Hong Kong 298km Four Trails finisher Leung returns for 10-year anniversary with an attitude shaped by failures and weakness
- Jacky Leung almost gives up trail running in 2011, but finding solutions to injuries has shaped his outlook for problem solving and strengthening his resolve
- The Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge marks 10 years by only inviting former finishers and survivors
Jacky Leung Chun-keung is among rare company as one of the few people who have finished the 298km Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge (HK4TUC). Yet it is not his success, but his failures, that have shaped his approach to running. He is returning for another attempt at the HK4TUC over Lunar New Year, confident he can improve on his 58 hours and 30 minutes, set in 2020.
The HK4TUC is one of the most brutal events in ultra running. It links all four major trails in Hong Kong – 100km MacLehose, 78km Wilson, 50km Hong Kong and 70km Lantau – in reverse. There is no support allowed on the trails, and no checkpoints. Runners can have help travelling between trails.
If they reach the end in under 60 hours, they are a “finisher”. If they reach the end in under 72 hours they are a “survivor”. There’s only 16 finishers in 10 years. It is not a race, there is no entry fee or prizes. It is a personal challenge.
Leung has been trail running since 2006. “The journey has always been up and down. I’ve had many failures in my life and in trail running, and a lot of injuries. But every time I had an injury, I found there was a solution to get me back to running. I learned the process of getting up again after a down moment,” Leung, 37, said.
After he finished the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, 171km in France in 2011, Leung had an IT band injury that stopped him running for six months. “I almost gave up trail running. But afterwards, I discovered some way to recover and came back even stronger,” he said.
