Trails And Wild Boars Inspire Road Runners at the Hong Kong Island Hike _ Run
Press Release / 01.11.2021
With few road running events approved, 24-year-old Naomi Fung Pui Yan was getting a bit bored after doing over 30 road races so she decided to enter Sunday’s Hysan Island Hike & Run at Tai Tam, then went on to win the overall women’s title, finishing 2 minutes in front of previous race winner Wong Mei Yan (Salomon).
“This was my first trail race ever, having completed over 30 road races with a PB in the half marathon in 1:25, and I thought why not give it a try as something different. Running on the road does get a bit boring, so I wanted to do something else and randomly entered. Definitely, the small rocks on the ground, the technical bits, put me outside my comfort zone as I was a bit nervous I might fall. I was much more comfortable in the flat, paved sections. I was paying attention to the technical section around the intermediate reservoir and looked up and saw a wild boar which surprised me, but it ran off. I’ll be wanting to try Lantau50 or Sai Kung 50 next, but maybe not the full 50 as I still need to practice a bit more on the trails,” said overall Women’s 22km winner Fung, winning in 2 hrs 44 minutes 13 seconds.
Local Hong Kong runner Chan Ka-Keung won the overall 22km Men’s title in 2 hours 19 minutes 31 seconds. “Today was nice and cool as temperatures were great and perfect for running, but the Twins were the hardest. I had no cramps and felt good as I am doing around 70 km a week of training, which helped me a lot. Usually I do road running, but I’m so happy I entered this Hysan trail event. I’ll look forward to the next one,” said overall Men’s 22k winner Chan.
“We are thrilled to be able to sponsor a physical race for the first time in two years. It’s great to see more than 300 runners taking part and enjoying themselves in the hills of Hong Kong Island again. The crisp, late autumn weather also contributes to a fine day for a race, and we are glad that everything worked out perfectly," said Mark Tung from Hysan.
The weekend’s annual Hysan Island Hike & Run kicked off in Happy Valley with a few nervous participants taking the fitness challenge for the first time and with all 350 participants following strict pandemic measures, including a requirement to be double vaccinated and doing a PCR test within 48 hrs of event.
The Hysan Island Hike & Run promotes a healthy living through running in some of Hong Kong's most scenic trails. As part of its wider commitment to social initiatives, Hysan and Action Asia Events are proud to promote healthy living and sustainability through this premier hiking and running event every year. Routes for all 3 distance categories including a 5km, 14km and 22km are mainly located inside the Tai Tam Country Park with beautiful scenery and different levels of challenges.
The Hysan Island Hike & Run starts and finishes at Green Lane Service reservoir in Happy Valley with the 22km covering 1285m elevation gain and reaching a maximum 436m height, while the 14km category has around 812m elevation gain and 436m maximum height. The 5Km goes over Violet Hill and covers close 358m elevation gain with a max elevation of 436m.
The Hysan Island Hike & Run could not have happened without the kind support of Hysan Properties, Lee Gardens, Royale International, Action X Store, JBL by Harman, ArFum laundry soap, Watsons water, C3Fit, HKBiji, Herbalgy, Toi Toi and Action Asia Events.
About Action Asia Events
Action Asia Events is the organizer of spectacular, extraordinary remote marathons for adventure travel seekers & trail running enthusiasts. Having organized over 280 events over the past 21 years Action Asia Events constantly keeps inspiring and pushes the boundaries of adventure travel, ultra-marathon and team building. These responsibilities range from selection of the course venue, dates and race format to raising the funds essential to run the race as well as liaising with environmental non-profits to raise funds.
