First female Hongkonger to finish 298km Four Trails cries out with pain on final descent of ‘beautiful journey’
- Cheung Man-yee becomes the first Hong Kong-born woman to ‘finish’ the infamous Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge
- The 32-year-old reaches Mui Wo postbox in 57 hours and 51 minutes, despite battling serious knee pain
Cheung Man-yee was “crying out with pain” with every step down Sunset Peak – but history beckoned, and she pushed through it.
In doing so, the 32-year-old became the first female Hong Kong-born runner to “finish” the infamous 298-kilometre Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge (HK4TUC).
“I was running down the slope, even though my knees were very painful,” Cheung said. “And then when I reached the bottom. I suddenly had a lot of strength. I was running as fast as five-minute kilometre pace. I knew it was just 2km left.
“The last few kilometres, I could see the sun going down. I remembered my support crew said they expected me before it was dark, so I knew I had to keep running and not to disappoint them.”
The HK4TUC links all four of Hong Kong’s major trails. Participants run the MacLehose, Wilson, Hong Kong and Lantau Trails in reverse. There are no checkpoints or support allowed on the trails, though runners are allowed help travelling between the trails. This year, they also had to run from the end of the Hong Kong Trail to the Lantau Island ferry.