Lantau Trail 70 records smashed by Yan Longfei, Lucy Bartholomew – who won women’s race despite wild dog biting her buttock
- Lucy Bartholomew bitten on buttock by dog in training but cruises to victory while China’s Yan Longfei takes nearly 90 minutes off men’s record
Not only did China’s Yan Longfei smash the Lantau Trail 70 course record with a blistering time of seven hours, three minutes and 35 seconds, he did it with “plenty of reserves left in the tank”.
“Honestly, I was running pretty relaxed because there was no one ahead of me or even close to me,” the 33-year-old from Shanghai said. “I was taking it easy and making sure I stayed healthy.”
Yan said he is not even close to peak fitness like he was in 2016 when he won the Hong Kong 100. But he spent the past year recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon and only resumed training in September this year.
Despite the rust and the fact it was his first attempt running the Lantau 70, he shattered the previous record of eight hours and 23 minutes by an astonishing 80 minutes – and even he was surprised.
“I knew the record and I expected to beat it, I thought I would run it in about eight hours,” he said. “It was also extremely hot.