How a Hong Kong couple found love through running and push each other to greater heights
Mo Devlin and Janine Canham clicked instantly over their intense passion for long-distance running. Learning from and encouraging each other every step of the way, they are now achieving things they could not have done alone
Voluble talk on anything running related is the cupid’s arrow to the heart of Mo Devlin, a 52-year-old Scottish running enthusiast and PE teacher at Sha Tin College for whom sports has always played an integral part in his life.
Three years ago on a Tuesday night running session with the ANTS (Andy Naylor Track Session) group, he met Janine Canham, a finance professional. They didn’t get talking until months later at a bar, when a group of runners were meant to meet up to plan a race in the New Territories.
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On that day, however, only the pair of them turned up. They chatted non-stop during those four hours and realised they had much in common.
“Janine was probably the first woman that didn’t think it was boring that all I talked about was running: running training, running and nutrition, running races,” Devlin says.
Canham, an ultra-runner who participates in world-renowned events such as Racing the Planet, recalls: “When we met, my hair was tied back, I was red faced, covered in sweat … I never feel a need to wear make-up to impress him.”
Today, the couple run together casually and competitively. They took up triathlons last year and joined the Hong Kong Dragons Triathlon Club for training. Their first ever triathlon race was hosted by the club, and was swiftly followed by similar events elsewhere.
