Hong Kong's Lantau Peak a challenge for ace trail runner Scott Jurek
American ultrarunning legend takes over six hours to complete 43km Moontrekker overnight race on Lantau Island, as Australia’s Vlad Ixel speeds home in a new course record of 4 hours 15 minutes
Hong Kong’s humidity and the infamous stair climb up Lantau Peak posed a tough challenge for American ultrarunning superstar Scott Jurek at the Barclays Moontrekker 43 kilometre trail race last weekend.
Jurek, who was running his first race in Hong Kong in 14 years, finished the October 14 overnight event on Lantau Island in 34th place in 6 hours, 41 minutes and 36 seconds, well behind race winner Vlad Ixel of Australia, who set a new course record of 4:15:24.
To be fair, 42-year-old Jurek - still recovering from his epic Appalachian Trail 3,524km adventure last year in the US where he ran an average of 80km a day for 46 days - had made it known pre-race that he was treating the Moontrekker as a “fun” run. Jurek was in Hong Kong to support The Nature Conservancy, the Moontrekker’s chosen charity, for whom race participants raised a total of HK$1.8 million this year.
After a short speech at the start line at Mui Wo, he flagged off participants, then joined the hundreds of runners mid-pack, running and talking with people along the way. The weather and 934-metre high Lantau Peak, however, would leave him breathless.
