‘Coldest place on Earth’ bares its teeth as blind Hongkonger forced to quit Arctic ultra marathon amid life-threatening conditions
Gary Leung and his guides last two days in the 480km race as others succumb to grotesquely swollen toes and burst blood vessels
Blind Hong Kong ultra marathon runner Gary Leung Siu-wai now knows the difference between cold and freezing – and the life-threatening dangers when facing minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit).
The intrepid Leung and two other Hongkongers returned abruptly from Yukon, Canada, on Friday night after an aborted attempt at the Yukon Arctic Ultra – a 480-kilometre (300-mile) race down Canada’s westernmost territory.
Team leader Steve Lo Chun-yin made an executive decision to call it quits two days in.
The start of the event – billed as the “Coldest race on Earth” – had been postponed by a day because of the severe weather, the first time in its 15-year history.
“It was the coldest place on Earth – it’s around minus 41 in the Arctic, but it was minus 45 to minus 47 where we were,” said 51-year-old Leung, alongside guide runners and social media personalities Inez Leong Lok-in and Lo, who ran under local charity Wheel For Oneness.
