So, the idea was to give KOTH Lantau a go.

Timing:
Lap 1: Mui Wo to Sunset Peak (the right to Lin Fa Shan): 53 minutes 48 seconds
Lap 2: Sunset Peak to start of the trail to Ngong Ping: 1 hour 38 minutes

[solo run from here onwards]

- was unable to find the trail to Ngong Ping. Ended up at a Stream Trek and tried going upwards but of no avail. Returned, tried something else but still couldn’t find the trail

- so, traced the trail back and ended up doing Donkey Trail under the HOT sun

- saw passengers in the overhead cable car and made funny faces at the passengers (I can be childish)

- got hit by the sun big time. This called for heat management which kept me going

Timing:
Lap 3: Start of the trail to Ngong Ping to some stream teak and eventually back to Donkey Trail: 48 minutes 16 seconds
Lap 4: Donkey Trail to Ngong Ping: 1 hour 11 minutes
Lap 5: Ngong Ping to Lantau Peak: 36 minutes 31 seconds
Lap 6: Lantau Peak to Pak Kung Au: 22 minutes 34 seconds

[Ngong Ping to Pak Kung Au: 58 minutes]

Lap 7: Pak Kung Au to Nam Shan (around Sunset): 56 minutes 21 seconds

Total distance: 35.33Km
Total time: 6 hours 26 mins
Elevation gain: 2210M

Garmin Link.

Total: 36.423 km in 8h 36m 06s at an average of 4.23 km/h

GPX.

• Mui Wo to Sunset to Lantau to Ngong Ping AND BACK! (0)
• Hiking, 2009-08-08, Mui Wo to Ngong Ping AND BACK (0)
• The Calling from the Big Buddha (Lantau, Sunset, Tung Chung) (9)
• Back to Lantau! Mui Wo -> Sunset -> Lantau -> Tung Chung (0)
• Sunset Peak to somehow-get-to-the-airport hike (0)

Tags: KOTH, Lantau Peak, Mui Wo, Nam Shan, Ngong Ping, Pak Kung Au, Sunset Peak, Tung Chung

Did a recci of the North East Mountain Marathon (NEMM) route. Fantastic!!

It begins in Wu Kau Tang, then you go over Plover Cove until Marker 10 (which I duly missed and had to retrace). From there you take a left, go straight down to Wu Kau Tang again and then you do something. Well, not the most elaborate description I know because we were sort of lost! It was raining cats and dogs and we somehow missed the actual trail.

Ended up at Luk Keng for lunch but the route we took was splendid! The weather (apart from the initial thunderstorms) was fabulous! Views were awesome. Greenery, beautiful coastline, natural fragrance of rain water hitting the soil. Hell, even Shenzhen looked pretty!

Much recommended trail for anyone who wants to do a scenic hike in Tai Po. Please see map below for details or you could google NEMM.

Total: 21.557 km in 4h 53m 50s at an average of 4.40 km/h

Stats

• Tennis and/or Plover Cove (0)
• Of bags, holes, wallets and a Plover Cove fitness test (0)
• Needle Hill * 2 + Plover Cove (0)
• Hiking, 2010-08-07, Cloudy Hill, Pat Sin Leng, Wu Kau Tang, Plover Cove (0)
• Hiking, 2009-07-25, Plover Cove (1)

Tags: KOTH, NEMM, Plover Cove, Wu Kau Tang

Today was the last King of the Hills race for 2009-2010. The Tai Po full marathon. 36Kms long.

Wasn’t easy but wasn’t as tough as KOTH Lantau. Probably because the weather was great. Weatherman, for a change, turned out right in his prediction of relatively cool weather in Hong Kong today. A good relief from the sweltering heat. It was about 18 degrees today compared to 27 yesterday!

Started the race at 0900 HKT and had to climb up Cloudy hill and Pat Sin Leng before heading down the most slippery path I have seen in Hong Kong. Fellow competitors were much crazier than me and some of them seemed to be leapfrogging on this trail. They were literally heading down a slippery slope and I heard at least one of them shouting “this is so much fun”. This guy was like a kid in a candy store and loving every moment of this monkey business! I’ll admit, I was having some fun too but after my butt hit the ground over 3 times, I was wishing it would end soon!

Maintained about 12Km/h avg on the flats and didn’t stop anywhere. Goal was to be top 15 in my category but I couldn’t believe the result – came 8th overall and 7th in my category. 36Kms completed in 4 hrs 36 minutes. Good way to finish off the series.

Looking forward to some more kick ass races this year.

• King of the Hills (KOTH) Tai Po – recci 2 (6)
• Hiking, 2010-02-13, KOTH Tai Po Recci 1 (0)
• Tai Po Kauh to Shing Mun Reservoir (encore) (0)
• Shing Mung Tunnels (0)
• NEMM Mountain Marathon Recci (0)

Tags: KOTH, Tai Po

All the pictures from the hike today are here.

We had 9 join us on this King of the Hills Tai Po reconnaissance hike (second time for me). As usual, it appeared as though weatherman changed his forecast after looking out the window in the morning. I swear, I read 8 to 11 degrees or something as cold as that when I checked the forecast a day back. But, today turned out to be warmer than that – about 15 degrees with some sunny intervals. Remembering the weather forecast from a day back, I was actually dressed for a hike in Alaska (gloves, tracks and all that but a tee shirt and shorts would have sufficed).

Started in Tai Wo KCR station (now MTR) and the climb to Cloudy Hill began in less than 15 minutes. All the stress from the past week started leaving my body in beads of sweat as the cleansing/rejuvenating process began.

Couldn’t help but notice these beautiful houses during the climb. Wonder what they cost. I know I would be hiking up to Cloudy Hill and Pat Sin Leng every other day if I were living in one of those!

From Cloudy Hill, the route calls for another super climb up to the first summit of Pat Sin Leng (Wong Leng) from where there is this super slippery path down to Sha Lo Tung.

The beautiful Pat Sin Leng

The super slippery path is no joke. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger would have fallen at least once (and I mean before he became the Governor of California, i.e. when he was the Terminator guy). Some of the rocks are completely covered in moss and there’s no proper place to get a good grip.

Anyway, from there the route leads to Lai Chi Wo and then to Yung Shue O. Lai Chi Wo is scenic spot. There are trees several centuries old and their branches are all coiled up. They look something like a reticulated python.

There was some sign reading “You can help by NOT climbing and sitting on the Derris”. I would certainly love to help but what the heck is a Derris?? Some tree expert guy probably came up with that sign. How about simply saying “trees” instead of “Derris” for the average Joe like me?

After admiring the beauty of the trees, we left for Yung Shue O (oh, btw, forgot to mention that the group was reduced to 3 in size from 9 as several members were happy running the half marathon leaving the 3 of us to do the full).

Yung Shue O is stunning. You don’t have to have the arms of Rambo but you are still only a stone’s throw away from China! A boat, a strong sense of adventure and a contempt for law is all it’s going to take to reach Shenzhen illegally. (There could be some trained snipers on the Shenzhen side with rifles pointing at you but you have to take all this in stride). Seriously though, Shenzhen looks so close that it appears as though any monkey can go to the other side. Of course, the question would be why! Especially now there’s no point since Shenzhen property prices are pretty much the same as HK property prices!

Anyway, here’s a pic of a Soviet aircraft carrier which is now proudly owned by the China Gov and stationed in Shenzhen. It’s no longer functional of course and probably never was!

We reached Kuk Po after some steady running and could already feel the pull of a hot bowl of noodles all the way from Luk Keng. The pull got stronger as we let our minds process that thought. Needless to say, we yielded to temptation. So, instead of finishing at Sam-uk-something, we headed for Noodles and Austrian noodles at that. I remembered some strong recommendation about an Austrian pancake with ice cream dessert served by an Austrian dude all the way in Luk Keng. Why some dude from Austria would move all the way to Luk Keng and start a noodle shop there is something I cannot answer. But why not? Looks like Wall Street has lost it’s lustre anyway!

So, we started running towards Luk Keng. We saw some video cameras and some Chinese dude wearing some funny black hat and a traditional Chinese outfit (one that looked like it would have been worn by some ultra cool Kung Fu warrior from way back in the 1700s). This dude actually turned out to be Chow Yun Fat! That’s the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon guy! I would have asked for an autograph but didn’t realize who he was until I was told much later!

The Austrian guy was happy to receive us. So, after treating ourselves to a nice bowl of noodles, we went with his critically acclaimed Austrian pancake dessert. Yummy is all I can say! We probably consumed more calories in those 30 minutes that we burnt in the preceding 6 hours but oh well! What’s life without food!

Great day out!

Stats:
32.3Km in about 6 hours something. Today though, it wasn’t about pace, it was about taking photos and enjoying a nice, long 30K+ hike.

• King of the Hills – Tai Po Full Marathon (0)
• Hiking, 2010-02-13, KOTH Tai Po Recci 1 (0)
• Tai Po Kauh to Shing Mun Reservoir (encore) (0)
• Shing Mung Tunnels (0)
• NEMM Mountain Marathon Recci (0)

Tags: KOTH, Tai Po

Did a beautiful KOTH Recci (1st attempt) – Full marathon (about 32Km)

Route is this: Tai Wo -> Cloudy Hill -> Pat Sin Leng -> Lai Chi Wo -> So Pin Kok (or something like that) -> Yung Shue O -> Po Pin Kuk -> Luk Keng (we went to Luk Keng but the real thing goes to Wu Kau Tang and then to Tai Mei Tuk)

This is a really beautiful course. Of all the KOTH full marathons, this one’s probably got the best scenery. The view at the end of Shau Tau Kok from Yung Shue O is splendid. There was a huge ship docked there which looked like a small aircraft carrier.

Pace was very comfortable as this was just a recci. It took us something like 6 hours something to complete.

• King of the Hills – Tai Po Full Marathon (0)
• King of the Hills (KOTH) Tai Po – recci 2 (6)
• Tai Po Kauh to Shing Mun Reservoir (encore) (0)
• Shing Mung Tunnels (0)
• NEMM Mountain Marathon Recci (0)

Tags: KOTH, Tai Po

I have said this many times before and I will say it again – KOTH isn’t for the faint of heart. Finishing a full marathon is by itself an accomplishment for an amateur athlete like me!

After paying a 20 bucker fine for a forgotten bib last time, I made sure I carried one this time! Also did my homework – carb loading the previous night, about 8 hour solid sleep and plenty of training over the past couple of weeks. During the recci of this trail, it took us 5 hrs 30 mins to finish.

Everything was going according to plan – slow on the uphills, fast downhills and jogging on flats, up until I reached the Twins. The temperature was quite hot and I think I got smacked by the sun. Also, I filled my water bottle with some electrolyte drink instead of pure water and that had a reverse effect – making me thirsty yet retaining the water. Also, I was wearing a black tee shirt as a gentleman before the climb to the Twins pointed out! All this slowed me down quite a bit and I was developing stomach cramps when trying to accelerate, perhaps because of the accumulation of fluids in my stomach. I tried watering the plants but that didn’t help much!

I had to walk fast instead of jogging from there on. That had a negative effect on the time. Overall though, all things considered, there is a lot of improvement but this isn’t too bad, at least I finished and I know I could have gone farther as well.

Actual time taken: 30.5Km (4 hours 52 minutes) – My personal target was 5 hours and a top 15 ranking in my category
Ranking: 21 in my category, 56 overall (not too happy with this)

Lessons learnt:
(a) Go with salt tablets (b) get one of the British hats instead of a cap for a 360 degree protection against the sun (c) don’t wear black tee shirts (d) have to learn to hike/run formidably even during ultra hot weather

Needless to say, the fellow racers were just amazing! The winner finished in something like 3 hours 5 minutes! I think Hong Kong’s fittest participated and there were several professional athletes.

• NEMM Mountain Marathon Recci (0)
• King of the Hills – Tai Po Full Marathon (0)
• King of the Hills – Lantau recci (0)
• King of the Hills (KOTH) Tai Po – recci 2 (6)
• Hiking, KOTH Lantau section 2010 (0)

Tags: Hong Kong, KOTH

What a humbling experience! I have to say, this has been the toughest 30Km hike I have done so far! Imagine going up from 0m to 900m not once but TWICE!

It’s just amazing how there are so many fit people in Hong Kong. The KOTH series seem to attract the fittest of this bunch! So, it’s just a humbling experience to participate and finish!

The registration was in the 0830 HKT ferry to Mui Wo and I realized I had forgotten to take my bib from the previous race (KOTH requires that users keep one bib for all races otherwise there’s a 20 bucker fine). Well, the day regretfully started off with me paying a 20 bucker fine for a new bib! I was pissed off because I HATE paying fines regardless of the amount. The businessman inside me thought of a way to salvage this. I wanted to get another tee shirt for today and thought the value of the tee shirt would be way more than 20 bucks. But, unfortunately, my plan was foiled by a gentleman at the registration who advised that each participant would only get 1 tee shirt for the series and I had to “treasure the tee shirt” I already had! Oh well! I wrote off the 20 bucks!

Race started at 1000 HKT and all the fit guys were zooming off. My protocol required me to go slow on uphills and fast downhill but the latter was tough because 130+ people were on the trail and I wasn’t running in the beginning to be ahead of everyone else.

After Sunset Peak (0m to app 800m), there were some super climbs before returning to 0m (Tung Chung). Surprisingly, I didn’t get lost anywhere as I was always following some fit dude/dudette. The climb back up to Ngong Ping made my muscles tender (650m) and there was a steep, grueling climb to Lantau Peak (900m) after that. Boy, I had to stop for a break (I NEVER do that!!) It was tough!! I couldn’t quite run down Lantau Peak either because of some cramp (I NEVER get them but got them today!) Upon reaching the saddle, there was a further 8M run back to Nam Shan!

Well, here are the stats:

Finished in 5 hrs 30 minutes 07 seconds (app 30 Km)
Came 18 in category (not sure how many people)
Came 53 overall (well over 130+ people)

So, overall, it’s been a humbling experience and it’s amazing how I am such an amateur in front of the people who participated. Winner finished in something like 3 hrs 40!

Shoulda, Woulda, Couldas
1) Better nutrition/water management to prevent the cramps
2) Should be faster uphill
3) Should be faster on flats

since downhill strength on these races can’t be used optimally. Btw, soon after I got the bus back to Tung Chung, the body recovered! No more cramps! I think I can even do a 5Km run now!

• Wisdom path (0)
• Tai Tung Saan and Lantau peak (fast) (0)
• Sunset peak, Lantau peak and Shek Pik (0)
• Plant spotting (The peak)… (0)
• Peng Chau to DB to Mui Wo (0)

Tags: KOTH, Lantau

Hong Kong’s weather is very temporary. Last week during Care Action, it was unexpectedly hot and that cost me a few minutes. Since then, it’s been pretty cold! I have been quite macho (going around wearing tees, shorts – you get the picture) so I ended up getting a wee bit of a cold which worsened last night. Improper sleep contributed as well (guy downstairs was making too much noise resulting in a disturbed sleep for me).

So, today morning, getting up at 0600 HKT wasn’t particularly pleasant but I did so anyway because chickening out is not my style and I don’t like being a slave to any cold/flu. Registered at 0830 HKT and there were quite a few people but certainly not as many as there were for Care Action.

Race started at 0900 HKT and I started running. My eyes were watery from the cold and I wasn’t able to build momentum. At that point, my body was begging my mind to consider stopping after 18KM (half marathon). I felt about 60% fit. The mind, wouldn’t hear any of that and instead, devised a plan to regain control of the situation. Speed was lowered and I maintained a slow, constant pace and synchronized leg movement with the Mp3 drum beats. I forced myself to bit a slice of a power bar every hour and have a few sips of water even 30 minutes.

Grandmas, grandpas were overtaking me. I felt humiliated but kept cool. I memorized the appearance of every grandma and grandpa from the back and promised myself that I’d overtake them after raising the body fitness level. Eventually, that did happen. Sniffles persisted but energy was building. Around 40 minutes into the race, I went by training protocol – run as fast as possible so long as you breathe normally through the nose, go at lightening pace during downhills. 10 minutes after picking up speed, I had a visual on grandma #1. Overtook her. Then came the downhill parts. I was pretty fast but noticed that the body was losing energy rapidly and eyes were watering again from the cold. Played some rock music and continued as fast as I could but performance wasn’t that great.

Finished the half marathon (18km) at 1125 (2 hrs 25 minutes)

I wasn’t even going to let the thought of quitting enter my mind. I proceeded straight for the Full marathon. Made some wrong turns and ended up at a bus stop but quickly retraced my steps and plodded on.

KOTH Sai Kung, IS NOT easy. Up until the 1/2 way mark, it’s reasonably easy but after that, it is VERY HARD. There are an incredible amount of steep climbs and the trail is overgrown. Full pants will save you many cuts to the legs!

I was exhausted from the cold and had to focus every step of the way. Didn’t even notice the scenery, looked straight down most of the time. I didn’t rest anywhere, forced the legs to keep moving regardless of speed.

Well, several grueling hours later, I managed to bring fitness level to about 75% and finished the race at 1435. Not quite spectacular but I am pleased I didn’t quit and for a debut attempt, this ain’t too bad.

Stats: 5 hrs 35 minutes for 38kms (full marathon)
Position: #50 of all participants (not sure how many there were)

Slept like a log on the bus and have to continue to do that again soon!

• Hiking, 2009-11-28, KOTH Sai Kung Leg practice (0)
• Walk report! (0)
• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sai Kung Curcuit (slow) (4)
• Sai Kung Circuit in stormy weather (2)

Tags: KOTH, Sai Kung

Pictures are here.

King of the Hills is a 4-part hiking race, the first of which is on December 20th 2009. It’s in Sai Kung and the full marathon is 38km. Half is 18km. Don’t get fooled by the word marathon! It’s not a running race on concrete like the Standard Charted Marathon. It involves a lot of trail running, fighting overgrowth in several parts, etc.

We started in the morning at about 10.30am and finished at about 4.30pm. Nothing too spectacular. About 33km in total (we made a few wrong turns and somehow skipped 5kms!) The trail is gorgeous. One can see Sharp peak, Mac 1, Mac 3 under clear visibility. Trail running should be done carefully as the terrain is fill of stones and pebbles and lose gravel.

• Hiking, 2009-12-20, King of the hills (KOTH) – Sai Kung (0)
• Walk report! (0)
• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sai Kung Curcuit (slow) (4)
• Sai Kung Circuit in stormy weather (2)

Tags: Hoi Ha, KOTH, Sai Kung, Yung Shue O