Oxfam Trailwalker organisers add new route, target record donations, as race hits 40
- November’s event will be the 40th time the race has taken place since the inaugural edition in 1981
- Officials expect all 1,300 team slots to be oversubscribed, with a draw on July 2 to determine who can take part
The organisers of the Oxfam Trailwalker have added a new route and set themselves an ambitious fundraising target to celebrate the 40th edition of the famous race in Hong Kong.
Alongside the traditional 100-kilometre challenge will be a shorter 40km version, while officials are hoping to bring in a record HK$40 million in donations. The previous largest total was the HK$38 million collected in 2018.
First held in 1981, what should have been the race’s 40th anniversary event was curtailed by Covid-19 restrictions, so organisers are celebrating this year instead.
All 1,300 team slots across both events, which take place on the weekend of November 15 to 17, are expected to be oversubscribed by the time registration closes at 6pm on June 23, and a draw will take place on July 2 to determine which teams get to take part.
Michael Wong Ho-ming, the charity’s director of fundraising and communications in the city, said organisers were taking the opportunity to test the public’s response to a shorter route.
“We believe the Trailwalker spirit is to have four runners completing 100km within 48 hours,” he said. “But there had been people asking about a shorter route over the years.
