The fifth edition of the Vibram Hong Kong 100k took place today, and China’s Yan Long-Fei (post-race interview) and Hong Kong’s Wyan Chow (post-race interview) go home with the respective men’s and women’s wins earned through commanding performances.
Below you’ll find our play-by-play summary as well as race results. As usual, we’ll be updating this article with additional results as well as links to HK100k-related articles, photo galleries, and race reports.
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2015 Vibram Hong Kong 100k Men’s Race
China’s Yan Long-Fei seemingly knew what he wanted and went after it from the get go, never running outside of the men’s top five after a short distance into the race. Purportedly a road runner with a 2:15 marathon PR turned trail runner only in the last year, Long-Fei made even, calculated progress to the front of the pack by a third of the way through the race. Up until somewhere before the 90-kilometer mark, he shared that lead with eventual second place Sondre Amdahl, who hails from Norway. At 90k in, however, Long-Fei had broken Sondre, gained a five-minute lead, and went on to shave off a little more than two minutes from the 2012 course record of 9:54:57, set by Ryan Sandes. With his bold runs in the last year through Asia and his leg speed, it will be interesting to see where he is able to take his running on the trails.
Long-Fei Yan, 2015 Vibram Hong Kong 100k men’s champion. Photo: iRunFar/Koichi Iwasa
Like Long-Fei, Sondre Amdahl took it out hard and kept his foot on the gas all the way through the race. Sondre ran no lower than eighth place after the initial out-of-the-gate hustle, and he very quickly made his way into the top position, which he shared with Long-Fei for nearly half the race. Though the pair was clearly running and working together, at times one leading the other before reversing, Sondre eventually lapsed back by about five minutes between the 83k and 90k aid stations. In the last 10k, he gave up another couple minutes, finishing about eight minutes back of Long-Fei, but far set apart from the rest of the field. If this is any indicator of of Sondre’s season, 2015 is going to be a very good running year for him.
Sondre Amdahl celebrates second place. Photo: iRunFar/Koichi Iwasa
For the first 30k, France’s Antoine Guillon ran in a completely opposite style from that which his Euro racing brethren is wont to do. He took off easily, and spent the first third of the race way outside of the top 10, barely in the top 30, even. It wasn’t until 36k into the race that he arrived to a checkpoint inside the top 10. However, by the 52k aid station, Antoine moved into the third position, a spot he would maintain with seeming ease and a quiet smile all the way to the finish.
Antoine Guillon, 2015 Vibram Hong Kong 100k third place. Photo: iRunFar/Koichi Iwasa
Cyril Cointre, another Frenchman and Antoine’s WAA Ultra Equipment teammate, finished fourth while Jordi Gamito, of Spain, made it inside the top five.
2015 Vibram Hong Kong 100k Men’s Results
- 1. Yan Long-Fei (Salomon) – 9:52:42 (post-race interview)
- 2. Sondre Amdahl (Gore) – 9:59:46 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- 3. Antoine Guillon (WAA) – 10:30:02
- 4. Cyril Cointre (WAA) – 10:54:34
- 4. Jordi Gamito – 10:54:34
- 6. James Roberts – 10:56:33
- 7. Wataru Iino – 11:05:33
- 8. Santosh Tamang – 11:21:24
- 9. Siu-Keung (Stone) Tsang – 11:24:08
- 10. Koji Yamaya – 11:26:51
2015 Vibram Hong Kong 100k Women’s Race
Like her men’s-champion counterpart, Hong Kong’s Wyan Chow went out steady and kept her pace all day. In the first half of the race, she toyed around with positions inside the top five. Like steady clockwork, she moved into second position before 36k and the lead position by 65k. From then on, she maintained a moderate and successful separation from the rest of the women’s field. Her 12:34:56 represents the third-fastest time run on this course. Last fall, Wyan set a local record by being the first woman to run under 13 hours on a mixed team at the Oxfam Trailwalker 100k, a famous and longstanding Hong Kong team ultramarathon. Clearly, her upward trajectory is just getting going.
Pui-Yan Wyan Chow, 2015 Vibram Hong Kong 100k women’s champion. Photo: iRunFar/Koichi Iwasa
China’s Dong Li was the most aggressive (but in the end still successful) runner of the day. She ran off the front from the get go, setting herself minutes apart from the other women through the 65k point where she was overtaken by eventual winner Pui-Yan. From there, though Dong had lapsed to second, she stayed with it and no other woman could touch her heavy-duty effort. She’s another new trail ultrarunner, but it seems like we’ll be seeing more of her.
Dong Li flies to second place. Photo: iRunFar/Koichi Iwasa
Lisa Borzani, of Italy, rounded out the women’s podium. If Dong had the most aggressive performance, then Lisa had the most consistent. Though the women in front of and behind her shifted, she stayed in the third position through every race checkpoint except the first. Though she did have to fight off a late-race surge by fourth place Marie McNaughton, who is New Zealander living in Hong Kong and who finished just 25 seconds back, she held onto that podium spot. Nicole Lau finished in fifth place.
Lisa Borzani, 2015 Vibram Hong Kong 100k third place. Photo: iRunFar/Koichi Iwasa
2015 Vibram Hong Kong 100k Women’s Results
- Wyan Chow – 12:24:56 (post-race interview)
- Dong Li (Salomon) – 12:39:54 (post-race interview)
- Lisa Borzani (Vibram) – 12:50:38
- Marie McNaughton – 12:51:03
- Nicole Lau – 13:37:32
- Stephanie Case – 13:42:45
- Karen Hung Shee Yueng – 14:25:47
- Emily Woodland – 14:31:43
- Nadia Koucha – 14:45:58
- Montse Perez – 14:53:48
2015 Vibram Hong Kong 100k Articles, Race Reports, and More
Articles and Photo Galleries
- Ultra-Trail World Tour’s video trailer
- iRunFar’s “A Runner’s Perspective” photo album (Facebook)
Grand Trail’s photo-heavy article[broken link removed]Grand Trail’s photo gallery[broken link removed]- Bonus: iRunFar Editor Bryon Powell’s tourist photos from Hong Kong
Race Reports
- Sondre Amdahl (2nd man)
- Antoine Guillon (3rd man) (Facebook post in French)
- Stephanie Case (6th woman)
Asia’s Trail’s Race Video
Thank you so much to Koichi Iwasa of DogsorCaravan who made our live coverage of the Hong Kong 100k possible!
