Chance for leading Hong Kong runners to claim once-in-a-lifetime training course and trip to Skyrunning World Championships in France
Action Asia and sponsors MSIG will offer the top-placed local man and woman after the four HK50 Series qualifying races a five-month coaching course and trip to Europe next year
Local Hong Kong runners will be competing for more than just first place in the up-and-coming MSIG HK50 Series.
Race organisers Action Asia Events (AAE) and the sponsors MISG Insurance will put the overall top-placed local man and woman through a five month coaching course, and then send them to France to compete in the Skyrunning World Championships in 2018.
“We will be supporting these winners at the world championships in France in June 2018, and cheering them on to even greater success on the world stage,” said MSIG Insurance chief executive officer Kenneth Reid.
The four qualifying races include the Hong Kong Island race on October 21 and the Lantau 50 on December 3 , which will double up as the Skyrunning Asian Championship.
The other two races are the Lantau VK on December 1, which is only two days before the Lantau 50 and is in fact a vertical kilometre and not a 50km race like the others, and Sai Kung 50 in February next year.
What’s more, the local winners of the Hong Kong Island race will be flown to Thailand for the MSIG Thailand Action Asia 50 on December 16, and given free entry.
The places up for grabs on the ‘Development Programme’, as it is known, will be judged on the same points system used by the International Skyrunning Federation.
Local runners are defined by having been born in Hong Kong, with expatriates living in Hong Kong or competitors who fly in from other countries for the races not eligible.
The training programme will be delivered by Joint Dynamics, which will include pre- and post-course testing to quantify developments in strength and conditioning.
“While participation and a strong performance at the Skyrunning World Championships is important, just as important is the athlete’s individual improvement and development,” AAE chief executive officer Jake McCauley said.
McCauley added that he is excited to provide an elite pathway for local runners that starts with local races and ends of the global stage.
