Race Media

My 36 hour adventure in HK - Kremer - MSIG Lantau 50 - Hong Kong, China

I just wrote this in the airplane. I realize it's a bit lengthy, but I just wrote and couldn't stop, so I thought you all might like to read it.
First thanks again for everything!

I never really realized what I could do in 36 hours, but this recent weekend showed I could do way more than I could have imagined!

3:12 am, that irritating buzzer of my phone's alarm went off, alerting me it was time to get up and start my long journey to Hong Kong to participate in my first 50 km race.

By 6:45am, after a dark and snow packed 3 hour drive to the airport, I arrived getting ready for my 25 plus hour journey across the world.

After not knowing how much sleep, if any, I got, the plane touched down at the Hong Kong international airport at 7:45 pm. I arrived at my hotel room about an hour later and was greeted by a fellow competitor, Ruth who was from New Zealand but lived in Taiwan. I briefly "jogged" to the start line which was located 50 meters from my hotel (perfect location!) I met Michael who welcomed me with open arms and did his best to calm my nerves (it didn't work:-) but thanks for trying!)

At 5:02 am Sunday morning (8 hours after arriving in Hong Kong -where did saturday go??) both my and Ruth's alarm went letting us know it was go time! I had been awake for a few hours already, but it's was still hard to imagine that I had to run 50km-Id never done that before! We arrived at the start line and some familiar faces greeted me. Some of my nerves disappeared as people reminded me that it was just a race. I knew there was going to be some tough competition, so some nerves still remained.

7:00 am and the race began!  The weather was perfect- 19 degrees Celsius and overcast skies!  Although I'd never run 50 km, I was warned that I will most likely be running between 6-7 hours, so I knew I had to pace myself. I also knew it was super hilly but how hilly I was about to find out.

We weren't eased into the hills at all, as after a few kilometers we were led up a steep, bushy and technical uphill, where hand usage was definitely required. The race continued with flat, smooth and runnable terrain. At this point I was trading positions with both Ruth and Mira from Nepal. I reminded myself it was a long race, so don't push too early, but I also tried to keep them in sight.

After the first check point, Ruth and I ran a lot of the second part together, we chatted and encouraged each other, it was great! After making our way through half the course I was so happy to say I was "halfway done"; that is until someone gave me a little heads up that the second half was way harder than the first- and boy was he right! We had to summit Lantau Peak, which included a vertical kilometer that felt like it never ended. There was no running involved, at least for me, it was all Climbing. And the friendly hikers who shared a path with us, were  encouraging and helpful and quickly moved out of the way when they saw me coming.

After summiting and then descending Lantau we still had to go up and over Sunset Peak, and finally drop to a steep technical downhill to the finish. After summiting Lantau, Sunset didn't seem so bad, especially when you reached the top, because it was all runnable, with some elements you had to be aware of. Finally with about 4km to go, I came upon the dreaded "last downhill" near Por Kai Shan that I remembered from my last venture to HK back in July. It was steep, slippery and super technical. (I dreaded it while sitting on the plane the night before!) I pushed through, trying my hardest to not look back, as I had no idea how close the ladies behind me were, and finally made it to the final stretch of road that would lead me to the finish.

A little over 17 hours after arriving in HK, I could happily say I finished my first 50 km run! It was incredibly tough, steep and technical but I don't think I wanted it any other way! The volunteers and supporters were incredibly helpful and friendly and I would have not been able to do how I did without them!

The last 18 hours of my trip included some sushi eating, a venture out to the Ladies Market and a short sleep!

Thank you Action Asia Events and MSIG for all your support in HK and for another incredible journey! And thanks to Salomon for making all my running possible!


Stevie Kremer