Hong Kong had two runners on the podium at the TransLantau by UTMB trail races on Saturday night, with Cheung Man-yee second in the women’s category, followed by Ng Chin-nam in third.
Part of the UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc) World Series for the first time, the event took place over 129km, beginning in Mui Wo at 10pm on Friday, with 247 runners going on to complete their races.
Cheung covered the route in 21 hours, 55 minutes and 59 seconds to finish 12th overall, while Ng was almost 2½ hours behind in 24:21:14.
Yet Cheung – who was 17th overall at the UTMB’s series finals on Mont Blanc in September – felt she had “underperformed” in the Lantau event.
An orthopaedist at a government hospital, Cheung said she had been too tired and hungry midway through and struggled to regain strength despite her consumption of energy gels.
Cheung added that having arranged a supporting crew at only one of the 13 checkpoints, she was glad to receive help from some friendly crews at other checkpoints and admitted she may not have been able to finish without their help. But she passed Ngong Ping, the seventh checkpoint, on Saturday morning and pushed on.
Xiang Fuzhao of China topped the women’s category, returning to Mui Wo in 18:16:27, over 3½ hours faster than Cheung.
The 32-year-old had been fourth in the women’s category at the UTMB Finals and showed her quality again, keeping pace with a host of the men and placing fifth overall.
British runner Tom Joly was first overall as he won the men’s category, completing the demanding track in 16:47:29.
Yun Yanqiao and Zhao Jiaju, both from China, finished second and third respectively. Yun clocked 17:49:24, while Zhao came in almost 10 minutes behind.
In addition to making its UTMB series debut, TransLantau is this year celebrating its 10th anniversary.
UTMB co-founder Michel Poletti took part in the race, the 68-year-old from France finishing in 33:20:08.
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