Hong Kong 100

Hong Kong. Just saying these two syllables makes you picture the skyscrapers, the neon lights, and street food at 3 a.m. 🌆.

What you probably imagine less is someone running 100 kilometres through the hills, with 5 142 meters of elevation gain under their feet and a smile on their face 😂. And yet, this is exactly what happens every January since 2011 with the Hong Kong 100 (HK100 for the insiders 🤓), a race that proves that Hong Kong isn’t just the world’s densest city, but also one of the wildest 🌿. It all starts at Pak Tam Chung, on the peninsula of Sai Kung, where concrete suddenly gives way to pristine beaches and ancient forests that gleam under the sun 🌞. The first 10 kilometres follow the famous "Maclehose Trail", with to the right the islands of the South China Sea, and to the left Hong Kong’s peninsula of High Island 🏝️. It’s gorgeous. It’s almost too beautiful, the kind of scenery that makes you forget you still have 90 miles to go 😅.

The "Maclehose Trail", is the through-line of the adventure. This 100-kilometre hiking trail was inaugurated in 1979and named after the colonial governor Sir Murray MacLehose— a man who clearly had good taste in landscapes 😎. The race traverses an incredible diversity of environments : beaches virginforests old, natural trailstrails of nature,hilly, with panoramic views of the South China Sea. Basically, it’s like someone took Hong Kong’s best bits, stitched them together, and said "go on, run there" 🏃‍♂️. And people pay for that. Voluntarily 🤣. The race hosts around 1 800 athletes on the 100 km and 5 142 mD+, but the whole weekend is actually a distance festival 🗓️. There is the "The Third", 34 km (1 558 mD+) for those who test the terrain and the "The Half" of 53 km (2 263 mD+) for the more cautious but ambitious. And then there’s the "Grand Sam" 🏆, the challenge for the bold: to complete all three events in three consecutive days, 183 km in total, with a cumulative elevation gain that will make your head spin, 8 963 mD+ to be precise 🤯. The "Grand Sam" is named after a local runner, Sam Tam- the first person to dare to finish this triple sequence 🏆. In the inaugural "Grand Sam" in 2023, all 10 participants heroically completed all three distances. A 100% finisher rate on a race like this, hats off 🎩.

The second half of the course is where it really gets serious 📈. The stage from Gilwell Camp (km 62) to Beacon Hill (km 70) offers the best city views: you ride along Lion Rock with Kowloon below, the glass towers of Hong Kong sparkling in the distance ✨. Imagine running at night with this view, legs on fire and the city neon in your panorama... It’s probably one of the most cinematic experiences the trail can offer 🤩. And how does it end? With a descent from Tai Mo Shan 🗻, Hong Kong’s highest peak, at 957 meters. Because climbing up at the end would have been too easy, but coming down with fried legs after 100 km is the real definition of fun for ultra runners 😝. The HK100 is the season opener for the World Trail Majors, where the best runners in the world meet, ambitions on display, performances scrutinized ⏱️.

In short, the HK100proves that trail running isn’t just about mountains or exotic deserts ☝️. It’s also a megacity of 7 million residents hiding in its backyard one of the planet’s most spectacular ultramarathon courses 🌍.

V-Asia, Hong Kong on you 👊. (Go for it, we’re counting on you!)