Hong Kong trail runner Paul Fournier on how he left kayaking and found the hills outside the city
- The 29-year-old Frenchman used to be a junior national kayaker back in his homeland, but gave up the sport because of burnout
- After moving to Hong Kong, Fournier found trail running as a way to make friends but also found out he had a natural talent for it
Before he became one of Hong Kong’s best trail runners, Paul Fournier had a rather different athletic career.
The 29-year-old is a former French junior national team kayaker, his best finish a 10th place at the World Junior Championships in 2011. He left home at 15 to pursue the sport, but left it behind in 2012 to focus on his job and career.
“Honestly, I think I had just had enough of it,” said Fournier, of a gruelling lifestyle of travelling, competing and days filled with two to three training sessions, on top of regular school work.
“And so after that I stopped sports altogether for awhile. I think I did a bit too much, too quickly. Starting kayaking when I was eight years old, into my 20s, so 12 years I spent a lot of time on the water.”
Fournier needed to decompress from what was incredibly demanding schedule so early into his life, and wanted to do normal things, such as eat what he wanted and drop plans to hang out with his friends.
