“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.

If they reach the end – marked by a green postbox in Mui Wo – in less than 60 hours they are a “finisher”. If they reach the end in under 72 hours, they are a “survivor”.

“I thought if I wanted to do it faster or finish within 60 hours, that was not very realistic,” she said. “Last time, I had better physical fitness. I thought I had failed to finish because I was not strong enough, or my fitness was not good enough. But now I’ve found there is other stuff that is more important.

“Now I have experience. Last time, I made mistakes and didn’t do it perfectly. This time, I tried my best to avoid the same mistakes. I got lost a few times last time, my time management was not good. Sometimes I stayed to rest too long, and my speed was not very consistent.”

Cheung also trained at a very low intensity, but high volume. It had been almost a year since she had run when she entered the HK4TUC with three months’ notice. After her fellowship, she could barely run 10km without tired legs or getting out of breath. So, she ran every single day for three months, but never pushing herself too much.

“I sometimes asked myself, ‘Should I train harder, run more or push myself more?’ But I knew I’d get injured or I wouldn’t recover. I tried to optimise my training to a level I would improve but not enough to get injured,” Cheung said.

The weather also helped. In 2020, there was torrential rain and Cheung twisted her ankle during the MacLehose. She finished the first 100km faster this time, and was moving well on the Wilson Trail too.

“I tried to keep myself optimistic and keep myself going, not too fast or too slow, and I was careful not to sprain my ankle,” she said. “I was patient and I believed in myself. And so, when I ran along the second trail I started to think there was a chance for me to do better a second time.

“I worried a bit I was going too fast. I worried the first trail was too fast, and I thought on the second trail I would blow up. It turned out I didn’t.”

Her pacing was not her only doubt.

“When I was running in the Wilson I thought to myself a lot. I thought I could not do it, I really thought I couldn’t,” Cheung said. “But on the other hand, I tried to [convince] myself I can do it. I told myself that God had given me enough strength to do it.”

By the time she reached the final trail, the Lantau Trail, Cheung was happy. She had caught the 3am ferry but was not tired. In fact, it meant she had plenty of time to complete the final 70km and become a finisher.

She flew through the first few kilometres of trail on Lantau. But when she hit the concrete catch water, she could not run. The flat hard surface, the wind and the kilometres already in her legs meant she walked. Eventually, she reached Fan Lau where there was a noodle shop. Replenished, she ran on and made Tai O on her target time.

With just Hong Kong’s second- and third-highest peaks left, Cheung began to believe that finishing was within her grasp. After the painful final descent and the last burst of energy with 2km to go, she was met by an expectant crowd at the postbox.

“I was very happy but I kind of did not know how to feel,” she said. “There were so many people watching me and waiting for me, I didn’t know how to respond. A bit of me couldn’t believe I had just made history.”

“I think next year someone will break my record, I am sure. There will be some faster or stronger woman. For me, I am happy with my result already,” Cheung added.

“It is a beautiful and magical journey. It is so long that I have done something that has made me so excited and so happy.

“It had been my dream two years ago as well. And so, I was really happy my dream has come true and happy that I won’t have to do it again.”