HK4TUC: with the monkey off her back – literally – Han ‘can’t not be part’ of 298km ultra after building mental strength in 100-milers
- Nikki Han is ‘running home’ to Lantau in the 298km Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge, but will have to deal with nosy primates and hallucinations
Nikki Han will join the band of runners hell-bent on covering 298 kilometres non-stop at the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge (HK4TUC) – but it’s not the distance that scares her.
Indeed, Han got the fright of her life when she was training near Tai Po road and a monkey jumped on her back to try to steal an apple from her bag.
“It was literally on me. It was really scary. The girls were just over there and I tried to scream and just no words came out,” she said, adding that when the event actually starts she will be able to forget about the monkeys, hopefully.
The HK4TUC, which starts on February 6, connects all of Hong Kong’s major trails – MacLehose, Wilson, Hong Kong and the Lantau Trail. There are no check points and runners cannot receive support, although they are allowed help between the trails. If you reach the end, marked by the Mui Wo letter box, in under 60 hours you are a “finisher”. If you complete it in under 75 hours you are a “survivor”.
Han has finished a number of hundred-miler (161km) races, such as the West Highland Way in Scotland and the Ultra Marathon de Mont Blanc in 2018, and during all of them the weather was dismal.