HK100 ultra-marathon runner hopes her elite exploits after giving birth ‘inspire women’
Veronika Leng won TransLantau 50km the year after having her daughter, and now aims to improve her time in 100km race
The formidable Veronika Leng said she hoped her world-class trail running exploits would “inspire other women”, as the Slovakian targeted “home” glory in Saturday’s Anta Guanjun Hong Kong 100 (HK100) ultra-marathon.
Leng, who has lived in Hong Kong for five years, questioned after giving birth to her daughter in 2023 whether she had the motivation to return to elite competition.
After dispelling those doubts, Leng won last November’s TransLantau 50km (31 miles) race. Her sights this weekend are on lowering the time of 11 hours, 47 minutes and 40 seconds that earned her a runner-up finish in the 2020 HK100.
“It’s not easy to get back to competing at a high level after giving birth,” Leng said. “Even competing at a lower level takes hours of training, and I hope I can be a role model and inspire some other women, and show them it’s possible.
“It’s important for mothers to have a passion of their own … even if you have a job or family, you have to have to think of yourself too.
“This is my passion, I don’t want to be selfish, but I have to do something for myself, so I can be a better mother and person.
