Trail-running legend Scott Jurek returns to Hong Kong for Moontrekker

The last time Scott Jurek raced in Hong Kong, he was in his 20s and still a relatively unknown athlete outside the US running community. The year was 2002 and Jurek was part of the American Montrail Protrek team that won the city’s iconic 100km trail race, the Oxfam Trailwalker.

Fast forward 14 years and Jurek is set to return to Hong Kong. Now, aged 42, he is recognised worldwide as an ultrarunning legend and inspirational vegan athlete. He has won almost every major ultramarathon, starred in an international bestselling book (Born to Run, 2009) and has penned his own, the 2012 autobiography Eat & Run.

His teammates following him to the territory this time will be his wife Jenny, and their four-month-old daughter Raven. Both Jurek and his wife will be racing in the Barclays Moontrekker on October 14, a 43km overnight trail race on Lantau Island.

“I’m really looking forward to coming back,” says Jurek on the phone from his home in Colorado. “I’ve always been mesmerised by Lantau Island. It’s just a spectacular and amazing place. Plus, the trail running community [in Hong Kong] is really fun, and from what I hear has grown and grown. I think it’s fabulous that people are finding the trails and getting out into the mountains.”

The Moontrekker’s charity partner, The Nature Conservancy, had invited Jurek to join the race. Last year, race participants raised a total of HK$1.5 million for the non-profit environmental organisation.