SCOTT Sports athletes, Italy’s Elisa Desco and Marco De Gasperi braved the storm of the Lantau 2 Peaks race to place 4th and 7th in their respective races. The 4th race in the 2015 Skyrunner® World Series and the only race in Asia was always going to be a challenge due to the unique characteristics of trails in Hong Kong.

Steps feature greatly on the Lantau Island course and this alone provided a challenge for non-local runners. Add to this a force 3 cyclone, making the conditions on the 23 km course with nearly 4,000m vertical ascent and descent no less than grueling.

The top international competition was fierce, but reigning Skyrunning World Champion Elisa Desco, who placed 4th, had to fight some internal demons and worries as the slight runner was thrown around the trails by the ever increasing winds, “After the start I soon realized that my main objective was to reach the finish without being blown away. “

Desco, despite her fear of the conditions, fought an incredible battle to just miss the podium but keep herself in contention for the final race of the 2015 Skyrunner® World Series at the Limone Extreme on Lake Garda. Racing on Italian soil in what is to all intents and purposes a ‘home’ race, Desco will without doubt excel and give it her all for victory and the Sky Series Champion title.

Top skyrunner Marco De Gasperi was very hard on himself after the race saying, “I tried to manage until the end of one of the worst days in my career.” It is a testament to De Gasperi’s incredible career that he would consider a 7th place in a world-class race a ‘bad’ performance.

De Gasperi is now ranked 8th while Desco is placed an excellent 2nd on the Sky Series ranking, leaving a possible title wide open. In 2014, Desco finished 3rd in the final Series at Limone, while De Gasperi was an excellent 4th despite an injury due to the wet, slippery conditions.

Attention now turns to Limone Extreme and the 2015 Skyrunner® World Series finals where SCOTT Sports athletes Desco and De Gasperi will be joined by Frenchman François Gonon aiming for top positions - and no doubt excelling - in an ever-more competitive field.

Race results

Skyrunner® World Series ranking

SCOTT Sports