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Message from the Chair

Message from the Chair – May 2023

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Malcolm Phillips 5k Age Graded Race

Thank you to all of the runners who braved the extreme temperatures on Saturday, 20 May, to race the Malcolm Phillips 5k. It was lovely to catch up with all the AVOHK regulars, as well as lots of new faces.

Congratulations to our age-graded winners, Helen Leung (age-graded time of 20:54.2) and Michael Capper (age-graded time of 15:58.6).

A huge thank you too to our team of volunteers. Without their help, we would never be able to hold these races.

Asia-Pacific Masters Games, Korea

Hong Kong had some great results at the Asia-Pacific Masters Games in Korea earlier this month. Special mention must go to our own AVOHK athletes, Glory Yau Tsui-fan and Caren Lau Hoi-lam. Glory Yau won gold in all three of the W45+ sprints, setting new Games’ records in the 100m, 200m and 400m! Caren Lau won the W40+ pentathlon and long jump. Well done to both!

Elaine Hall
Chair, AVOHK

AVOHK Races

RESULTS: 2023 Malcolm Philips age graded 5k race

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Hong Kong’s hot and steamy summer weather welcomed back the 16th Big Mal 5K race on Bowen Road for the first time after the covid years in a real rather than virtual event. Congratulations to the 83 runners who took part and congratulations to the six winners of prizes in this age adjusted race:

In the ladies field:
1. Helen Leung
2. Gillian Castka
3. Catherine Leonard

In the men’s field: 
1. Michael Capper,
2. Kwok Wing Sing, 
3. Cheung Wai Lap

Also a big well done to David Woo who was first across the line and Yoona Min, the fastest lady. A big thank you to all who took part. We hope it was an enjoyable day for you. Also a big thank you to the crucial and very important volunteers who helped make it all happen.

All the results on the links below

Fastest Position Results
Age Adjusted Results

Message from the Chair

Message from the Chair – Apr 2023

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The Malcolm Phillips Age-Graded 5k 2023

The race is now open for entry. It will once again be held on the flat, fast Bowen Road course and all finish times will be age-graded, so it’s a great way to track your performance across the years. For full details of the race to happen on Saturday, 20th May, and to enter, please visit www.avohk.org

AGM and Sports Nutrition Presentation

The AVOHK AGM 2023 will be held at Café 8 in Central at 7pm on Thursday, 8th June.

The meeting will be followed by a buffet meal, and we are also delighted to host a presentation about Sports Nutrition by Lisa Tarquini. A UK-registered nutritionist with an MSc in Exercise and Nutrition Science, Lisa has had a long career working with athletes of all levels. She was Sport Nutrition Manager at the Hong Kong Sports Institute for 6 years and, during that time, she worked closely with athletes on their journey to Asian Games and Olympic success. Lisa will be giving a presentation about sports nutrition and she will be happy to address any questions which runners may have.

Full notice of the AGM, along with proxy and nomination forms will be sent out to Club members this week.

Elaine Hall
Chair

AVOHK Races

Malcolm Phillips Age-Graded 5K

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4pm, Saturday, 20th May 2023

Bowen Road

CLOSED FOR ENTRY!

The Malcolm Phillips Age-Graded 5K will be held on Saturday, 20th May at 4pm.  The start will be on Bowen Road, at the junction with Bowen Drive and, as in previous years, all results will be graded according to the Age Grade Factor tables at www.world-masters-athletics.com 

Open to runners aged 12 years – 112 years+ on 20th May!

What will I receive?        

  • Limited edition AVOHK souvenir
  • Personalised certificate for all finishers
  • Prizes for top 3 age graded men and ladies as well as spot prizes

For more details and to enter, see the link below.

In the event of a red or black rainstorm or T8 being issued by 12 noon on race day, the event will be cancelled.  We will attempt to reschedule but there will be no entry fee refund.

Enquiries to bigmalavohk@gmail.com

Masters Track&Field

AVOHK Members Break Multiple Records at Sha Tin Easter Grand Prix Meet

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On Monday 10th April, Nova Athletics hosted the Sha Tin Easter Grand Prix athletics meet at Ma On Shan sports ground. The event was split into two days, with younger runners competing on day one in Wan Chai, while the age graded Masters battled it out at the Ma On Shan sports ground on Day 2. The event was very well organized and featured electronic times (inside and outside of the track), in addition to the stadium-provided electronic timing system.

Two AVOHK members who recently returned from Torun Poland from the World Masters Athletic Championships Indoor, took part in the Easter Grand Prix event, each breaking 3x Hong Kong age category records.  Glory YAU, a W45 sprinter broke records in the 60m, 100m and 400m respectively.  Aldo KRIEL an M40 sprinter, broke the 60m, 100m and 200m outdoor records.  

YAU ran the 60m in an impressive time of 8.64s, breaking the previous W45 record of 10.62s by a significant margin. She also set a new record in the 100m, finishing with a time of 13.79s and breaking the previous record of 13.97s. YAU’s final record-breaking performance came in the 400m event, where she broke her own record  previously set in Japan in 2019, finishing in a time of 1:07.8, improving her previous W45 Hong Kong record of 1:09.73s.

KRIEL ran the 60m in an impressive time of 7.14s, breaking the previous M40 Hong Kong record of 7.8s – this was also a personal best for him in the 60m, and marginally faster than the 7.40s he ran indoors in Torun, Poland.  He also set a new record in the 100m, finishing with a time of 11.22s and breaking the previous record of 11.55s which has stood since 2014. KRIEL ran a world class indoor 200m in Poland of 23.74s, placing him 21st in the world masters ranking in the M40 category this year.  On Monday 10 April, he improved on this time and ran an impressive 23.31s, breaking the previous Hong Kong M40 record of 23.77s set in 2018.

Both YAU and KRIEL were crowned overall champions in their respective age categories of W45 and M40 at the Easter Grand Prix.

Congratulations to both Glory and Aldo and good luck with upcoming races.

Message from the Chair

Message for the Chair – Mar 2023

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AVOHK RACES – yes, finally we can start planning for Races in 2023. So please read on …

Meantime you can quickly pencil in your diaries from our Events area on this website!

Malcom Phillips 5k

The Malcolm Phillips 5k has been run as a virtual race for the last 2 years and we are excited to announce that it will be back as a physical race on Saturday, 20th May this year, on Bowen Road. It is an age-graded race, which means that runners’ actual finish times will be subject to an age-graded factor (see the Age Grade Factor tables on www.world-masters-athletics.com ). Age-graded times will then be used in the results and to award prizes. This format means that older runners can be competitive against younger runners and it is a great way too for our members to track and compare their own performance over the 5k distance across the years, or even decades. Entries for the Malcolm Phillips will open in April and all information will be available on our website and emailed to members.

Series of 5ks

AVOHK’s very popular 5k Series has a new format this year. As in past years, we will kick off with the Bowen Road 5k, which will be held on Saturday, 9th September. This will be followed 2 weeks later by a 5k race on the traditional Tai Tam course on 23rd September. The Black’s Link race will be held over a 5-mile course on 14th October, and we will finish the series with a relay race at South Bay on 21st October. Full details of the series will be announced on our website soon.

China Coast Marathon and Half Marathon

We will be applying for permits for the China Coast soon and will announce full details of the race next month.

HKAAA MEMBERSHIP

With HKAAA organising more track, road and trail races this year, it is a good idea to make sure that you have renewed your HKAAA membership. As an affiliated club, AVOHK gets priority entry into a number of HKAAA races, most notably the Standard Chartered Marathon. We do everything that we can to help secure spots for our members but, every year, we have a number of runners who apply through AVOHK but are ineligible due to their HKAAA membership having expired. Please visit www.hkaaa.com to check your membership status, and renew if necessary.

Elaine Hall
Chair, AVOHK

AVOHK Races

AVOHK 40th Anniversary Club Relay 

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Central Waterfront / 25th February 2023

The AVOHK 40th Anniversary Club Relay was held at the Central Waterfront on 25th February 2023. The race was for teams of 3, running legs of 3 kilometres, out to the Exhibition Centre and back, starting and finishing at Pier 10.

The weather was very kind, providing excellent running conditions, blue skies, cool and sunny.

13 teams lined up on the start line.

The first leg set off at a hectic pace, led away by RetoMerazzi of the Shek O Friday Gang. He maintained the pace and brought his team home in the lead, closely followed by Richard Hall of Chair and Co with Pili Hu of the Three Amigos just one second behind. Peter Hopper belying his years brought The Double Century Club back in fourth place. Close behind Peter was Tasha of The Lady Makes Three, running the fastest leg of the day by a female.

The second leg saw George Gaffney extend the lead of the Shek O Friday Gang, behind them, Steve Hampson ran a stormer and brought The Double Century Club up into second place. The rest of the field worked hard and generally held onto their positions.

On the third leg, Marco Mueller, with the fastest leg of the race, brought the Shek O Friday Gang home in first place with a massive lead of over 6 minutes. Frank Reihm, running out of his skin, with the fourth fastest leg of the day moved The Lady Makes Three up into second place and the first Mixed team to finish. Back down the field, David Woo ran hard and fast to move his team, SP Hop, up to eighth place with the second fastest leg of the day. It was a close-run race to avoid the Wooden Spoon, traditionally awarded to the last team to finish, but despite Ho Hei Ng, Team 138, running his teams fastest leg of the day, he could not catch Charita Mahilhig of The Lost Hikers – 1, who also ran her teams fastest leg of the day, the fifth fastest female on the day.

It was great to see so many new faces at the race, enjoying the excitement of racing and socialising with other club members in an AVOHK event. Hopefully, we will see them all back again for the next AVOHK Club run.

The venue proved to be a perfect location for the race, especially with the added entertainment of the dance troupe and the yoga class, putting us all to shame with their degree of flexibility.

Many thanks to our helpers on the day, John Howes, Norman Hui, John Fowler and Fe Mondala.

The rule with prizes was that no one could win more than one prize, so anyone in the winning teams was not eligible for the Fastest Leg prizes. 

Winning Male Team – The Shek O Friday Gang

Winning Mixed Team – The Lady Makes Three

Wooden Spoon – Team 138

Fastest Leg by a man (other than a team winner) – David Woo, SP Hop

Fastest Leg by a female (other than a team winner) – Elaine Hall, Chair and Co

Spot Prizes – 8th handover – Corinna Kit Mui Wong, Crazy Running Masters

                     18th handover – David Ng, Crazy Running Masters

                     28th handover – Frank Reihm, The Lady Makes Three

AVOHK-40th-Anniversary-Relay-Race-Result-SheetDownload
AVOHK-40th-Anniversary-Club-Relay-Womens-TimesDownload
AVOHK-40th-Anniversary-Club-Relay-Mens-TimesDownload
AVOHK Activities

2023 World Masters Short Course Cross Country Championships

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Bathurst, 17th – 19th Feb 2023

The 2023 World Cross Country Championships were hosted by Australia and held in the old gold mining town of Bathurst, famous for its motor racing circuit. About 3 hours’ drive from Sydney. Athletics Australia and the local organizing committee were responsible for the organization of these World Championships.

Olympian Chris Wardlaw, an AVOHK Life Member and a long-time Athletics Australia official, was not only a director on the organizing committee but also a competitor. A big effort was made to honour and respect the local indigenous culture and they were very much part of the opening ceremony.

One of the unique features of these championships was the introduction of the very first World Masters Short Course Cross Country Championships supported by World Athletics and World Masters Athletics. This comprised a 2-person mixed team relay. One 2k lap each and held on the Saturday and the individual races on the Sunday. For the 70+ age individual category a 4km race (2 laps) and 35 years to 69 years a 6km race (3 laps).

The organizers put on a very challenging and testing cross country course, comprising 2km laps which included steep up hills, fast downhill, a very muddy section and a trip through a local vineyard. A true challenge and not too much time to catch your breath.

Some 220 masters athletes toed the line for the Sunday individual races. A number of former Olympic athletes competed in these masters races, including local Australian running hero Steve Moneghetti who has recently turned 60 years of age and is still in great condition. Steve won the M60 Individual category and also the 50+ mixed relays.

Whilst Hong Kong did not have any masters athletes competing, AVOHK’s very own Chris Wardlaw was representing Australia in the M70 age category and finished a very credible 4th place.

Former AVOHK Member and previous winner of the Malcolm Phillips 5k, Craig Downie representing Australia had a very successful weekend winning gold in the 60+ mixed relays  with his partner and bagging a very hard-fought 5th place in the M60 individual category. Also in attendance as a spectator and looking very fit was AVOHK legend and Life Member John Douma who resides in Phuket these days. Also spectating and supporting the  runners was AVOHK Life Member and current M65 Hong Kong 5k masters track champion Frank McNamara.

All the results, including the main races, can be found here: 

https://world-masters-athletics.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/02/2023-WMA-Cross-Country-Championships.pdf

Hong Kong did have one Men’s senior representative in the Men’s open category that was Wilson Wong who finished a hard fought 93rd place. Well done to Wilson.

A big thank you to Athletics Australia and the local organizing committee for putting on a wonderful and unique 2023 World Cross Country Championships and hosting the very first World Masters Short Course Championships. 

Clockwise from above:
– Chris Wardlaw driving hard to the finish line
– Chris with M70 winner John Bermingham (2266)
– “Yes, a bit of mud on the course”

Featured photo: Former AVOHK member Craig Downie M60 (2223) battling hard in 6km individual race

Colin Whittington
AVOHK Vice-Chair

Message from the Chair

Message from the Chair – Feb 2023

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FINALLY – RACE RESULTS!

Congratulations to all our AVOHK runners who participated in various events at The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon earlier this month. It was great to see the AVOHK vests back out in the crowd again. Special mention must go to Rachel Sproston who was champion in the Women’s Master 2 category of the half marathon. Rachel was the 10k champion in the same age category at the last Standard Chartered race in 2021. It will be interesting to see which distance she chooses for the next event!

Gi Ka-man has continued to show excellent form and finished in 2nd place in the Men’s Masters 1 Full Marathon. He was also the first Hong Kong runner across the line in a field that included stiff competition from international invited runners. Ka-man is currently Hong Kong’s top-ranked marathon runner and we wish him every success in his overseas races this year.

Committee member Aldo Kriel had a great day out at the Island District Athletics Championships at the end of January, taking golds in the 35+ AG in both the 100m and 200m and breaking the championship records in both events!

Finally, AVOHK life member Chris Wardlaw represented Australia at the World Masters Short Course Cross Country Championships in Australia at the weekend and finished 4th in the M70 AG. You can read a full report of the race in an article by Colin Whittington who travelled down to cheer the runners on.

AVOHK RACES

Our main priority as a club is to provide opportunities to get our runners running. This has been very challenging over the last few years, but we finally have some good news.

Our outline plan for the year is for the ever-popular 5k series to return, with a fresh new format. Details will be announced on our website in due course, but we anticipate that it will run through September and October. We will also be working towards hosting our flagship event The China Coast Marathon and Half Marathon in early-2024.

The Malcolm Phillips 5k was our only race to continue throughout the pandemic in a virtual form and we are planning for it to return as a physical race this year.

Dave Smith has continued to organise a series of fun runs to celebrate our 40th anniversary year and the next one will feature some relay action on the central waterfront this Saturday, February 25. We hope to have some great photos to share from this.

Elaine Hall
Chair AVOHK

Awards and Recognition

Hong Kong 10k Championships

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Vaibhav Bhovarahan’s story

AVOHK Member Vaibhav Bhoovarahan runs his first 10k race in Tin Shui Wai on Jan 8, following the relaxation of COVID curbs

My preparation for the race consisted of training in longer intervals than what I would usually do, such as 4-km intervals. Additionally, on Thursday [Jan 5] which I felt was my last opportunity to run fast, I aimed to run quite quickly, just over my race pace of 8 km. I did this to roughly gauge how my body should feel when I run at this fast pace for the race. This was also a good way to check which stages during the run I had any issues in and if I could do something to prepare for it before race day.

On race day my day started early, taking the first train from Tung Chung to Tin Shui Wai. I took the 706 light rail line for the first time. I arrived at 7:05 to start at 7:45am and felt my heart start pumping. This left me with 30 minutes to warm up. I had never run a 10 km before and had a slight strain in my right Achilles tendon that had been bothering me for the past week, especially on the longer, faster runs.

I remember finishing my warm-up and walking to the starting line 5 minutes before the start time. Since I was classified as an elite runner, I had the privilege of being at the start line, but when I arrived 5 minutes before the start, almost all the runners were already lined up, so I spent those 5 minutes squeezing past people and trying to get as far ahead as possible.

I needed 39 seconds to cross the start line, so I spent a lot of energy in the first few hundred metres making my way through the pack and squeezing through the smallest gaps. Fortunately, the road widened and I was able to overtake many people before the first kilometre and was back among the other elite runners.

From then on, I continued my overtaking, trying to find the group of runners who were my pace or a little faster so I could go with them – it took me half the race to find that group.

But in hindsight, even though I didn’t have the perfect starting position, I honestly think it helped me to be further back from where I was supposed to be. I always felt like I was running faster when I was chasing someone, so it was an advantage for me to constantly have someone to catch up to.

As far as I remember, I wasn’t overtaken once, and I think especially in a 10k race, which for me was the longest race I’’ve ever done, I knew I was going to have mental struggles, but I was never passed and didn’t lose sight of anyone, which motivated me to keep running.

For kilometres 2-8 I was able to maintain a relatively comfortable pace of 3:45 – 3:50/km, which was well below what I had set for myself at the beginning of the race, which was 4:00/km, so I was happy, and to my surprise, I felt good! I didn’t feel like I was out of breath or struggling (even though some pictures said otherwise).

In the last 2 km I could see the finish from across the road and I got ready to push hard, but shockingly there was a slight hill that felt like forever. But I knew that eventually there would be a downhill portion, and so I kept pushing and I flew down the hill, probably because I didn’t have the energy to slow down.

For the last few hundred metres I had to go back up that same hill, and I gave it everything I had for that last kilometre and I crossed the line with a time of 37:34, with my last kilometre being the fastest of all at 3:33/km, but unlike the first 8 km, the last 2 km killed me and somehow I managed to stay on my feet.

For my debut 10 km at which I started in the middle and my goal was 40 minutes, I was very happy with my time even though I didn’t win.