Williams thrives in heat to take top spot
The Road Runners Athletic Club Summer Run certainly lived up to its name yesterday as 1,000 competitors endured the searing heat for the popular 8km stretch around Ma On Shan.
Hong Kong's top-ranked marathon runner, Mark Williams, made light work of the men's event, and after a conservative start pushed up the pace at the 3km mark to assume the lead, which he comfortably held to the finish.
'It wasn't the right sort of day to push for a fast time, it was all about getting the job done and winning the race today,' said the 33-year-old geography teacher, who lives in Discovery Bay.
Chan Ka-ho led the initial charge out of Ma On Shan Sports Ground at the start of the race, but was soon swallowed up by the chasing pack, as his over-enthusiasm, coupled with the boiling hot conditions, saw his challenge quickly fade.
Kam Wing-keung, winner of the Highwise 10km at Tai Mei Tuk last month, stayed in touch with defending champion Williams until the 4km turnaround point, but then he also had to face the fact that the only sensible option was to settle for second place.
Kam eventually came home 39 seconds behind Williams in 28:25, just five seconds ahead of Ng Kam-tai in third.
Junior runner Winter Tsui once again showed that he would be a force to be reckoned with when he joins the senior ranks by placing fifth overall from the 1,000 competitors. Tsui clocked an impressive 28:49 to finish one place ahead of veteran runner Wu Ki-kai, who clocked an equally impressive 28:53 for sixth place.
Chan Kit-yee had little opposition in the women's race as a number of the top runners were absent owing to injury or other commitments. Chan clocked 32:36 for an easy win over defending champion Leung Ying-suet, who came home second in 33:49.
Tsai Woon-nuo won the women's senior race in 34:14 while Lee Pui-kam was a surprise winner of the women's veteran division after pre-race favourite Yeung Mei-lun limped home in second place as a result of suffering an injury in training last week.
