This year, to mark the 10-year anniversary, only finishers and survivors have been invited to run.

“It’s the longest, and I like the longest because it’s time on your own,” Han said. “The Lantau Trail last time was amazing. I had no pain, I wasn’t tired, I just felt fantastic.

“But it took me 220km to get to that point of feeling just completely at one. I’ve never had it before, it was the first time. I felt like I could keep on running.

“The bottoms of my feet were a little bit hot, but nothing else. When I got to that postbox, if someone said I had another 100km to run, I would have said yes.”

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Han, 50, started trail running six years ago and was immediately drawn to long distances. In her first three races, she ran 15km, 50km and then 100km. If you had asked her what she thought of the HK4TUC in those early days, she may have even been tempted then. But it is not all flow states and painless running.

When she started the Wilson Trail in 2019, still with 198km to go, she was struggling.

“I was suffering big time. I had to take five steps, stop, five steps, stop. I didn’t think about stopping, you can’t let yourself go down that path mentally,” she said.

“The people who come out and support me, I can’t give out for them. They stay up for two nights and then I just go home? I can’t do that.

“I just kept telling myself ‘keep pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing,’” she said.

For the 2021 HK4TUC, Han feels more prepared than ever. She has completed a number of tough personal challenges to sharpen her mind. In August, she “Everested” Tiger’s Head, above Discovery Bay where she lives. It was 25 laps up and down to gain the accumulative height of Everest. In the middle of summer, the heat was stifling and she had to sit in a pool of water each lap to cool down.

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“It was August, there’s the heat, but you can do anything if you change your mindset,” she said.

Han also coasteered 108km around the shore of Lantau Island. She then completed the “9 Buffaloes” in December, a challenge created last year by Hong Kong runners with no races to enter. It links the 100km TransLantau course and the Lantau Trail 70km in one non-stop run.

Han fell just 10km in, injuring her knee. She kept going, and with 20km to go, it painfully swelled up. She was faced with the choice to finish or to drop out and preserve her leg for the 298km Four Trails.

She finished.

“It was great mental training,” she said, and it had the added benefit of making her go to the physio and sort out other issues, too.

Han also completed a walking marathon carrying 6kg. Power walking is perfect for the HK4TUC and as the discipline required no running, it added to the mental challenge.

It has set her up for a second HK4TUC finish.

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“On the day, all the stars have to align,” Han said “You can’t control the weather or other variables. But I don’t feel any pressure at all, I’m doing it for myself at the end of the day.”

It is important to her to be a role model for other women. On her first HK4TUC, she did not think about the female aspect of the run but has reflected since.

“I hope another woman finishes too. I really hope so,” Han said. “Four Trails is hard, really really hard, and I think it puts some women off. But if they see other finishers, maybe they think if they train, they can do it too.”

The challenge has taken on a new meaning. Han is considering leaving Hong Kong and moving back to the UK.

“Whatever happens, I’m going to try to enjoy it,” she added. “I’m beginning to think it is the last time for me and it’s taken on a new level. I’m gonna be really, really sad. When I’m out on the trail, I have this feeling, I want to enjoy it so much.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m not a finisher, I’m just going to enjoy every single moment because it might be the last time.”