HK100 favourite Tom Evans’ life changed after a beer-fuelled bet that led to a Marathon des Sables podium and a CCC win
- British army officer takes confidence from beating last year’s HK100 winner Qi Min at UTMB week, but owes his new career to a bold claim in boastful pub chat
Tom Evans is one of the favourites to win this weekend’s Vibram Hong Kong 100 (HK100), but the path that led him to ultra running is a unique one.
While most runners find the sport after transferring from another competitive activity, or at least after having an epiphany about their unhealthy lifestyle, Evans’ career started with a conversation in the pub two years ago.
“I had three army friends who did the Marathon des Sables (MDS) and finished in the top 300, which is pretty good out of a couple of thousand,” Evans said.
“After a couple of beers I started to say, ‘Come on guys, 300’s good but there are still 290 guys ahead of you. I think I could do better than that’.”
Evans’ confidence was not based on much. He had done an Iron Man as a one off, but aside from that did not have a history of taking part in endurance sport or much else to suggest extreme fitness, let alone a top 300 finish at the 250km multi-day ultra marathon.