Hong Kong Oxfam Trailwalker: 3-time winner keeps perfect record as team win in rain
Rain hits city’s biggest fundraiser for first time on 40th anniversary, while monkeys enjoy ‘all-you-can-eat buffet’ of snacks at checkpoints
Not even a rainy start and some heavy downpours along the way could deny Jeff Campbell from maintaining his perfect record at Hong Kong Oxfam Trailwalker, as the Canadian and his team finished the gruelling 100-kilometre race first on Friday, more than an hour ahead of the field.
Campbell, winner of the event three previous times, and his Team 8049 members – Ryan Whelan, Alex Neyrinck and Lodewijk Vriens – crossed the line in 11 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds.
Victorious in the men’s event in 2018 and 2021, Campbell, who added his third title in the mixed race last year, said his team “ran a really smart race” and were a few minutes faster than they had planned.
While not within striking distance of the overall Oxfam record of 10 hours and 58 minutes, set by Team Columbia S1 in 2013, the quartet beat their own target time of 11 hours and 45 minutes.
“We were a little bit worried [that] maybe we were going too fast, but whenever one of us wasn’t feeling great, at any point, we would just call it in and the whole pack would slow down,” Campbell said. “It was very humid, but the rain and the lack of overhead sun made it a little bit more tolerable.
