AN intrepid team of 12 runners will line-up for the start of one of the most gruelling races imaginable in the BUPA 24-hour track race.
From 10 am tomorrow the runners, who include a pair of Chinese and a Japanese invitee, will pound the outdoor 400-metre track at the Hongkong Sports Institute and see how far they can cover within the 24-hour period.
Ultra-distance running is being hailed as the new sport of the 90s and has superseded the marathon as the ultimate test of an athlete's level of fitness and endurance.
And over the 24-hour period, the best runners can expect to run between 180 and 240 kilometres - or a combined distance of five marathons.
Organised by the Athletic Veterans of Hongkong, the track race was first established in 1982 and has been held in the territory every two years since.
A strong line-up, including China's Tan Quinshan and Luo Gongcheng and Japan's Tatch Muramatsu, will take up the challenge as well as Hongkong's leading talents, Wynnie Wu-Cosgrove and Nick Brooke.
