My first HK trail race was on the 6th of December 2014, the Action Asia Lantau 50. Armed with two 50km finishes back home (Action Asia Singapore 50 and The North Face Singapore 50), and trekking/training runs along Wilson and HK trails in previous years, I was fairly confident of finishing the race. My mind was all about the roasted goose I was going to eat after the race.
Waking up early and getting to the start line was an achievement in itself. I stayed in Mongkok and the race was in Lantau (an island away). Really thankful to the race organisers Action Asia Events for arranging buses from Prince Edward (10min walk from Mongkok) to the start line. The cold and weather.....brrrr.....so cold and comfy in bed that you must be crazy to head outside. It helps that some HK cafés are open 24hrs, thus there's hot porridge and coffee waiting for you. That was the main motivation for getting out of bed!
Lesson: If you've no time for breakfast, get some bread/snacks to be eaten on the bus.
The bus ride took about 40mins and we were at the start line. It was still dark and chilly, almost everyone was in a jacket. The race started and we were still in jackets, but before 3km I was getting uncomfortably hot and decided to remove it.
Lesson: Wear your jacket over your running pack so you can remove it easily.
