Text and photo: Viola Shum
The Vibram Hong Kong 100 was the first stop of Ultra-trail World Tour in 2019 and was successfully held on 19 Jan and 20 Jan 2019. Due to the updated “effort points” of the ITRA, a new course was announced in November 2018 which is 103.6 km, 5300 m elevation gain and 4700 m elevation lost. In the updated course, the runners are required to climb up Ngau Yee Shek Shan(422 m) which is located in Maclehose Trail Section 3. The 103.6 km course covers the beaches(including Long Ke, Sai Wan, Tung Wan and Tai Tan), stairs, paved roads, natural trails covered with leaves, ridges(Ma On Shan), reservoirs(High Island Reservoir and Kowloon Reservoir), mountains(including Tai Mo Shan, which is the highest mountain in Hong Kong), dirt trails and roots trails(especially some sections of Maclehose Trail Section 3, 4 and 5).
In 2019, grTV team was live streaming of HK100 at start point, CP5 and finish point. Similar to UTMT, the trail lovers or families of runners were able to track their favourite elites with this channels. No matter where we were, we could also witness the incredible moment of the champion crossing the finish line.
The unexpected warm and humid weather made the race tougher and challenging. The completion rate of HK100 2019 was 70.1%(81.5% in 2018). 1842 runners from 57 countries shown up at the start point at 8 am in Pak Tam Chung, Sai Kung. All runners started in 3 waves between 8 am and 8:15 am. I started in wave 2, 8:08 am in the early morning. We were so excited counting down the last 10 seconds altogether and the starter pistol was then fired. We were firstly heading to our very first support point at East Dam with acidic polygonal volcanic rock columns. Runners could refill water, chocolates and dried fruits and fueled up themselves before the first climb of Sai Wan Shan.
There were few amazing arrangements in the some specific checkpoints, such as Pak Sha O. There was an incredible drums performance which cheered up all the runners. Hot pasta, oatmeal, coffee, tea, rice balls and more were provided. The runners were quite exhausted due to the hot and wet conditions and already ran for 43 km ups and downs. This checkpoint was a gala with warm greetings from the volunteers.
The other amazing checkpoint was at Beacon Hill. A fire was setting up the the middle of the checkpoint which was warm and tempting at midnight. Some runners took a quick nap and recharged themselves physically and mentally around the fire. Strong music there was also pumped up my heart. The volunteers also gave us a good luck present with a red pocket once we arrived this checkpoint. Red pocket symbolised a good luck and good fortune in Chinese community. This present-giving was one of the tradition event of HK100 at Beacon Hill. It meant a lot to us who were still struggling at night in a cold weather and were also suffering from muscles pains and fatigue.
I arrived at CP9 before sunrise. There was only 10 km left, but also a final task ahead, Tai Mo Shan. The weather was really nice. Most of the time when we walked up Sze Fong Shan and Tai Mo Shan, it was foggy. However, the sky was surprisingly clear. I could enjoy the sunrise all the way up the Sze Fong Shan.
Tai Mo Shan Weather Radar Station was the most iconic feature of Tai Mo Shan. I finally reached the highest mountain in this race. The last 4km was a downhill paved roads and little climbs of dirt trails with stairs. The muscle soreness seems gone. I was determined to run back the finish point and get my finisher hoodies and medal.
The finisher hoodies was much valuable than ever since the race was tougher. More runners were DNF then ever. I would treasure this hoodies a lot because I never up gave up and back to finish line.
Official event statistics:
(https://mailchi.mp/82c50b0ebb87/hk100-final-countdown-reminders-1936821)
Started: 1842 (2019); 1862 (2018)
Finished: 1292 (70.1%) (2019); 1518 (81.5%)(2018)
DNF: 549 (29.8%) (2019); 344 (18.5%) (2018)
Elites under 13.5 hours men: 33 (2019); 79 (2018)
Elites under 16 hours women: 27 (2019); 44 (2018)
Gold Awards (sub-16 hours): 142 (7.7%)(2019); 308 (16.5%)(2018)
Silver Awards (sub 20 hours): 240 (13.0%)(2019); 418 (22.4%)(2018)
Bronze Awards (sub 24 hours): 404 (21.9%)(2019); 506 (27.2%)(2018)
Medals (sub 30 hours): 504 (27.4%)(2019); 286 (15.4%)(2018)
Male to Female participants ratio: 75:25 (2019); 77:23 (2018)