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Malcolm Phillips Memorial Run
Catherine Leonard
Entries are now closed for The Malcolm Phillips Memorial Run organised by AVOHK  in memory of our long time club member Malcolm Phillips.  This year's run is on Saturday 10th May ,starting and finishing at Wanchai Gap Playground. The start time is 4pm. The course is 5km - part road part trail. Race results will be age graded . The entry list has been updated and can be found here. Thanks to those who have volunteered to help out. Helpers please be at the start area by 3pm ,runners for 3.30pm to collect your number. Please contact the club if you have any questions.


AVOHK AGM and Athlete Of The Year
Martin Kennard
AVOHK's AGM will be held at the Ladies Recreation Club on Wednesday June 11. All current and potential club members are invited. Come and meet runners with their clothes on for a change and enjoy the wonderful Thai buffet. Exact details on prices and the start time will be revealed soon click here for more info.

It is also time to choose the Club's Athlete Of The Year. There are separate awards for the Men's and Women's categories. To make your nomination, email us at this link.

AVOHK's 2007/8 Races

RTI 2008          
This year's RTI was held successfully on 6th April 2008. Despite 95% humidity and temperatures topping 28 degrees, the event saw some good times posted demonstrating the stamina and resilience of Ultra-runners. The runners were supported by the hardworking volunteers manning the checkpoints around the route providing invaluable food and water along the way and the painstaking and dedicated work of the race director, Dave Smith, who was at the start and finish well before the first runners left at 6:00 am and who remained there to await the final runners in the early evening, long after the 4:00pm cut-off time. 

Final results for each category in the 'True Grit' and 'Whimp' races can be found here.                                                                 

NB Reservoir Cup Series
Choi Tat Ming took the honours at Tai Tam Race 3 with Gillian Castka convincingly winning the ladies race. Race results and series results now out.  UNCLAIMED RACE PRIZES, SERIES PRIZES AND T SHIRTS CAN BE PICKED UP AT THE RTI DINNER ON 23RD APRIL OR AT THE MALCOLM PHILLIPS MEMORIAL RUN ON 10TH MAY. 
Any queries please contact us.

Matthew Jones claimed top spot in Race 2 of The NB Reservoir Series in Tai Lam Chung. Jane Hodgskin won the ladies race. William Crowe continued his steady improvement to pick up 2nd overall and 1st in the men's over 40s. John Douma put in an outstanding performance to claim 5th overall and pole position in the men's over 50s.  Full results are available at this link.

Andy Naylor cruised to victory in the first race of the 2007-8 NB Reservoir Series Race 1 at Aberdeen Reservoir  on Oct. 28. Andy finished a full three minutes in front of his nearest rival Choi Tat Min. Course experts John Douma and Peter Hopper finished  13th and 14th , John showing an excellent return to form.  The ladies race was a much closer affair with Charlotte Cutler taking first place from UK visitor Kira Morser by a whisker. Full Results  now available .

5 km Series
The final and deciding race in the 5km series took place on Bowen Road  on October 13th 2008.  In one of the most open race's seen for some time, the lead was passed from Matthew Jones to Martin Kennard before Roberto Veneziani made his perfectly timed push for the wire to claim top spot. In the ladies race Charlotte Cutler put in another very strong performance to pick up first place. It has been calculated that the course was long by 300-400m metres. Roberto stopped his watch on the splits and estimated that he completed 5km in around 16.10-16.20.
Race 3 and Series results were amended and uploaded to this site on 27th October 2007.

Many thanks to our sponsors Sun Hung Kai, New Balance and Bonaqua for their continued support in our races this season.
     


Wanchai Gap Saturday Training Runs
Martin Kennard
The Wanchai Gap run takes place at 8.30am every Saturday. AVOHK member Peter Hopper organises this training run.  He is sending out a weekly email to include people who might be interested. All runners are welcome. Matthew Jones holds the unofficial record of 47 minutes. Fortunately, when Steve Monaghetti made his guest appearance a few years ago, stopwatches were not involved. If you can make it out of bed early enough, you might just get to join Michael Palin, or at least a close double, on a most beautiful trail run.
For more information about future runs, or to be included on his mailing list, contact Peter at phopper@netvigator.com

China Coast 20th January 2008

Catherine Leonard and Martin Kennard
Hong Kong's longest running marathon, the China Coast, took place on January 20th. Gunnar Rethfeldt claimed his third victory in the full marathon. He won comfortably in a time of 2.47. At the halfway mark he looked set for an even faster time but the heat seemed to take its toll in the second half. Wong Ping Chuen claimed second spot in a time of 2.52. Peggy Pui Shan won the ladies race in 3.32, followed by Jane Ward. Andy Naylor won the half marathon in 1.15. Roberto Veneziani was second in 1.16. Chan Kit Yee won the ladies half. Veteran John Lane, 71, (pictured above) continued his streak of having competed in every China Coast Marathon since its inception. Overall Full Marathon and Half Marathon results now available.

We are grateful to our sponsors Sun Hung Kai Properties, Swire Coca Cola and New Balance and our supporters Power Bar without whom the race would not have been possible. Thanks to race director Peter Hopper, the HK Adventure Corps, AVOHK members and friends who helped support the event and made it such a success.


2008 Membership

Catherine Leonard
Lee Ieronimo is our membership secretary and is sorting out the database which suffered from various technical and human problems. 2008 membership subs are now due. Dues run Jan-Dec, so even if you joined late 2007 you must renew. Remember benefits of AVOHK membership include a discount on AVOHK race entry fees, newsletters, club kit, swim lanes read more.....To renew or join as a new member go to the membership section. For swimming please refer to
swimming in the activities menu. If you are not sure of your membership status please contact us on 90385460 or email. HKAAA membership is available through AVOHK this gives priority and discount entry to HKAAA events and use of Wanchai track.


Get Racing.............

Catherine Leonard
For track meets  Mark Reeves handles the entries. Contact him to go onto his email list.  For several HKAAA events it helps to be a member of the HKAAA so make sure you renew your HKAAA membership again.  The calendar is packed full of races for the coming year.  Please contact us with other events you want added.


New Arrival !

Aya Tanaka and Keith Noyes celebrated the birth of their daughter, Kaya, in February.
Everyone at AVOHK would like to send their hearty congratulations to Aya and Keith and to welcome Kaya into the world.
Could this young princess be a future Queen of the Hills?


AVOHK Stalwart Finds Fame As Snake Wrestler
Martin Kennard
AVOHK stalwart Catherine Leonard has found international fame in 2007. Tales of her snake wrestling antics popped up in the SCMP, BBC World, Ceefax and even the Torygraph. Rumours of a book entitled Snake Wrestling For Beginners have yet to be confirmed but you can read about the basics of the art at this link on the AVOHK website.

Wanted: Race Photos
We are short of race photos. Did anybody take photos before, during or after the 5km series. and Aberdeen Reservoir Race?  If so, please send us your snaps to liven up this site.

AVOHK Score 20th Consecutive Success In Sedan Chair Race
AVOHK marched home to victory in the annual Sedan Chair Race on The Peak. Read Phil Booth's newly added report here.

AVOHK website member log in
The  Members login function  is intended for future use and is not yet available.

happening elsewhere...
Brunei Veterans Championships

Bill Purves 

It's rather early to be recruiting for the Brunei Veterans Championships (first weekend in August), but last year we had 24 signed up and had to cancel the trip at the last minute because we couldn't get seats on the plane.  Hopefully, this year all the mainlanders will stay home for the Olympics, but just to be sure we are going to reserve early.  So if you are interested in going to Brunei, please raise your hand to Bill Purves (shtbati-cabledotcom).  We will reserve some seats for those who can decide now, and those who can only decide later will have to take their chances or travel via Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia.

The Brunei Championships has most of the usual events, including a 5000 on the track and a 5000 walk. There is no road race, but accommodation in their air conditioned athletes’ hostel is free, and food is cheap.  (No beer, though.)  Unusually, they have a W30 category. This is a good opportunity to get a Brunei visa, which can sometimes be difficult


Fool's Gold

Bill Purves
With a mere 39 years left until the demise of the “two systems”, isn’t it time for
Hong Kong to abandon its futile pursuit of Olympic medals?  The Hong Kong taxpayer is being compelled to spend $120million a year in pursuit of an objective which, beyond senseless, is actually harming the youth on whom the money is spent.  Our elite sports system has been disrupted by the conversion of the Sports Institute for the 2008 Olympics.  Let’s take this opportunity to dismantle this misguided effort and take a more productive approach to promoting the health of the community.  Read more here.


AVOHKers Score 100% In London
Staff Reporter
AVOHK scored a one hundred per cent success rate in the London Marathon as all three of its representatives came away with personal bests. Ros Barker secured 60th place in the Women's Elite Race and a very impressive 7th in her age group. Ros' time of 3.00.31 takes a number of minutes off her personal best and places her well up the batting order in the HKAAA rankings. Martin Kennard knocked a couple of minutes off his personal best. Read his race report here. Eight weeks ago 'Ancient Mariner' Richard Wallace was unable to run a kilometre but in London he did 42.2kms in a very tidy time of 3.13.44. He now looks well placed to launch an assault on the Mens Over 50s Trailwalker record in November. Interestingly, this was the first ever marathon in which the top three runners finished in under 2.06. This was despite the fact that the course was 2-3 metres longer, due to some last minute rerouting brought about by a gas leak. 

China Ironman

Martin Kennard 

Congratulations to all of those hardy Hong Kongers who took part in the recent Ironman event on Hainan Island. For the uniniated this entails swimming 2.4 miles in the sea, followed by a 200km bike ride and a full marathon. Just to make things a bit harder for contestants, a typhoon ripped through southern China a day before the event leaving behind extremely hot and humid weather conditions. Mark Doel put in a highly respectable debut and finished in 13.26. Ex Hong Kong rugby star and AVOHK member Warren Warner was also taking part in the silliness for the first time. He came away with an excellent time of 12.42 to finish just outside the top 100.  


Bees No Barrier To Warrior Jones
Martin Kennard
It wasn't so long ago that AVOHK's Catherine Leonard was wrestling with a python in Sai Kung Country Park. Club members continue to impress in the face of adversity. This time it was Matthew Jones' turn to do battle with nature in Japan.  He took on a swarm of bees whilst running a half marathon and, despite the pain and discomfort caused by the attack, managed to record a time of 1.14. Matthew (pictured taking part) takes up the story here.


HKAAA Track Meet
Martin Kennard
There were only a few AVOHK runners in attendance at the Wanchai HKAAA track meet on April 13. Matthew Jones starred for the club by coming second in the 5000m in a time of 16.31.

Your Summer

Bill Purves
Hot weather is here.  Enough of those long, hot workouts on the roads.  Time to get back to the track.  Here are the overseas track meets
Hong Kong veterans will be entering this summer.  Each has all the running events up to 5000m, and sometimes 10,000 as well.  The Asian Championships has a road race.

                                                                            Meet                        Entry Deadline

All-China Veterans Championship            May 22-25                   Passed

Johor                                                                June 21-22                  May 12

Malaysia                                                          July 19-20                    June 17

Japan                                                              Sept. 26-28                  July 4

Brunei                                                              Aug. 2-3                      July 18

Singapore                                                       Aug. 24                           ?

Taiwan                                                            Nov. 15-16                     ?

Asia Veterans Championship                    Dec. 1-6                      Aug 21

If you’re over 35, you should be there.  (
Japan and Brunei welcome women who are over 30 years old.) To get on the mailing list for any of these, contact Bill Purves, shtb AT the i-cable email address.


HKAAA Selection Policy
Are you baffled by the HKAAA's selection policy? If you are, you are not alone. Bill Purves sheds new light on their rationale at this link.

AVOHK Storm Shatin 10k
AVOHK made light work of the Shatin Perskindol 10km race on March 9. They claimed first, second and third spots overall to pick up the team prize with over 5 minutes to spare.  A brief report on the event can be found here.

Lo and Tse set new benchmarks for HK racewalking

Martin Kennard 

Edward Tse and Alexandra Lo have raised the bar for racewalking in Hong Kong. Tse clocked 48.16 for the mens 10km at Tsuen Wan in March. That performance places him at the top of the HK list for this event. Lo  also appeared in the same track meet and put down a time of 55.39 to head up the Women's 10K racewalking table.

The fleet footed pair have also appeared on the international circuit. Tse completed a 20K walk at quite a trot in Japan. His time of 1.36 secures top spot in HK for this event. Alexandra Lo was not to be outdone in Japan and her time of 1.57 means she leads the way in the HK 20K list for women. It is worth noting that these are HK all time records, rather than year on rankings.


WMA Indoor Championships 2008

Martin Kennard & Catherine Leonard

Mana Sin, Kitty Chow, Sheila Purves and Captain Bill Purves represented the HK vets in the WMA Indoor Championships in France recently. Skipper Purves claimed 5th place in the 3000m walk. His time, of 16.09, was not a record but it moves him to the top of the Hong Kong Ranking list for this event. More significantly, it places Bill as world number 5 in the M60 age group.

Sheila Purves is pictured enjoying the weather during the mens racewalking.

Up to date and easy to search results for the championships are on this link 

 


Wiggs Is Local Hero in CWB Chase

Martin Kennard

AVOHK member Simon Wiggs may or may not be a fan of the popular British comedy series The League Of Gentlemen but he certainly seems to have taken heed of the fact that it can help a bit if you are local. Wiggs topped the Men's Open category and came a close 2nd overall behind race winner Chan Kah Kwai. Simon is a Clearwater Bay resident and regularly gets to train on the brutal undulating course. Local knowledge meant that Wiggs ran a controlled race to record a personal best in the 10km race. AVOHK's William Crowe came in third overall. Phil Booth - for once without an extra appendage - took advantage of this by claiming top spot in the Men's Veteran class.

 


New Race Calendar Released

A new race calendar has been released. It includes all the AVOHK races for the 2008-9 season as well as numerous race walking events. Click 'calendar' on the main toolbar to find this information.


King of the Hills 2007 - 2008

For a full run down on this season's series go to this link.


Turkey The Perfect Tonic For Fleet Footed Diplomat
Martin Kennard
It has long been known that turkey is good for your health and so it was proved by Matthew Jones in the Boxing Day Race.
He returned to what is proving to be his favourite course at Wanchai Gap to roast all of those around him and win on an undulating course in 14.50. Phil Booth is no turkey either, but he may be crackers. The AVOHK supervet ran around the 4km loop dressed as a horse in a little over twenty minutes. Full results are available at the Hong Kong Lady Road Runners website: www.hklrrc.org

Mizuno Half Marathon 2008
Read how AVOHK got on in this year's race here.

Choi Joy In Fat Choi
Martin Kennard
Choi Tat Ming (pictured above) secured victory in the first race of the lunar new year at The Peak on February 9. He was followed by Wong Tin Yau in second place. Joe Joe Fan won the ladies race, beating her adversary Chan Kit Yee in the race for the line. Results available later at www.hklrrc.org.hk

Many thanks to the Hong Kong Ladies Road Runners Club and the helpers for making this race such a success, despite the harsh wintery conditions. The temperature was 6c when the race began. The wind chill factor would have made it seem closer to zero.

Jones Lands Victory In Big Wave Bay Race
Matthew Jones swept to victory in the demanding Big Wave Bay Trail Race on 13th January 2008. The civil servant has turned in some fine performances over shorter distances this season. He now seems well placed to better his 2.39 marathon time in 2008.

Trail Dog Returns In Dubai Marathon
Martin Kennard
Many AVOHKERs will remember the exploits of Neil Tait aka 'Trail Dog'. On 18 February he joined 'The Emperor' and others in the Dubai Marathon. Neil recorded a highly credible time of 2.45. He reported the following on his performance: "I had a fairly steady run, a little stitch between 10-15k that I managed to work out.  Went through the half in about 1:22 and I was feeling good for a negative split, but the wheels started to come off at about 34k and although I picked up towards the end the time had already slipped.  I paced the group I was with almost the whole way and I suspect that I paid a small price for doing the work, but what the hell I actually enjoyed the run up to the 35k mark". Neil's full race description can be found at this link.

Lai Breaks 2.30 Barrier In Standard Chartered

A run down on this year's event can be found here.


Greenpower 50km
Martin Kennard
The popular Greenpower 50km took place on Saturday 1st March. A few hardy AVOHK members rose to the challenge of covering the entirety of the Hong Kong Trial. Koji and his team from DB resisted the temptation to borrow one of the island's ubiquitous golf carts for the event. Instead The DB Runners (pictured above) hot footed it around in an impressive time of 4 hours and 41 minutes. Read the report from AVOHK's Japanese speedster here.  Chris Wardlaw is still battling a painful achilles injury but he still managed to get around in 4.55 and win the over 55s category.

Douma Enjoying Success Despite Advancing Years
Peter Hopper offers tongue in cheek praise to one of AVOHK's success stories of the season. Read his yarn here.

At The Nationals
Bill Purves took a group of runners up to the National Championships in Hangzhou. Read his report here.

Japan Trailwalker
Distance runner extraordinaire St John Flaherty was back in the act recently as he joined a Hong Kong team in the Japan Trailwalker. Click here to read his newly added report.

Salomon 36km

A report on this year's event can be found here.


World Championships Report
AVOHK member Chris Wardlaw went to the World Championships in September. Read his newly added report here.

Oxfam Trailwalker 2007

Stuart and Catherine Leonard
Oxfam Trailwalker 2007 was won by the Fire Services in a time of 12.24. Not far behind them in 4th place in a time of 14.09 were the Sunhing Cosmoboys II; a team that featured AVOHK trailblazer Patrick Ford. The Ancient Mariners Peter Wong, Stuart Leonard, Chris Wardlaw and Peter Tanner (pictures above) took almost  an hour off their own over 50s record with a finish time of 15.24.  The team also managed to record a top ten finish, not bad for a group of vets backed by a magnificent support team.  Read the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariners here.  
AVOHK members Simon Wiggs, Warren Warner and Richard Hall put in a strong performance with their Power Bar team ( 4th photo)and recorded a result of 16.22.  The Plus Forty Fours (Catherine Leonard, Phil Spencer, Sheila Purves and Andy Jepps) also impressed with a time of 17.59. Another all AVOHK team Discovery Bay Runners (picture below) unfortunately lost Andy Pickles around half way but regained him for the final push over 9 and 10,  Koji Mayazaki, Martin Lovell and Juergen Schuster recorded a sub 20 hours finish. St John Flaherty and his team recorded 20.17, Nicholas Brooke with wife Maggie and their team 23.28.  Raymond Lo's team completed the event as did Philip Chan's.  New Balance's Adrian Baker carried his not inconsiderable frame around in a very creditable 27.36.  More AVOHKers were out there, please send us your reports and photos of this year's event, whether you were racing around  or enjoying the views.


Roberto V Clocks PB in Fukuoka
Martin Kennard
Roberto Veneziani recorded an impressive time of 2.38 in the Fukuoka International Marathon on Dec. 2. His performance was straight out of the marathon manual with even 5km splits all the way to the finish.  Roberto's time makes him the fastest AVOHKer of the year and it has only been bettered by one other Hong Konger in 2007. The affable Italian appears to be improving with age. Let's hope he will 'do a Jack Foster' and continue the improvement over the next few years.  Read Roberto's newly added report here.

Sproston Bags Asia Miles In UNICEF Run

Rachel Sproston won the ladies race in the recently held UNICEF half marathon. She may well be lazing on a beach in South America now as she picked up 50,000 Asia Miles in the process. Read Rachel's newly added report here.


Shek Kong 30km
Martin Kennard
Roberto Veneziani continued his excellent run by claiming top spot in the Shek Kong 30km race on 30th December. On a gruelling course, Roberto recorded a time of 1.56, which put him three minutes in front of the next runner. Joe Joe Fan (pictured together with the winner of the men's race) headed up the ladies race and was followed in 2nd place by Rachel Sproston.