By Keith Noyes

Before the race, all the talk was of whether anyone would complete 3 loops within the one-hour time limit on the day.  At the end of 2 loops, only Fire Services teammates Wong Ka Wai and Stone Tsang Siu Keung had a realistic shot at it.  Stone was leading at the time and went for it, while Wong headed back to DB Plaza with the fastest 2-loop time of 41:50.  The tension mounted as the one hour mark approached, and finally passed without Stone making it to the finish line.  Wong was the winner while Stone was a victim of the heat, which slowly sapped his energy and speed.  Wong has finished second to Stone on numerous races this past year so we’re sure he enjoyed finally coming out on top (especially without even having to run the third loop). Adrian King finished second overall and quipped, “Neil Tait probably would have completed 3 loops today, but there was no chance I was going to attempt the third loop in these conditions.”  Considering that Adrian had spent most of the past week on an airplane, his result was truly impressive.  Matthew Jones and Lai Kat had a sprint finish to settle third in the male open category with Matthew winning by a margin of centimeters and also coming in 5^th in the race overall. 3^rd across the line (and the first male v-40) was yet another mountain goat from the Fire Services, Fong Ming Fai.  Fong’s main challenge came from Discovery Bay local Rob James, who scarily succumbed to heat exhaustion after the race and had to be taken to the hospital.  We understand that Rob is in stable condition now and wish him a speedy recovery.  Third in the category was Tung Kam Wai.  4^th place overall and the first male v-45 runner was Chan Wah Kwai, in a fine time of 45:22 for 2 loops. Chan headed up a very strong field of over MV-45 runners that also included KOTH stalwart Leung Ping and Discovery Bay speedster Koji Miyazaki. Mr. Chan is better know for his fantastic road marathon achievements so it was great to see him tearing up such a difficult mountain course as well.Senior male runners were well represented in all the age categories.  Shek Kong was the first MV50+, ahead of Grant Miskimmin.  John Antweiler won the MV55+ race and Wong Pak Kun edged Ken Woodhouse in the sixty year olds division.Reigning Queen of the Hills Jeanette Holmes-Thomson completed 2 loops in 50:59 to win convincingly.  Rebecca Kynaston was second and Ser Hau Mei third.  Louise Dorman was victorious in the FV50+ category, beating all of the FV40’s to boot.  These people included Grace Carrey, Chan Ngai Lai and Yung Lai Kam in first, second and third respectively.

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