Charity run adds 20km to Trailwalker
Jayne So Chi-wing, 23, has had a lifestyle change. She consumes more protein and carbohydrates, and goes to bed earlier. So, a law student, is preparing for a daunting challenge tomorrow: running 120km non-stop.
She and four others plan to run the 70km Lantau Trail and the 50km Hong Kong Trail to raise money for a charity helping the mainland's rural poor - and to show the public that young people aren't all slogan-chanting radicals. 'Hopefully I can finish within 28 hours but, to play safe, I have set my goal to within 30 hours,' she said.
The challenge, longer than the annual 100km MacLehose Trailwalker, will begin early tomorrow at Mui Wo. After completing the Lantau Trail - which includes two of the city's highest peaks - they will take a ferry to Central then go to The Peak and tackle the Hong Kong Trail, finishing at Big Wave Bay on Sunday.
Five people, including So and two doctors, aim to run the full distance, while four will join for part of the challenge. So has recruited 10 others, including her parents, to provide food, drinks and other necessities.
So hopes the effort will encourage the public to donate money to the Wu Zhi Qiao or Bridge to China charity, which builds bridges in the most impoverished mainland villages.
She also wants to show that there are young people in Hong Kong who choose a different path from their radical counterparts. 'There are many discussions on people born in the 1980s. They are largely regarded as repulsive and radical. It makes my heart sink. They don't represent every one of us.'
Instead of joining protests, she spends time on making herself more competitive.
The team members, mostly in their early 20s, have raised HK$70,000 from friends and relatives for the charitable foundation.
