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Ada Li

The girlfriend of Hong Kong triathlete Mark Yu Shing‑him got down on one knee and proposed at the finish line of the Anta Guanjun Hong Kong 100, turning her gruelling 93km, 5,028 metre‑elevation debut into a double celebration.
Karen Zeto Suet‑ching, a full‑time nurse, crossed the finish line in 19 hours, 37 minutes and 49 seconds to claim a silver award despite racing with a completely torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Moments after finishing, she knelt down on one knee and presented Yu with a handmade ring, proposing to her boyfriend who had waited for her at every checkpoint, from the 5.45am start at Pak Tam Chung until midnight.
“I do not mind who does the proposing,” Zeto said. “If you love someone enough, it does not really matter who gets down on one knee.”
“Finishing HK100 has been my dream and it was such a meaningful moment that I wanted to share it with him,” Zeto added.












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Zeto has been drawn to the hills ever since she was young and really enjoys trail running.
“I started hiking the MacLehose Trail when I was a child and Hong Kong is my home,” she said. “Racing trail running here feels totally different. Even a UTMB race is less important than HK100 – if you gave me a UTMB entry and asked me to swap it for HK100, I wouldn’t do it.”
Her devotion was matched by Yu’s support.
“He showed up at every checkpoint, from the starting line at Pak Tam Chung until midnight, even the cold Gilwell Campsite stop in the middle of the night,” Zeto recalled about the race on Sunday.
“I could feel his full support the whole way.”
Yu, a full-time triathlete, also served as Zeto’s coach during her preparation, designing her training schedule and even planning her eating and sleeping routines.
He described her finish as a “miracle”.
“She only started running two years ago and the build-up was not enough to finish a 100km race, let alone achieve a good result,” Yu said. “But she trained every session with heart. I just wanted to help her finish her dream.”
Zeto’s journey has been anything but straightforward.

The 24-year-old tore her ACL while playing volleyball last August. She suffered a complete rupture, and at one point was struggling to walk. Yet she still chose to prepare for HK100.
“It was like a gamble, but I still wanted to try,” she said. “Luckily, I had someone who fully supported me and we made it together.”
She started running just two years ago, inspired by Yu, who finished second in the 10km at the Hong Kong Marathon in 2024.
She soon switched to trail running, drawn to it by her lifelong love of hiking, and quickly made her way through the local scene.
Zeto took part in several local trail races including the 30km event at last year’s HK100.
Balancing training with a demanding schedule as a nurse was another challenge.
“Sometimes she signed off at 10pm and had a morning shift at 6.45am the next day, but she still squeezed in runs after work,” Yu said. “I did not agree with this mode of training because it robbed her of rest time. We argued a lot, but in the end I respected her decision and we replanned the training schedule.”
For Zeto, running is as much a good thing mentally as it is physically.

“I really enjoy it,” she said. “After work, going for a run feels like a release. In the ward, your adrenaline is always high because something can happen at any moment. Running helps me calm down. And when I manage to fit in training in between shifts, I feel really strong and have a sense of achievement.”
Even with her looming ACL surgery, Zeto has no intention of slowing down.
She will be racing another trail event this weekend in Shing Mun. “I am so addicted now that I want to run as much as I can before my surgery, which will probably keep me off my feet for at least six weeks,” Zeto said.
After she has recovered, she hopes to return to HK100 with a stronger performance.
“I used to say this year’s HK100 would be my one and only 100km trail race, but now I am thinking of coming back,” Zeto said. “Maybe I will even get my boyfriend to do a trail race with me.
“This is the charm of trail running, not as fast-paced as the road race, the atmosphere there is so peaceful, runners help each other, you never feel enough,” Zeto added.


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Wedding bells follow women’s silver as Hong Kong 100 star pops question at finish line

Trail running and hiking

Karen Zeto proposes to her boyfriend after crossing the HK100 finish line. Photo: Karen Zeto and Mark Yu

Karen Zeto was happy to receive her boyfriend’s support during the race: Photo: Hong Kong 100 Ultra Marathon

Mark Yu’s teammate Wong Tsz-to (second left) was also at the checkpoints and finish line. Photo: Karen Zeto and Mark Yu

Extraordinary end to women’s Anta Guanjun Hong Kong 100 run as winners finish hand in hand

Slovakian Veronika Leng (left) and Vietnam’s Hau Ha won Saturday’s Anta Guanjun Hong Kong 100 race while holding hands. Photo: Handout

Qin Guidu, who was second 12 months ago, won the men’s race in 8:52.36. Photo: Handout.

Mainland China athlete Chi Lingjie was next home after the joint winners. Photo: Handout

Dakota Jones finished fourth in the men’s race. Photo: Handout

Chinese under-23 football team receive rapturous welcome home after AFC Asian Cup run

Kuai Jiwen (front) of the Chinese under-23 men’s football team hugging fans at Beijing Daxing International Airport on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua

Li Hao has seen a rapid spike in the number of followers on his Douyin account. Photo: Douyin/李昊也是奥斯卡

Sport

Hong Kong

Outdoor

Trail Running

Full-time nurse Karen Zeto completes gruelling race despite tearing her ACL last August, then asks triathlete Mark Yu to marry her


Full-time nurse Karen Zeto completes gruelling race despite tearing her ACL last August, then asks triathlete Mark Yu to marry her.


Wedding bells follow women’s silver as Hong Kong 100 star pops question at finish line

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Full-time nurse Karen Zeto completes gruelling race despite tearing her ACL last August, then asks triathlete Mark Yu to marry her

Full-time nurse Karen Zeto completes gruelling race despite tearing her ACL last August, then asks triathlete Mark Yu to marry her