Hundreds set for Hong Kong's first solo 100km race
Next Saturday, more than 200 runners will begin an odyssey they are unlikely to forget. Their aim will be to finish Hong Kong's first solo 100-kilometre endurance race - the Vibram Hong Kong 100.
While the annual Trailwalker has been held for many years along the famed MacLehose Trail and is essentially a team challenge, next weekend's ultra-marathon will be a huge individual effort for those brave enough to take part.
And like the Trailwalker, the Vibram race will also take place along the scenic route of the MacLehose Trail, starting at Pak Tam Chung on the Sai Kung peninsula and finishing with theS descent from Hong Kong's highest peak at Tai Mo Shan. But unlike the Trailwalker, participants must finish within 32 hours, instead of the 48-hour cut-off time.
'It's going to be much tougher,' said 25-year-old architect Joseph Ng Sheung-yi, who has signed up for the race and took part in last year's Trailwalker. 'Because you are running individually, it is very easy to lose track of how fast or how slow you are going. It's going to be a challenge. The weather will make a big difference on how well I will do.'
Weather conditions are expected to be cool and dry - ideal for racing - but runners must also endure physical and mental exhaustion, sleep deprivation and other obstacles that go with endurance running. The top finishers are expected on Saturday night - about 11 hours after the run begins.
The race has attracted an elite field headed by one of Hong Kong's best endurance racers, Stone Tsang Siu-keung, with top runners William Davies, Jeremy Ritcey, K.K Chan and Chor Kin-law all signing up.
But all eyes will be on Lizzy Hawker, the 2006 world 100km women's champion and Britain's greatest endurance runner. She is expected to fly in next week to take part.
Hawker, who won an individual bronze and a team gold medal at the last world 100km championship in Gibraltar in November last year, has taken part in numerous endurance races, including the Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Bloc in Europe, where she is a three-time winner.
'She's racing in an event in the Himalayas this week but will arrive next week to take part. It's huge for us and we are humbled that she will be making an appearance,' co-race director Steve Brammar said. 'She won't have home advantage, but her form has been good and she finished ahead of our top runners at the Ultra Trail last year. Stone Tsang finished some two minutes behind her.'
The Vibram is organised by Hong Kong Trail Racing, run by Brammar and his wife, Janet Lee Shiaw-hwa.
