Hong Kong runners join extradition bill protests with Lennon Wall Run, echoing umbrella ultra in 2014, as way to make voices heard
- John Ellis and others find creative and non-violent way to protest against extradition bill and mainland encroachment by running
- The group ran an ultra in 2014 to show solidarity with the Occupy protesters to remind Hongkongers ‘we are not alone in this fight’
Runners are taking to the streets to show solidarity with protesters and to make their voices heard in a peaceful manner, by connecting 19km of Lennon Walls across the city.
Dubbed the “umbrella ultramarathon,” it was not a race, but a journey with a message: support for the Occupy Central movement, also known as the umbrella movement, which had started just over a month beforehand.
Now, another massive protest movement has swept Hong Kong, as millions have taken to the streets in waves of demonstrations in recent weeks. What began as fierce opposition to an extradition bill has since evolved to encompass broader demands for democracy, echoing the 2014 umbrella movement. And just as in 2014, running became a way to show solidarity with the protesters.
Last Friday, a group of runners set off from Siu Sai Wan, coursing along the coastline of Hong Kong Island as they made the roughly 19-kilometre journey towards Kennedy Town, with pit stops at more than a dozen Lennon Walls along the way.
