Lantau 50: Salomon Wettstein and Hanah Fjelddahl take top honours as ‘ultra sky marathon’ returns to Hong Kong after two years
- One of the staple events of the Hong Kong trailing running scene, the race is held for the first time since 2019 after being disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic
- Runners endure a challenging number of vertical climbs as they tackle Lantau and Sunset peaks in one of Hong Kong’s iconic races
Swiss runner Salomon Wettstein and Hong Kong-born Japanese Hanah Fjelddahl took top honours in the men’s and women’s races for the Lantau 50, which was held for the first time since 2019.
Wettstein completed Sunday’s event – also known as the “ultra sky marathon” – in six hours, 46 minutes and 23 seconds, beating out the challenges of Hong Kong’s Wong Wai-hung (7:01:18) and France’s JB Martenet (7:03:52), with Australia’s Henri Lehkonen (7:09:41) and Wong Kwok-wai (Hong Kong, 7:18:08) fourth and fifth respectively.
Fjelddhahl crossed the finish line in 8:14:40, ahead of Irish runner Claire Nesbitt (8:18:24), Angelika Hahn (Germany, 8:19:32) and UK’s Nicola Han (8:21:37).
“Going up Lantau Peak and looking in front I could see JB was starting to cramp up,” said Wettstein. “He really pushed hard, but probably I think he pushed a little too hard and then going down I passed him and felt great at that point. Then I must say going up Sunset Peak I also was suffering, started to get a bit of cramps.”
Lantau 50 is the second trail running race of the Hong Kong 50 series with 16km, 27km and 54km distances but the popular event has not been contested since 2019 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The field comprised runners who were living in Hong Kong.
