We got to the starting point in Pak Tam Chung at about 7.15am. There was even more energy there than a King of the Hills event. A lot of very, very fit participants showed up. It looked like a gathering point for some of the top runners from all over the world.

The race started at 8am. Unlike the previous year, I didn’t have any ankle trouble, so I got off to a relatively controlled and comfortable start. The trail at the beginning was a bit narrow, resulting in a few jams every now and then, but some heavy breathing in combination with “passing right” allowed me to overtake where needed.

I made sure I was following my Rules of Running (2012 edition) [thou shall not skip more than one stair at a time, thou shall keep flat running pace at < 12kmh, etc]. So, I was pretty much abiding by the rules of running and cruising along. I had a timing sheet attached to the back of my bag for 13 hours 40 mins (my target finishing time). I then went on to having a chat with Nora Senn (bib tag “F1″ -aptly named as she is one of the fastest female runners in Hong Kong-). I asked her what her target finishing time was. She said it was “whatever it took” to enjoy the race, get up the next day morning, run another 20km, do some cycling in the afternoon and attend a social event later that evening. Having heard that, I was so inspired that I decided to chuck my timing sheet at my next support point!

I ran as per protocol (refueling on gels, granola bars and energy chews every hour or so) and kept cruising along. Not to forget, listening to an awesome collection of rock n roll music and a podcast of Anthony Robbins’ personal power! Around the 40km mark near Hoi Ha, it was great to see Hannes and Jinhwa cheering me up. Then, there was a never ending stretch all the way to Yung Shui O. I saw Nora overtaking me at this point. That was the last I saw of her during the race, it looked like she had turned on her secret power boosters there. From Yung Shui O, a steep uphill lead us to my home territory – the Maclehose trail! That was a confidence booster. Upon reaching the top of Rooster Hill, I was in my unbeatable state of mind (the state of running down one of the best downhill stretches in Hong Kong). I turned on my heavy breathing mode, increased leg movement frequency and ran straight down! Again, I saw Jinhwa and Hannes cheering me up on the last section of this downhill stretch.

Romain and Dominic were supporting me at this checkpoint. The original plan was to change my socks, tee shirt, etc, but I decided to scrap all that and just kept going after refueling with gels and a Pret sandwich. I was on cruise mode from there up until Beacon Hill. Then I had my first (and last) fall for the day. A rather ugly, inelegant misstep caused me to roll down a couple of stairs on the way down from Beacon Hill. Luckily, my reflexes took over and minimized physical damage to a superficial leg wound. It took me about 1-2 minutes to regain confidence but once I did, I kept running at a nonstop pace all the way to Shing Mun reservoir where Romain was waiting at the checkpoint. It got increasingly cold, so I grabbed my jacket, took 2 gels and kept moving.

My pace took a hit going up Grassy Hill and I was walking for the most part of it. It was cold and foggy, so I slowed down on the decent from Grassy Hill to Lead Mine pass to prevent falls. Tai Mo Shan was very, very cold and it was very windy. I was again a little slow climbing up Tai Mo Shan but the cold air kept me moving. On top of Tai Mo Shan, I looked back at the trail to see 2-3 headlights right behind me. I then turned on my kamikaze-mode and made a dash for the finish. Later, I realized that one of those headlights was probably Olya (another superfast female runner) who would have probably turned on her own kamikaze-mode had she known I was barely a minute ahead!

Finishing time: 13 hours 28 minutes. Also, very pleased with the fact that I felt relatively fresh and comfortable throughout. The winner finished in less than 10 hours! (?!) Last year, I finished in 14 hours 53 minutes and came 19th. This year I came 34th! The level of competition in these races has reached a new high!

The race was organized very well and I enjoyed participating.

Garmin.

Tags: Hk100, Hk100 Ultra marathon, Vibram

This was my final training run before next week’s big event – the Vibram HK100. Actually, it was a race but I gave myself strict orders : at no point during the race was I supposed to feel like crap. Meaning, I was to avoid being influenced by runners around me and play my own game. At the end of the race, I had to feel like I could do another 20km. So, speed was to be controlled accordingly.

I reached Nam Shan at about 9.30am and was amazed at the turnout. When I first did KOTH two years back, there were probably half the number of participants as there were today. Looks like Hong Kongers are increasingly keen to get fit!

Jogger Joel showed up in his usual trademark style: two cameras were mounted on his head, one focused on the view from the front and the other served as his 3rd eye at the back of his head. (It probably captured me expressing certain obscenities when he was busy running). He was also missing his luggage tag (one tag is issued for all races and a replacement costs HKD 20). Nobody likes paying fines and he was no exception. However, he came up with what he thought to be a bulletproof plan. He handed them a large 500 dollar note, banking on the fact that they wouldn’t have 480 bucks in change. Unfortunately, they seemed to have a lot more than just 480 bucks, which let both of us to conclude that they would be the perfect targets for a planned robbery.

The race started at 10am. I was busy focusing on keeping cool and ran a little slowly in the beginning. Several runners overtook me during the Sunset peak climb. However, keeping cool and a slow start paid off once I reached the turnoff to Pok Tai Shan. I turned on my noisy mode (heavy and loud breathing) and that frustrated the runners in front of me enough to get out of my way (Nora wasn’t pleased). On the way down from Pok Tai Shan to Tung Chung, Olya came dashing down the mountain like a speeding bullet. Not willing to be taken out by this bullet, I did the wise thing and got the heck out of her way. She disappeared even before I could blink my eye.

That horrible descent from Pok Toi Shan to Tung Chung featured several thorny overgrown shrubs and scratched my sexy legs on several occasions. Note to self: next time, attach a machete to the side of each leg. (TAKE THAT SHRUBS – revenge is going to be sweet). Anyway, after that descent, there was some flat running all the way to the beginning of a 650m climb to Ngong Ping. Abiding by the strict orders I received, I kept my pace fairly easy (9kmh) and didn’t even bother looking at other racers (females excluded). The climb to Ngong Ping was powered by a gel and sufficient water, resulting in me feeling like Rambo for a few moments. I managed to re-overtake the speeding bullet (Olya), albeit only temporarily.

The tourists in Ngong Ping were all puzzled by my rather un-touristy look. I got weird stares as I was making a beeline for The Wisdom Sticks – the start to the infamous climb to the summit of Lantau Peak. I regulated speed again as I was climbing those super steep stairs up to Lantau Peak. Then, I had a dejavu. It was Olya overtaking me again with some serious power. Once again, I did the wise thing and got out of her way. My orders were to maintain an easy pace and I wasn’t going to disobey them (ok, fine, I had little energy to overtake her!) Anyway, I reached the peak slowly but steadily and then it was time for one of my favorite downhill stretches in Hong Kong: the run from Lantau Peak to Pak Kung Au. I did the usual – I envisioned I was flying a Cessna (yes, I’ve got issues) and “flew” downhill to Pak Kung Au.

The last 7km stretch from Pak Kung Au back to Nam Shan seemed never ending. I kept my pace fairly constant and overtook 3 runners during this stretch. This last stretch made me hungry but I had already used up all my ammunition. (Note to self: next time, carry more food man!)

And, finally, I finished the race in 4 hours 29 minutes (12th in my category, 19th overall). Olya finished 8 minutes quicker and another runner I thought I would see but never saw was Chang, he finished in true “Express” fashion – in 4 hours 8 minutes. The winner, who in all probability is some kind of bionic man, finished in an incredible 3 hours 28 minutes.

Great race. Now, to rest the body for the big (and scary) race next week.

Garmin.

Total: 30.791 km in 4h 29m 44s at an average of 6.85 km/h

GPX.

Tags: KOTH, KOTH Lantau, Lantau

With the Vibram HK100 ultra-marathon just 2 weeks away, I had to get some long distance training under my belt. This meant getting up at 6am on a Saturday morning to run 6 stages of the Mac trail (Mac 3-8) – a total of 52kms with some 3200m accumulated elevation gain. The pleasures of life!

It was a cold morning with some drizzle; I started running at 8.24am and had to keep running fast enough to prevent the body from getting too cold. It looked like I was on fire and I was even thinking at the back of mind that I was going to beat my previous 7h40m record. However, stages 7 and 8, cost me 19 minutes more than usual. I ran out of granola bars plus didn’t have my electrolyte chews so had to give up some speed to ensure that the body was happy! I finished in 7h59m (including all fuel stops) which is 19 mins longer than my previous successful attempt but, overall, it was quite well managed. Only problem was that I felt pretty sleepy on top of Tai Mo Shan (perhaps because I didn’t have my electrolyte chews) but I met some fellow runners near Route Twisk and all the yapping thereafter woke me up! (I am a pro at blabbering).

The splits:
Start Time: 0824
Time taken to complete Stage 3: 1 hour 19 mins
Refueling time: 4 mins 1 sec
Time taken to complete Stage 4: 1 hour 48 mins
Time taken from end of Stage 4 to Sha Tin pass: 24 mins 12 secs
Time taken to complete Stage 5: 1 hour 1 minute
Time taken to complete Stage 6: 34 mins 57 secs
Refueling time: 3 mins 54 secs
Time taken to complete Stage 7: 1 hour 16 mins
Time taken to complete Stage 8: 1 hour 26 mins

Total: 7 hours 59 minutes
Completed without issues (other than being very sleepy which might have been an issue?)

But, was it fun? Hmm.. I loved 3,4,5,6 but it got a bit “yeah, whatever” during 7 and “why the heck am I running so much” during 8! Something tells me I am going to regret having signed up for the 100kms! I am sure I will be cussing myself at several points during the race!

Garmin.

Total: 53.504 km in 7h 59m 21s at an average of 6.70 km/h

GPX.

Tags: Double Au

It looks like my Plover Cove has unintentionally become the target of acquisition for many unqualified Hong Kong trail runners. If you do not know what I am talking about, you’ve probably been living under a rock on Mars for the longest time. But, as a refresher, let me tell you what makes my Plover Cove in Wu Kau Tang so special.

Hong Kong is blessed with so much abundant natural scenery that it becomes quite hard to pick “the best spot” from so many “best spots”. But, if I had only one last trail run left in Hong Kong, I know exactly where that would be. In fact, I could talk about Plover Cove the same way the North Korean media talks about their new leader: “the leader of all leaders, the genius of all geniuses, the general of all generals, the dude of all dudes, etc”. Except, unlike the North Korean media, I truly mean what I say about Plover Cove! She is THE BABE of all the babes. And so, I made it a point to “own” this babe, i.e. not just limiting myself to hand-holding or flirting but forging a proper relationship with her. This made me the target of envy of all other Hong Kong trail runners. I don’t blame them – imagine your friend lands the most perfect super babe, would you not be jealous of him? To my credit, I also devoted a lot of time to Plover Cove. I made sure I visited her as often as I could. Take today for example. I ran a full 51km yesterday, it was raining quite heavily at times today but that didn’t deter me from visiting my Plover Cove.

My fellow trail running friends are trying in vain to break this intimate relationship I have with her. They just visit her once in a blue moon and claim to have run around her in record time. This, they falsely claim, grants them that exclusive relationship with her. Sounds more like a one-night stand to me. She’ll be insulted.

So, with two such fake owners tucked away in Korea and New Zealand respectively (you know who you are), I decided to further solidify my already strong bond with the Cove today. And, as always, she was an absolute beauty. The physical exhaustion from my 51km run yesterday and the slippery terrain today did little to diminish her beauty.

Did I finish in record time? It took me 2 hours 22 minutes, so, no, not really.
But, am I the only one and true owner of Plover Cove? As time has proven over and over again, YES!

Garmin.

Total: 17.785 km in 2h 22m 12s at an average of 7.50 km/h

GPX.

Tags: Plover Cove

I remember participating in HK100 last year – a solo 100km event from Sai Kung to Tai Mo Shan. I had ankle problems on race day even before the start. I was praying for an instant Fast Forward button which would magically skip one day all over the world. On several occasions, I wanted the race and the ordeal to end asap. I somehow finished in 14 hours 53 minutes, thanks to injured teammate Steven’s support at various checkpoints. I also remember my body declaring a coup over the brain. My body would finish the race if and only if I my brain agreed not to participate in any further 100km solo events. My ankle declared that an yearly 100km Trailwalker event was good enough. There was no need to torture the body Jack Bauer style with any more meaningless 100km trail runs. My legs ruled that unless I was going to swap them for Forrest Gump’s legs, there was no way in hell I was going to do another solo 100km race with the same pair of legs.

And here I am, all set and enrolled in this year’s edition of HK100. I remember the convincing pitch I made to myself:

(a) Running a solo 100km event, teaches endurance. Endurance can be applied not only to racing but to all other aspects of life and produces consistently good results
(b) A 100km event makes the body stronger and the mind learns to effectively deal with the unexpected challenges that invariably arise during the race. These lessons can be applied to all aspects of life
(c) There is no better thrill in life than to run down from Rooster Hill to end of Mac Stage 3

And so, I was sold! Although, the real reason behind the enrollment probably had nothing to do with the reasons mentioned above. It probably boiled down to pure addiction. Akin to a smoker’s “last cigarette” or a drunkard’s “last sip of alcohol”, the enrollment was probably just a result of pure addiction – but a productive kind of addiction (or so I believe). Trail running is its own drug.

I thought I was a trail running addict but I am probably nothing compared to Andre, who gives the word “addict” a whole new meaning. He was one of the super-fit 6-member team that joined us today in a recci of the first half of HK100. He probably does more mileage than an aircraft. He runs 100km races at an average of 2 a month in different parts of the world!

The HK100 trail starts in Pak Tam Chung, goes up a nearby country trail which connects to Mac 1. After Mac 1 and some parts of Mac 2 (until after Ham Tin), the trail follows the KOTH Sai Kung route in reverse until Yung Shue O (via Wong Shek and Hoi Ha). It finally connects to Mac 3 and goes all the way up to Mac 8. From Pak Tam Chung to the end of Mac 3, it’s about 51km long and from Mac 4 to 8, it’s about 49km long. This year, several highly-reputed international long-distance trail runners are expected to take part (the world has several insane people).

We started at about 8am in the morning. Initially, we were running more or less together but the group split up after Ham Tin. Then, I was with Steven all the way. He was faster than me on the flats while I was a little bit faster on the uphills. We finished more or less together in about 6 hours 29 minutes.

The splits:
Pak Tam Chung to Hoi Ha: 36km, 4 hours 17 minutes
Break at Hoi Ha for refueling: 7 minutes 17 seconds
Hoi Ha to end of Mac 3: 15km, 2 hours 4 minutes

Summary
Distance: 51.58 km
Time: 6:29:35
Elevation Gain: 1,923 m

Garmin.

Total: 51.157 km in 6h 29m 33s at an average of 7.88 km/h

GPX.

Tags: Hk100, Hong Kong 100, Recci