Trail runner Scott Jurek answers 10 questions ahead of Hong Kong night race

One of the world’s fastest marathoners of all time, Scott Jurek has made his first trip to Hong Kong in 14 years to compete in the Barclays Moontrekker on Lantau Island on Friday. The 43km overnight race will begin at 8.30pm in Mui Wo, make a loop of the Chi Ma Wan Peninsula, skirt Sunset Peak and scale the 934-metre high Lantau Peak, before a long downhill finish to Pui O.

Jurek, who is participating in the Moontrekker to support the race’s charity partner The Nature Conservancy, was last in Hong Kong as part of the winning team for the 2002 Oxfam Trailwalker 100km race. His running exploits and vegan lifestyle have inspired many worldwide. We managed to grab hold of the legendary American ultrarunner to ask him 10 quick questions related to the sport.

We asked Jurek his preferences:

Trail or road? I have to go trail because it’s my first love of running.

Uphills or downhills? I’d got to go downhills because I’ve always loved downhill running and really honed that skill over the years.

Night run or day run? I mostly run during the day so I got to go with day running on that one. I don’t spend a lot of time night running unfortunately, although on the Appalachian Trail I did plenty of that.

Intervals or long runs? I’m an ultrarunner so I guess I’ll say long runs for that one.