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 Colossal jostle: Competitors stream from the start line |
Running machine Ching Ying-wai outdid one of the biggest fields ever to take the 2001 Dowman Road Race over Pak Tam Chung and High Island Reservoir on January 13.
Run in excellent cool and dry conditions, some 1,150 competitors swarmed the start line for the 12-kilometre race, set off by Police Sports Council Chairman Harry Blud. The record turnout made for a competitive race, particularly in the men's open category with the first 25 runners all crossing the finish line in under 49 minutes.
Overall winner was Police Constable Ching of Police Tactical Unit Headquarters, in a time of 41'39" - just 30 seconds off the record set by PC Wong Wing-kuen of the Airport Security Unit in 1998.
Two records fell to Men's Veteran II runner Ho Kam-fuk of Border District and Women's Senior runner Flora Lee Yin-ping of the Police Training School. Civilian cook Ho smashed the old Vet II record in 43'40", second overall! Lee likewise ran an excellent race, easily breaking the Ladies Senior record in 52'40".
The Men's Senior category went to PTU HQ Sergeant Chow Chi-keung in 44'52" and the Men's Veteran I category was won by Central District Senior PC Ko Fuk-ming in 45'58". In the old man's category Veteran III, Eastern Deputy District Commander Stuart McDouall had a strong run in a time of 51'45".
Competing in the Women's Open category were more ladies than ever before - over 100. The winner was Kowloon City District Woman PC Chung Pui-shan in 55'39", closely followed by PTU HQ Acting SGT Ho Kit-ying.
Guest of Honour Douglas Lau Yuk-kuen, Deputy Commissioner (Operations), presided over the trophy presentation ceremony after the race, assisted by Dr Sheilah Hamilton, Forensic Scientist and former Government Chemist, who presented the winning ladies trophies. This was a particularly memorable occasion for Dr Hamilton who, after many years of running the race, was set to leave Hong Kong for good. Incidentally, she completed this year's race in under an hour.
Physical Training officers Thomas Cheung and George Kwok with their band of volunteers sorted out the race results, and 66 individual trophies and eight sets of team trophies were presented. The coveted Oldest Senior Officer trophy went to Assistant Commissioner (Information Systems) Peter Halliday.