-
Advertisement
OpinionBlogs
Jeanette Wang
Jeanette Wang

Trail Tales | Ultra crazy: The North Face 100, Hong Kong's latest 100km race

The event is the fourth 100km trail race to be held in Hong Kong and caters to a growing demand for such endurance challenges

Reading Time:7 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
The eight peaks on Pat Sin Leng tops off a challenging course for the inaugural The North Face 100 Hong Kong trail race. Photo: Jeanette Wang
Jeanette Wang
The eight peaks on Pat Sin Leng tops off a challenging course for the inaugural The North Face 100 Hong Kong trail race. Photo: Jeanette Wang
The eight peaks on Pat Sin Leng tops off a challenging course for the inaugural The North Face 100 Hong Kong trail race. Photo: Jeanette Wang

With marathons being struck off an exponentially growing number of people’s bucket lists worldwide, a new item on life’s to-do list has emerged: the ultra-marathon.

Ultras are broadly defined as anything longer than the marathon distance of 42.195km, but perhaps one of the more popular distances competed over is 100km. It is a whole number and the first in triple-digits, after all.

Advertisement
So crazy is the demand for century races that Hong Kong is set to have its fourth this year: The North Face 100 Hong Kong on Dec 14. It joins the Vibram Hong Kong 100, Lantau 100 and Oxfam Trailwalker on the territory’s increasingly packed trail running calendar.

The course profile makes it the hilliest and most challenging course in Hong Kong on offer yet. Starting and finishing at Tai Mei Tuk in the New Territories, runners face over 6,300 meters of cumulative elevation gain on the 100km course, and 3,075 meters on the 50km course, including Hong Kong’s highest peak Tai Mo Shan.

Advertisement
“On a pro-rata basis, the course is hillier than the Ultra-Trail Mount Fuji (9,000 metres cumulative elevation gain over 161km) and significantly hillier than the Oxfam Trailwalker (estimated to be 4,500 meters of elevation gain),” says race director Keith Noyes, who also organises the King of the Hills, Hong Kong's longest running trail race series.
The 100km route takes in the most scenic spots in the New Territories and will be Hong Kong's most challenge 100km course yet. Photo: TNF
The 100km route takes in the most scenic spots in the New Territories and will be Hong Kong's most challenge 100km course yet. Photo: TNF
Advertisement
Select Voice
Select Speed
1.00x