Around 6.30am on 6 Jan 2024 cars started arriving at the abandoned village of Wong Chuk Yeung in Sai Kung. It was dark. It was cold. But if you’re one of those weird dedicated trail runner type people then that is a perfect start to the day.
The 2024 course was slightly different to the 2023 edition as there were some barriers around the start/finish area that made it difficult to run the trail behind the village. While this shortened the course by approx 2km a short diversion to visit Dragon Boat Rock was added and made for a total course distance of 12.5km with 611m of elevation.
After finishing the morning coffees and getting a quick bite to eat it was time to set off. 7am – the first loop started in an anti-clockwise direction. The climb up to Ma On Shan is always a tough bit of trail but the group stayed together and chatted, grumbled, complained and eventually made it to the top. The usual photos and selfies were taken on the ridge line and then it was down behind pyramid hill and up to the top of Dragon Boat Rock for some more photo opportunities. From there the group split and everyone went their own pace to complete the loop back to the village within the time limit.
The second loop in the clockwise direction only had 3 people start while those remaining started pulling out the tables, chairs, and bbqs.
The weather had quickly become hot in stark contrast to the cooler temperatures in the morning. The climb from behind Pyramid Hill up to the ridge line was particularly hard with little shade and no wind to ease the rising temperatures. All 3 pushed through and finished the second loop within the time limit.
By this time the bbqs had been cranked up, the music was on and beers were being drunk. Combined with the hot weather no-one chose to do the third loop but instead opted to sit, relax and enjoy the remainder of the afternoon. All up, it was another fantastic day of enjoying the trails and some good company.
Looking forward to the 2025 edition!
