Triathlete Ivan Lo gets off his bike to take 10km title
Victory the perfect preparation for upcoming gruelling Ironman event in the Philippines
There was a hop, maybe even a little bit of a skip, and most definitely a jump for joy as Hong Kong's Ivan Lo Ching-hin crossed the line for his breakthrough victory in the elite 10 kilometre race.
The 26-year-old is better known as one of Hong Kong's leading triathletes, but has proved himself more than able to mix it up with the 10km specialists over the years and boasts two second-place finishes (2012, 2014) on his resumé.
"That's my new style of crossing the line," said Lo. "It's just a little bit of fun."
Lo finished in 33:17, as Yu Hin-wa (33:37) and Man Siu-kit (33:41) helped make it a 1-2-3 for Hong Kong.
"To be honest, the field was a little bit weaker today with no Clinton [Mackevicius, winner of the past two editions] and a few other good runners missing," said Lo.
"I don't want to sound like I am saying the field was slow, there was a lot of young talent in behind me that are still developing. I was just lucky I was able to use my experience a little bit more and I am very happy to have finally won here."
Lo was also thankful that he was able to maintain his energy levels after becoming another member of Hong Kong's sick parade in the past week.
"It seems my family and most of the people I know have had the flu so I have been on Panadol and just hoping for the best," said Lo.
"I am still having cold sweats so I am thankful, and lucky, to win today.
"I felt a bit crampy and had to drink lots of water so I am surprised a bit that I won. But I'll take it for sure."
But he took a break from training before Christmas, which might not exactly look the ideal preparation for yesterday's event until you hear the reason why.
"I've been slowly tapering my training now towards the Ironman 70.3 in Subic Bay [Philippines] in March. That is my main aim and this has been a test on how I am coming along," said Lo.
"To get out and win here shows I am on the right track so I now just want to keep improving."
Lo also revealed he's been turning more of his attention to coaching as he looks to develop local athletics.
"I've been getting funding from the government for a long time and I wanted to give something back to the community," said Lo, who runs the Specialised Elite Coaching junior programme.