The 2024 Hong Kong 100k kicked off at 8 a.m. native time on Saturday, January 21, on the Sai Kung Peninsula, situated on the east aspect of Hong Kong. This yr’s girls’s winner, Lin Chen (China), stormed via a lot of the race in first place, whereas the lads’s winner, Guang-Fu Meng (China), made a shock assault on the final climb to complete in first place, knocking final yr’s winner off the rostrum spot.
This 103-kilometer (64 miles) race has over 5,300 meters of elevation achieve (17,388 toes) and is one in every of three races that passed off throughout the weekend — together with the half (56k/35 miles) and the third (33k/21 miles). Athletes can compete in particular person races, or have the chance to compete in all three for an opportunity to win the occasion’s grand slam.
The Hong Kong 100k can also be the primary of 9 races within the inaugural 2024 World Path Majors sequence.
As anticipated, circumstances had been extraordinarily humid all through the race, which can have been a wrestle for European athletes, who will presently be coaching via winter circumstances again residence. The ladies’s race started with an early lead from one of many favorites Dominika Stelmach (Poland), nonetheless it was Chen who dominated the race and completed in 12:44:51.
Within the males’s race there was a shock finale from Meng who overtook Pei-Quan You (China) on the ultimate climb of the race, and crossed the end line in 10:16:56.
Learn on for the total story.
The beginning of the 2024 Hong Kong 100k. All images: World Path Majors
2024 Hong Kong 100k Girls’s Race
Though Dominika Stelmach (Poland) was forward very early within the race, she got here into the primary checkpoint alongside Lin Chen (Hong Kong), and from there on it was Chen’s race. With every passing kilometer, Chen elevated the hole between her and the remainder of the sphere.
Chen got here into checkpoint six at Kei Ling Ha, 57 kilometers in, in 6:16:20, with 20 minutes between her and Ying Li (China), who was by then in second place. These two had been adopted by Stelmach, who hit the checkpoint shortly afterward.
By checkpoint eight at Beacon Hill, 78k in, the hole between first and second had elevated to 26 minutes, as Chen entered the checkpoint in 9:17:56. From there to the end line, there was little or no doubt that Chen had taken gold and was described as wanting robust and composed all through.
She crossed the end line in 12:44:51, taking first place. Chen additionally received the 2023 Doi Inthanon by UTMB 100 Mile in Thailand solely a month in the past, which is a part of the Western States 100 Golden Ticket Sequence and at which she accepted that ticket. She additionally indicated after ending the Hong Kong 100k that she plans to race UTMB this yr.
While Chen stormed the race, there was a shock retirement from Stelmach who dropped out of the race 11.5 hours in.
Li maintained second place all through the race, and though she wasn’t in a position to shut in on Chen, she crossed the end line in second with a time of 13:39:30.
Not like the highest two positions, there was much more competitors for third place. Ting Ma (China) retained third place for a lot of the second half of the race. However all of the whereas, Yuan-Yuan Wu (China) was slowly creeping up the leaderboard, and there was a fierce battle between the 2 within the closing levels of the race, the place they went head-to-head throughout the remaining climb.
Nonetheless, it was Wu who got here out on high, and took third place in 13:54:08, operating together with her son throughout the end line.
Lin Chen, the 2024 Hong Kong 100k girls’s champion.
2024 Hong Kong 100k Girls’s Outcomes
- Lin Chen (China) – 12:44:51
- Ying Li (China) – 13:39:30
- Yuan-Yuan Wu (China) – 13:54:08
- Ting Ma (China) – 13:57:15
- Rong-Hua Deng (China) – 14:01:10
- Xiao-Xiao Zhang (China) – 14:13:22
- Ki Chun Wong (Hong Kong) – 14:16:25
- Xiao-Xiao Zhou (Hong Kong) – 14:32:32
- Qin Lu (China) – 14:44:56
- Xin Wang (China) – 14:51:05
2024 Hong Kong 100k Males’s Race
The competitors was a lot nearer within the males’s race, with a shock win from Guang-Fu Meng on the very finish of the race. This yr’s favourite to win was final yr’s winner and course report holder Pei-Quan You. Even after this yr’s race, his unbelievable 2020 report nonetheless stands at 10:00:17.
From the offset, You took the lead and from checkpoint three at 34k onward, Meng dipped between second and third place. By checkpoint eight, 78k in, the hole had elevated, with You taking a 12-minute lead on Meng, and nonetheless wanting very comfy in pole place.
Nonetheless, it was the ultimate checkpoint the place the competitors began to warmth up. With 10k to go, there was solely a five-minute hole between the rivals, and though it appeared like You continue to had the race within the bag, Meng did the not possible. He managed to overhaul on the ultimate uphill to the best peak of the race — and of Hong Kong — Tai Mo Shan.
Meng took first place, ending in 10:16:56, and You took second in 10:35:11.
Tyler Inexperienced from the U.S. additionally had a robust race, climbing from twelfth to 3rd place by the 70k mark. From right here on, he managed to take care of his place and completed the race in 10:38:12, solely minutes behind You.
The 2024 Hong Kong 100k males’s podium (l-to-r): 3. Tyler Inexperienced, 1. Guang-Fu Meng, and three. Pei-Quan You.
2024 Hong Kong 100k Males’s Outcomes
- Guang-Fu Meng (China) – 10:16:56
- Pei-Quan You (China) – 10:35:11
- Tyler Inexperienced (U.S.) – 10:38:12
- Gui-Du Qin (China) – 10:58:22
- Guo-Min Deng (China) – 11:06:14
- Jia-Ju Zhao (China) – 11:11:23
- Tirtha Bahadur Tamang (Nepal) – 11:15:09
- Meng-Kai Bate (China) – 11:28:47
- John Ray Onifa (Hong Kong) – 11:37:32
- Kao Zhou (China) – 11:45:37