel win 24km events
Three athletes shared top prize in the men’s event of the opening leg of the Hong Kong 50 Series after crossing the line together on Saturday in little more than five hours.
Canadian Jeff Campbell had a one-minute advantage over the field for most of the 50-kilometre trail-running route from Peak Galleria, in the shadow of Victoria Peak, to Wong Nai Chung Gap.
But Campbell was eventually reeled in by locals Chan Ka-keung and Wong Wai-hung, who worked in tandem with compatriot Rex Lo to close the gap on the leader.
The effort expended over a late three-peak section comprising Mount Butler, Jardine’s Lookout and Violet Hill ultimately told on Lo, who dropped off towards the end.
But Chan and Wong caught Campbell a few hundred metres from the finishing line, where the trio agreed on a truce.
“The guys caught me, so I started sprinting, but they said, ‘joint finish’,” Campbell said. “I said, ‘that is a great idea, let’s run home together’.”
Wong was satisfied after surviving a course that featured “many rocky, or technical sections, that were not runnable”.
Chan echoed his fellow Hongkonger’s thoughts and revealed the idea of sharing top honours stemmed from the scale of the challenge the three men encountered across five hours, one minute and 32 seconds.
“We pushed so hard, but it helped the three of us earlier in the race that we were supporting each other,” Chan said. “In the final section we could see Jeff and just gave it everything … we all decided to finish together after everything we had been through.”
The women’s race was won by France’s Sophie Hedou, whose time of 6:05:18 was 11 minutes and 39 seconds quicker than runner-up, Flora Ching Wing-yee of Canada.
Hong Kong athlete Lee Wai-fong completed the podium places.
Around 600 runners took part in the Hong Kong Island leg, which also featured a 24km race, in addition to the 50km event.
Australian Vlad Ixel, the winner of this month’s Lantau 2 Peaks race, covered the 24km-distance in 1:47:14 to claim first place and his second notable victory in a fortnight.
The women’s 24km was won by Slovakia’s Veronica Leng, who completed her first race since giving birth in 2:05:59.
“It was my first race since I became a mum, so I am super excited to be back, especially in an Action Asia event on Hong Kong Island,” Leng said. “It feels like home turf and such amazing conditions for running.”
The second of four HK50 Series legs, the Lantau 50, will take place on December 2.
