- In 1976, a group of five ran from Hong Kong Island’s most southerly district to its most northerly police station in what would become city’s first ultra event
- Two decades before that, one lonely runner set a world record running on his own around an athletics track
Ultra running is now almost synonymous with Hong Kong, which boasts the kind of daunting terrain and conditions perfect for races that draw tens of thousands of hardy competitors every year.
So it’s hard to believe that the first recorded ultra marathon in Hong Kong only took place in 1956, and that few people even seemed to notice at the time.
Perhaps they should have done – it produced a world record, a note of which was hidden in an article in the Hong Kong Marathon programme from 1979.
The 32-year-old Bob Pape, a member of the British Navy who was posted to Hong Kong and was anxious to qualify for the Melbourne Olympics, ran a marathon in two hours, 25 minutes and six seconds, in the hope of being selected to represent the UK.
He wasn’t selected, and his time was eventually only eclipsed by six seconds in the 1956 Summer Games.
The article, written by J.D O’Neill and titled “The Loneliest Marathon”, claimed Pape’s marathon was the first to be run in Hong Kong. However, a throwaway line revealed he may have also run Hong Kong’s first ultra marathon.
