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Hong Kong Four Trails: Yang Feifei wrote list of excuses to not start the 298km ultramarathon, but knew in her heart she wanted to survive

  • Yang Feifei is one four women to survive the infamous HK4TUC, but just a week before the run she did not finish the Hong Kong 100

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Yang Feifei survives the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge, even though her aim was to complete three trails. Photo: Alan Li
Mark Agnew

Yang Feifei was just one week away from the 298km Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge (HK4TUC) when she dropped out of the Vibram Hong Kong 100km at 70km. Understandably, it was a blow to her confidence.

In December 2019, Yang was in a minor car accident, and she also suffered from an unexplained skin rash. The combination of the two affected her training, so she was undercooked.

“I wrote a very long email with plenty of excuses why I have to quit the HK4TUC before even starting,” Yang said. “In the end, the email was never sent to Andre [Blumberg, the HK4TUC organiser]. Maybe inside my heart I really wished to finish it.”

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The HK4TUC is a 298km run that links the major trails – MacLehose, Wilson, Hong Kong and Lantau trails – over Lunar New Year. There’s no support or checkpoints, though runners have help travelling between the trails. Runners who reach the end, marked by the postbox in Mui Wo, in sub-60 hours are “finishers”. Those that reach the end in sub-72 hours are “survivors”. Yang reached the end in 70 hours, and 40 minutes. She is one of four women to survive this year, along with Cheung Man-yee, Virginie Goethals and Sarah Pemberton.

But even as Yang, 32, from mainland China, started the race, she was in denial about her ability. She had run seven 100km races, but the only time she had run further than 100km was during last year’s HK4TUC, when she finished the MacLehose and Wilson Trails (combined 178km) before dropping out.

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