Trail Mix | ‘Those mountains call out to me’: Filipino trail runner aims for 75km and 44km back-to-back races
- Domestic helper grabs every opportunity to run and will compete in The Green Race @ Tai Po this weekend
- She runs at least an hour every day so she can ‘feel the burn’
Dolly Vargas Salles will be running farther than she has ever in a race this weekend. In fact, more than two and a half times as far.
On Saturday, the 40-year-old mother of three boys will compete in the 75-kilometre MSIG Ultra @ Tai Po, organised by Green Race. The next day, she will return to the start line to run the 44km distance, completing a total of 119km.
She is one of 12 participants who will be competing in both races across the two days.
The longest distance Salles has previously completed is 45km, which she ran earlier this year in the MSIG Braemar Hill race, also hosted by Green Race.
“As a domestic helper, it’s really hard to get a proper training,” said Salles, who is originally from Cataduanes Island in the Philippines and moved to Hong Kong in the summer of 2017 after several years in mainland China. She works in Discovery Bay.
“I always grab the opportunity every time I’ve got a chance to run, whether it is short or more than an hour-long, especially on working days,” she said.