Samantha Chan, ultrarunner from a Hong Kong housing estate whose modesty belies her achievements

Almost any runner who has notched up results similar to Samantha Chan’s this year would be pleased with themselves. She finished as the first local Hong Kong female in the TransLantau 100 (a gruelling 100km trail running event on Lantau Island) and clocked an impressive time of 14 hours and nine minutes in the Hong Kong 100 (another 100km ultra endurance race), coming in as the 13th female overall.

Her success has led to sponsorship from sportswear brands Hoka and Julbo, yet she insists she’s not an elite athlete.

She describes herself as “slow” and says her favourite foods are ice cream and French fries. Her weekly mileage, she adds, depends on how lazy she’s feeling.

Chan, however, has a running pedigree that sees her get results even with this “flexible” training schedule. She was a schoolgirl track star – her 400m personal best of 65 seconds at the age of 13 is impressive, but Chan shrugs it off, like she does all of her achievements. “I was average and, at 13 years of age, does it really count for anything now?”

Track is still in Chan’s blood, however – she continues to train twice a week at Watsons Athletic Club in Fo Tan, and is very proud of its heritage. The club’s students make up half of Hong Kong’s athletics team and some have gone on to win international honours.