Oxfam Trailwalker: Runners face second night on the trail after ‘horrific’ experience in the dark and rain
- The cut off for the famous 100km is 48 hours, and runners at the 40km mark now will certainly be facing another night out in the New Territories
Beef and rice and home-made millionaire’s shortbread may not be the traditional food for an endurance athlete, but for Oxfam Trailwalker competitors Nonstop it represented a welcome meal break at Shing Mun Reservoir on Saturday. They need all the moral support they can get after surviving the previous night’s heavy rain and near zero visibility.
The popular stop at the barbecue area is around 40km from the finish line of the 100km MacLehose trail in Yuen Long, which started in Sai Kung on Friday. With so much course left, the runners there now will almost certainly be facing a second night out.
“It was horrific last night, it was absolutely horrific as it was pouring down with rain and there were mud streams,” said Nonstop team member Sharmali Arumugathasan.
“We are behind on our time because of the rain last night, we were hoping for around 30 to 35 hours. The rain set us back two hours last night as there was no visibility at all.”
Support teams of friends, families and colleagues have set up barbecues and massage areas for teams who have aims of finishing the route in around 35-40 hours, importantly aiming to avoid a second full night on the trail.
Nonstop have plenty of support from colleagues at business information provider Acuris, with another group set to join the team for the final 25km.