‘Breaking 50’ on Hong Kong Four Trails in Salomon Wettstein’s sights as he plans every inch of 298km challenge
- Swiss runner approaches Hong Kong Four Trails with his head, not his heart, drawing enjoyment from hitting specific, well-planned targets
- He hopes to ‘break 50’, three hours faster than the record, and six hours faster than his time in 2018
Salomon Wettstein is leaving nothing to chance as he attempts to become the first person to run the 298km Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge (HK4TUC) in under 50 hours.
He has planned every conceivable variable down to the finest detail, from pacing, the weight of his shoes for different trails and terrains, to nutrition for different weather and training volumes. He has vast spread sheets that show he is treating the run as an exact science.
It is in stark contrast to many other HK4TUC runners, who talk about how it feels to be in nature, in tune with their bodies. The likes of Tom Robertshaw, the record holder at 53 hours, does not run with a watch or have any data – he runs fast when he feels good, slow when he feels tired, eats when he is hungry and drinks when he is thirsty.
“This is the way I work,” said Wettstein, a Hong Kong-based Swiss. “Sometimes I think it would be great to be like Tom, just embrace it, not think about it and be successful in it anyway. But I have to accept that’s just not me.”
The HK4TUC links all four major trails in Hong Kong – the 100km MacLehose, the 78km Wilson Trail, the 50km Hong Kong Trail and the 70km Lantau Trail — over Lunar New Year. Runners are not allowed any support and there are no checkpoints, though they do have help travelling between the trails.
If they reach the postbox in Mui Wo on Lantau, which marks the end, in under 60 hours they are deemed a “finisher”. If they reach it in under 72 hours, they are a “survivor”. Only 16 people have finished, including Wettstein who recorded 56 hours and 14 minutes in 2018.
