Samantha Chan wins China Ultra 100 Guilin – despite getting lost – and rewards herself with fried chicken

The Hong Kong runner follows a group down the wrong track, but her positive attitude helps her shrug off the mistake and go on to win the 70km ultra

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Samantha Chan wins the 70k China Ultra 100 despite losing her way. Photo: Handout

Published: 2:30pm, 16 Apr 2018Updated: 2:40pm, 17 Apr 2018

If taking first place in the women’s 70 kilometre China Ultra 100 Guilin and being bested by only two men wasn’t already impressive enough, Samantha Chan’s efforts are all the more amazing given she even got lost along the way.

“I should have trusted my own navigation, but early on in the race I switched off while running with a group of guys who for some reason kept missing the markings,” she said, laughing. “After that I just navigated myself.”

Saturday’s race is another impressive mark on the Hongkonger’s résumé as she continues a run of excellent results – last month she secured a third-place finish at the Gaoligong by UTMB ultra in Yunnan and in 2017 she came third in the epic 400km Gobi Ultra, where she admitted navigation was not her strong point.

An unexpected downpour on Friday night made for wet and slippery conditions in Guilin. The course meandered between the spectacular karst mountains, through villages and along the post-card picturesque Li River.

Samantha Chan comes third in the 125 Gaoligong. Photo: Gaoligong by UTMB

As a result, Chan had to exercise caution and control her speed on the downs. “Normally my downhill is my strength, but I had to watch my steps here,” she said.

However, most of the course was very runnable which suited Chan’s track running background.