Acing your Night Run
TRAILME: How did you get started as an organizer?
I was out running in May, and like many people, quite disappointed that races had stopped because of COVID. Got me thinking, do we have to stop trail running altogether? Is there a format that’s compliant with social distancing rules? Out on the trail near Tai Lam Chung Reservoir, I had the thought why don’t we just start people in stages and have a runner every minute. Or maybe four runners every five minutes, appropriately distanced. I guess it was just frustration sitting on the sidelines, doing nothing. I wanted to do something, so hopefully this is a way to put a smile on people’s faces again. Give them something to do.
What’s special about the Lunar Trail Challenge?
I think we’re the first to do a three hour start window. People are socially distanced, but essentially running under the same conditions. (Unless it starts raining halfway through those three hours!) The temperature and conditions should be similar for everyone, and people will still get a benchmark.
Why did you decide to make it a night challenge?
I love running at night. I wasn’t really sure when I started doing this how people would react, because it could be a little bit niche. When people are first starting to run, perhaps they do shorter runs in the day. You’ve got to be slightly crazy to do an ultra-marathon starting late at night and finishing early the next morning. But the response has been really good. So that’s a pleasant surprise.
What do you think of virtual running as a format? Do you think it’s something that will catch on post-COVID?
I do like being able to socialize with people before and after a race, and that’s hard to do in a virtual race. What I hope runners will enjoy with the Lunar Trail Challenge is that out on the trail at night, if there’s a climb a kilometer ahead, you might see a line of headlamps in the darkness, and just knowing that there are other people from the trail running community out there at the same time as you means that you’re still taking part in an event together, which for me is more interesting than a virtual race spread over a week or a month. To be honest, I think many people are looking forward to having traditional races back at some point.
What technology do you look for? What do you use?
Some people find it quite amazing that I don’t have a running watch. For me, I just want to run based on how I feel, and I think there are advantages to that. You really get to know what your body is doing and when you can push and when you need to ease back a little. But I do enjoy being able to track races, if it’s a big race or people I know are in the race. Up until now, it’s been a little bit limited, because you can either only track people at a check point or carry a bulky GPS device — and those sometimes work, sometimes don’t, based on the satellite signal. Trail running is probably the least spectator-friendly sport, because it’s hard to film a country park trail over hundreds of kilometers. So, I do like what TRAILME is doing, where you can track a runner every few hundred meters. I think that’s a good way for friends and family to follow the event. I’m looking forward to seeing more of this technology.
What’s your personal favorite trail in Hong Kong?
A few actually. Some people love very technical trails, I prefer trails that are more runnable. There are trails around Tai Lam Chung Reservoir — a little bit undulating, not technical, still runnable. And it’s far enough from home, so it still feels quite fresh whenever I do it.
How about friends at work, do they know you’re a trail runner?
My colleagues know about it. They ask me how long some of the races are and when I tell them a 100k, they can’t wrap their heads around it. People are happy for me when I put in a good result. I think trail running has given me a lot in life. I’ve learned a lot about myself, and made a lot of friends. Found it almost by accident but so glad that I did.
All the best organizing the Lunar Trail Challenge, Steve! Anything that you have to get done before then, or are you all set?
I’m working with TRAILME on a couple of details. We’re going to organize a briefing for the participants in advance, but other than that we’re ready. I’ll be organizing the second challenge in January and the third one in February. Hopefully not long after that we’ll get regular races back. Yeah, still quite a bit to do for January and February, but for December 4, we’re ready to go.
