Summary (Part 1/2) – part 2 to be released on Dec 3rd 2015

This podcast will profile runner Jacky Leung, one of Hong Kong’s most prolific and elite trail runners. We will attempt to paint a picture of what lead him to start trail running and how he managed to become one of the top runners in Hong Kong.  His best 100km run was completed in 9 hours and 37 minutes (Jeju 100km run in Korea – 2013)

Show Notes:

* Who’s Jacky Leung?

* Intro – Started hiking/running

* What is his day job?

* When did he become a Salomon sponsored guy?

* When did he become a Suunto sponsored guy?

* What’s it like to be a sponsored guy? Does he have additional pressure because of it?

Trivia for Jacky:

* What is Jacky’s favorite trail in Hong Kong and why?

* What in Jacky’s view is his best accomplishment in the field of running

* In his running career, has he had any mentors? Who has had the most influence on him?

* Does Jacky have role models in the field of running? Who are they and why?

Questions for Jacky:

* Humble beginnings: where it all started

* Road running/trail running philosophy and why he does it. When did he start doing it?

* Does he have any unforgettable experiences in the course of trail running and racing? Something or someone that has shaped him and his thoughts?

Jacky’s Accomplishments (We are going to limit our discussion to Ultras):

2015

2 Events, 200 km

13.-14.03.2015

TransLantau 100 Ultra Trail

100km

17:47:02 h

Leung, Chun-Keung

Salomon Hk

Overall: 18

M: 18

Cat M23: 6

17.-18.01.2015

Hong Kong 100 Ultra Trail Race

100km

12:31:17 h

Leung, Chun-Keung

Salomon Hk

Overall: 26

M: 25

Cat M23: 10

 Stair Master series. Third in Lantau, 1st in Hong Kong (The Twins), just 40s behind John Ellis ; Monte Rossa

2014

5 Events, 384 km

13.12.2014

The North Face 50 Hong Kong

50km

7:54:14 h

Leung, Chun-Keung

Overall: 35

M: 32

Cat M23: 11

01.11.2014

Lantau Trail race 70k

70km

9:02:16 h

Leung, Chun-Keung

Salomon

Overall: 3

M: 3

Cat M23: 2

18.-19.10.2014

45km Midnight Express

45km

6:06:39 h

Leung, Chun-Keung

Salomon Hk

Overall: 8

M: 8

Cat M23: 4

27.-28.08.2014

Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie (TDS)

119km

24:49:20 h

Leung, Chun-Keung

Salomon Hk

Overall: 241

M: 226

Cat M23: 82

14.-15.03.2014

TransLantau 100 Ultra Trail

100km

14:24:35 h

Leung, Chun-Keung

Salomon

Overall: 2

M: 2

Cat M23: 1

 Standard Chartered (3.05) ; DNF on Tornado ;  – OTW (14.14) – 7th overall

2013

Summary:

This episode starts off with Martijn and I talking about Hong Kong Trailwalker 2015. We talk about the course profile, then we discuss a few tips for runners and then we conclude by mentioning some of the favorite teams that are in a position to do very well.

We then talk to one of the fastest Trailwalker teams of all times — the team from Nepal that comprises of some very young (and fast!) runners. Their team manager Ramesh Bhattachan talks to us about their training programme among other things. You will get a window into the lives of these runners and what makes them fast. Favorite questions from Andre Blumberg, Steven Sparksman and others are also answered.

The runners:

* Their OTW time from last year (11.56), target this year (10.45)

* The names of the runners

* Kiran Kulung, 31 (Leading of Team Columbia running team)

* Suman Kulung, 24 (12.12 on HK100 2015)

* Arjun Kulung, 24 (1st in Annapurna 100k, 10h 33m) in 2015

* Ras Kulung, 19

* Team manager: Ramesh Bhattachan

Questions (Humble Beginnings)

How did they discover their passion for running and how did their story land them in Hong Kong last year?

What has having a coach taught you?

Questions (Training)

How do they train? Walk us through the training routine

Does Ramesh still make them do the Pressure Steps repeats?

What does a typical training week look like in the key phase of OTW preparation?

Whilst coach Ramesh provides continuity at OTW over many years, the respective runners in the team change regularly. How do you transfer the knowledge and lessons learned from one year to the next and from the previous team to the next?

Questions (Mental)

What keeps you going after 50K and how to mentally fit not to quit?

What do you say to yourself when the going gets tough?

Questions (Nutrition and gear)

What about gears and nutrition? What do they go with when they train?

What do they eat during a 100km race like OTW.

Questions (Personality)

How important is it for them to defend their title this year? And, why?

What is the pressure on them like? Families and friends back in Nepal

What do they want to achieve in life? What’s their dream?

What do they think is their secret to success in trail running?

If there is anything you could have and ask for to perform even better (e.g. better gear, more time training on actual course, better support during race etc.) – what would be your #1 request?

What is the major disagreement amount their teams during races/training?

Questions (OTW Strategies)

What’s their target time?

What’s their strategy to win the OTW?

What has their training and nutrition regime been in the lead up to OTW?

How do they deal with stairs in HK?

Do they run up Needle Hill stairs or walk?

How do they avoid getting lost?

To subscribe to this podcast, please go to iTunes and search for The Hong Kong Trail Rockers Podcast (https://itunes.apple.com/hk/podcast/hong-kong-trail-rockers-podcast!/id994423166).

Music: A big “thank you” to http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Merche is a Talent and Leadership Development / Nutritional and Wellness Coach who has been practicing mindfulness for several years.  She has spent considerable time in Japan to learn about mindfulness. She shares her thoughts and expertise on the subject in this podcast. A must listen for anyone who wants to get more out of their life by living life in the moment to the fullest extent. Incidentally, she is also a runner and has done marathons in exotic places like North Korea and Myanmar.

Questions: (Asked in no particular order – we went with the flow)

1) What is mindfulness?

– how do you know you are reaching the state of feeling present?

– do you concentrate on breathing

– how do you control the constant fluctuation of thought?

2) I’ve heard that mindfulness is simply about being totally in the moment and aware of everything that is going on around you. Why is this so difficult?

3) What are the advantages of mindfulness?

4) If you are totally in the moment when you are doing something, how do you concentrate on the mechanical activities? i.e. if you are walking and you want to practice mindfulness, you might crash into a wall if you don’t pay attention to your surroundings. Is mindfulness something you do only when you are sitting down?

– what posture do you need to maintain?

5) “Olivia Luk: Mediation is constant observation of mind, quoted from my yoga guru. I suppose mindfulness is the same meaning in different word. Running per se is meditative to me, without having to think of meditation or being mindful.. do you think of sleep when you sleep? Bet if you do, you will lose your sleepiness.” – does she agree?

6) “Thailand Mountain Seb: When we run, we are naturally not mindful. We have many types of thoughts we aren’t aware of. Mindfulness meditation during running starts by focusing on something (it can be your foot or your breath) to “make your brain quieter”. It takes time and is the 1st step before anything else is to be aware of everything while running. It’s hard work.” – do you agree?

7) Mindfulness is when you are focusing on something whereas meditation is when you are thinking about nothing. Is that an accurate distinction?

8) How do you practice mindfulness when you are running?

9) Are there any “hardware” benefits of mindfulness? And has any of it been scientifically proven? Does the brain region actual change when you are practicing it?

10) How do you go about starting the process of mindfulness? When is the best time to practice it?

11) Are there different flavors of mindfulness?

13) Tell us about success stories that you’ve heard about that stemmed from someone practicing mindfulness

 

 

 

To subscribe to this podcast, please go to iTunes and search for The Hong Kong Trail Rockers Podcast (https://itunes.apple.com/hk/podcast/hong-kong-trail-rockers-podcast!/id994423166).

Summary:

We summarize what we learnt from the interviewees so far.

[Determination, Persistence and Purpose]

1) John Ellis

– If you DNF you have to come back and finish it the next year – so don’t DNF

– Tailwind

– Training strategy: not too much during the week but does track training, vertical training

2) Andre Blumberg

– Black pee, kept walking and still finished. The body will always recover

3) Janelle Seet

– Determination to achieve an outcome

– Sacrifices one needs to make to achieve a goal

[Techniques and Training]

1) Jeri Chua

– Visualization bubble

– Realizing that what we do involves risk but we do it because we enjoy doing it

2) Milos / Martijn

– Preparation & pacing – gear strategy

– Wake up to a map of the race

3) Jacky Leung

– Study movement, studied Killian running down Sharp Peak

– Don’t listen to music

– Vertical running

4) Joejoe Fan

– Do the things you don’t normally like

– Passion for running is contagious

5) Steven Sparky

– Heat Training (Rhonda Patrick)

[Mental State Management]

1) Merche

– Know the line between overwhelm / challenge / underemployment

– Stay in the present moment – practice non judgemental awareness through meditation or matching and mirroring

2) Jeri

– Visualization Bubble

– A board saying “is something broken? are you bleeding?”

3) Shane Early

– The concept of a happy place

– Spend as much time on trails as possible

4) Retha

– Name your blister – call it blister Bob

[Helping people and contributing to the trail running community]

1) Phillip Forsyth

 

Conversation with Retha

Retha is a fellow Lantau-er who discovered the trails, then hiking, then running and now ultra running – all from zilch to multi-stage long distance runs within a span of 2 years. She personifies true grit and courage. She completed the Translantau in 2015 despite a bad fall which caused a bad hand injury.

In this podcast, we’re going to learn from her and find out where this strength really comes from. She’s also a mother of 2 (well, 4, if you include the 2 cats she’s got). She is also good friends with Bruce(?), the water buffalo that lives about 100m away from her house in Pui O.

Trivia questions:

1) What is Retha’s favorite trail in Hong Kong and why?

2) What in Retha’s view is her best accomplishment as far as trail running goes?

3) Does Retha have role models in the field of running? Who are they and why?

4) I know you listen to the noise of bullfrogs at 5am in the morning in Pui O. Why is that? What other weird things do you do?

Questions for Retha:

1) Humble beginnings: where it all started? When inspired her to start hiking?

Accomplishments:

1) 2014 March – Translantau 50

– how did she get from NOT hiking to hiking a 100km?

– walk us through the training (both physical and mental)

– up and down moments

– how did she feel at the finish

Physical training:

1) How does she manage to find time to train plus be a mom of 3? Is her family supportive of her trail assaults?

2) Has being a mom made her stronger? How so?

3) Does she have a coach?

4) Does she cross train? If so, how?

5) How is her training plan evolving?

Summary: An informative, interesting and entertaining chat with Scottie Callaghan!

Who’s Scottie Callahan?

1) I got this email from Ingo:

”

Hi Vince, I love your trail rocker podcasts and one idea could be to get an actual family man on air for a change.

Not that I intimately know all your other interviewees but I sense that most of them aren’t exactly of the “family tribe”. They are all very accomplished individuals – professionally as well as in pursuing their passion for (trail)running. What I am missing though is someone who’s actually juggling career, family (with kids) and trail running.

Guys like Scottie Callaghan maybe – I heard he’s got three kids! Being a family guy myself I catch myself often thinking that having to take care only of your career and your passion for running is almost literally a walk in the past compared to what we have to manage. Our running time is either coming out of our sleep or out of the time with your kids and neither is a good option.

”

Scottie is certainly a family man (3 kids) but also quite an incredible runner. He did his first 10km run in 2012 in 52 minutes and can now do the same in 39 minutes. He was quoted saying “you don’t have to be young to run or get into running”.

He is also known as the coffee man in Hong Kong. He used to work in Sydney as a barista and has been twice voted as the barista champion of Australia. He has traveled extensively to the areas where the coffee is actually grown and has made friends with farmers in Sumatra, Columbia and Peru. He runs Redback specialty coffee in Hong Kong. The iced coffee on top of Lantau Peak during the Lantau Vertical race was his doing!

Over to Scottie :

Plenty to talk about but first, three quick questions:

* What is Scottie’s favorite trail in Hong Kong and why?

* What in Scottie’s view is his best accomplishment in the field of running?

* Does Scottie have role models in the field of running? Who are they and why?

Talking Coffee:

* What is so good about coffee?

* Where did this passion for coffee start?

* Did he ever thing he’d be leaving Sydney when he worked there as a Barista?

* Is coffee an acquired taste like wine?

* Do you think your passion for coffee will ever dwindle?

* Does everyone in your family drink coffee?

* You’re visited the farms where the coffee is grown. Is it safe to travel to those places?

* You visited San Martin in Peru and your host Dionicio Aguilar asked you to pick up a sack from a farmer. Tell us about that.

* Tell us about the cow incident

* Where do you get the best coffee grow in the world?

* Tell us about Redback. When was it started and how did you go about starting it?

* Why the name Redback?

* How much of Redback was motivated by a desire to make money vs pursuing a passion for coffee?

Talking running:

* Humble beginnings: where it all started

* Ingo’s question: when does he find the time to train?

Accomplishments:

* 2012 Sydney – 10km

What made him do this?

What was the preparation for this like?

* LT70, TNF 100 – Nov 2014

Road running versus trail running, what does he prefer and why?

From 2012 to 2014 talk to us about how the training plan evolved?

* He won the MSIG 88 in Dec 2014 in his category but got beaten by an older man and a girl

How did it feel to get chicked?

His philosophy is to not enter all the races. Does he enter to try and win?

How competitive is he?

* Translantau 100 – March 2015 – 5th overall

How did the training plan evolve?

Summary:

In this podcast, we talk to Shane Early, Race Director of Lantau 70, to pick his brains on the race, how to prepare for it and so on.

Quick description of the race:

* 70km run in Lantau – pretty much the Lantau trail 3300m elevation gain and loss. 65% trail, 35% road. 2nd half easier.

* Two versions (70km and relay) Relay teams of 4

Quick Facts on this race:

* This race is part of the Hong Kong Trail Racing League: (the solo 70km version) – Ultra League

* This race used to exist back in the day as the Phoenix Challenge and Jojo Fan has the female record for it. I think it was 9 hours and 26 minutes. Jeremy Ritcey brought it back on in 2013 and Shane now runs the race

* You get 2 points for the famous UTMB (Shane, out of curiosity, how do they judge how many points to award it?)

(I apply with all relevant details, maps, GPS, previous results, elevation info, trail info. They have a formula. There are two parts. UTMB and UTMF. I apply for each. 2 points each event in 2016)

* How many people are running it this year compared to the previous years?

(420 in solo, around 33 relay teams. Not many all women’s teams.)

* You are only allowed outside support at the checkpoints (True! I dislike races which allow that. Consider that cheating. It is unfair. )

* Cutoff time 17.5 hours Yes, shortened so runners and volunteers can get last ferry out. Still a generous time.

* Overall Male/Female top 3 receive prizes. Top 3 in each category receive prizes

(Overall Male and Female winners get a Suunto Watch plus prizes from Salomon. Trophies are our traditional replica signs of the Lantau Trail. Medals for all finishers.)

* How many overseas runners are running this time? Have not counted but similar to last year 50+

Visualize the course and the checkpoints:

* Start Line: Please allow relay teams and fast runners to be up front. Tight squeeze first 400 meters to round about. Police will be there for traffic. Volunteers will line the walkway. Kids in Halloween Costumes

* Sidewalk up to Nam Shan. Stay off the road!

* Nam Shan to Sunset Peak – trails begin. lovely section. Tough climb – some runable

* Pak Kung Au – cross road properly with my volunteer

* Lantau Peak to Ngong Ping- tough work again. a little bit runable

* LP – CP1 – Go down and turn right at giant rooster. 400 meters to CP1

* Leaving CP1 – pay attention to left turn 200 meters in. Pop out at Cable Car building in Ngong Ping, cross public area to parking lot. then stay to the right. turn right on road and downhill for a few k. Cross road to start trails again. 3-4 short climbs – 2 are steep. Pay attention to trail signs. L041 will have a volunteer. No short cuts. L045 pay attention and follow signs into Tai O. Pass Man Cheung Po. Crappy downhill road before left turn into CP2. Drop Bags at CP2

* Laving Tai O jog what you can, first climb is tough then out in beautiful plateau area. Pay attention to signs and go correct direction. Otherwise end up at CP2 again. Rolling hills, lovely trails. Downhill to the catch water is a bit rough so be careful. short catch water jog into CP3

* CP3 – Shui Hau is ok. Can jog a lot. Careful crossing road and follow signs around Shek Pik peninsula. Careful with signs between L089- L092. Especially just past L089, road splits, Go uphill!

* Later turns to trail near a fence, watch out later near Lo Kei Wan beach for the cows. He can be grumpy sometimes. and block s the trail.

* Come out of Peninsula cross road and turn right past village about 300 meters and CP4.

* Leaving CP4 is short trail climb to catchwater and turn right – follow follow follow until dead end and turns to trail, come out at road and turn left into pui O.

Summary:

In this third episode of our Race Talk, we are going to talk about MoonTrekker 2015 which is going to be held on Oct 16th, 2015. As usual, I have Martijn here with me to discuss this race. We are also holding a competition this time around. For the one who most closely predicts the winning time of this year’s 43km event, Lantau Base Camp will send a pack of goodies to this person. Post a comment with your prediction in the post below before 8.45pm on Oct 16th 2015 to participate. 

About this race:

* This race is part of the Hong Kong Trail Racing League

* The 43km version of the race is part of the HKTRL

The route, the distance and so on:

Barclays MoonTrekker features two trek distances, the Moonlit 30km and the Sunrise 43km. Both races begin on a Friday, night in Mui Wo, on Lantau Island. Both routes finish at Pui O Beach. The Sunrise 43 starts at 20:45 and the Moonlit 30 at 23:20. The finish-line takes participants down to Pui O beach. Here you will have access to drinks, snacks, showers and changing rooms. Dedicated buses will take you back to Tung Chung MTR station until 0800am (regular public bus services begins).

Supported Charity:

Barclays MoonTrekker is Hong Kong’s leading night hiking/running event that delivers a fantastic experience and raises money for our nominated charity (The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is the leading conservation organisation working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. TNC addresses the most pressing conservation threats at the largest scale. To date, the Conservancy and its dedicated supporters have been responsible for the protection of more than 119 million acres worldwide including cross-border initiatives in the Coral Triangle and the forests of Southeast Asia. TNC now works in more than 35 countries including Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Micronesia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. )

Facts about the MoonTrekker:

1) This is the 7th edition

2) As of 2014, an extra 3km has been added to the course (the part to Pui O)

3) Supported by the HK Hiking Meetup (Philip Forsyth and his team)

Moonlit 30 Course Details:

1) Mui Wo ~ Chi Ma Wan Road (Park entrance/ CP1) (via coastline)

2) Chi Ma Wan Rd ~ Nam Shan Country Park Centre (via Lantau Trail stage 12)

3) Nam Shan Country Park Centre ~ Pak Kung Au (via South Lantau Country Trail)

4) Pak Kung Au (Tung Chung Road) ~ Ngong Ping (via Tei Tong Tsai)

5) Ngong Ping – Pak Kung Au

6) Pak Kung Au to finish (new finish in 2014) (via Tung Chung Rd / Lantau Trail)

Sunrise 43 Course Details:

1) Mui Wo ~ Chi Ma Wan Road (via coastline)

2) Chi Ma Wan Correctional Institute ~ Chi Ma Wan Road (via Chi Ma Wan peninsular)

3) Chi Ma Wan Rd ~ Nam Shan Country Park Centre (via Lantau Trail stage 12)

4) Nam Shan Country Park Centre ~ Pak Kung Au (via South Lantau Country Trail)

5) Pak Kung Au (Tung Chung Road) ~ Ngong Ping (via Tei Tong Tsai)

6) Ngong Ping – Pak Kung Au (via Lantau Peak)

7) Pak Kung Au to finish (new finish in 2014) (via Tung Chung Rd / Lantau Trail)

Checkpoints:

Water: Sunrise 43 participants must carry enough water for the first 18km (CP1 is Chi Ma Wan). Water refills will be available at all four checkpoints (but not at the start-line). You need a container to receive the water as we will not distribute ANY bottles from the CPs.

Food: Bananas/trail mix available at the CPs. The finish-line will have added provisions (you will need to bring your 2 food coupons contained in this pack),

Summary:

Aim of this podcast is to get an understanding of the TMBT race (The Most Beautiful Thing) in Malaysia. It’s got a catchy title and we want to find out if it’s really as glorious as it sounds.We’re going to talk to two runners who have just completed it – Roger Graham (a guy I almost killed with a big boulder back in the day) and Seowping Tan who has done the TMBT course 3 times, she also did all the four 100km races in HK in 2014 and also the HK168. We’ll keep this podcast primarily focused on TMBT but we will also learn a little but more about Roger and Seow.

Before we get into specifics of TMBT, just some quick questions for Seowping and Roger so we get to know them better:

1) What’s your favorite trail in Hong Kong and why?

2) What do you think is your nest accomplishment as far as trail running is concerned?

3) Who are your role models or the people you admire locally and why?

Humble beginnings including time scale (Roger and Seowping)

1) Tell us your running story. When did you start running competitively? What got you into it?

2) Seowping – tell us briefly about your experience running all the 4 100km races in HK and doing HK168

————————-

The TMBT

1) What is TMBT? Please describe the race course and also tell us about the race organizer

2) What made you want to do TMBT?

3) What was the atmosphere like?

4) What was the weather like?

5) How does the trail or race compare to HK100 or one of the Hong Kong races?

6) Which trail in HK does it most closely resemble (if there is one)

7) How well marked was the course?

8) How difficult was the course and why?

9) What were the main challenges?

10) For someone considering their first overseas race, would you recommend TMBT?

11) Was it really The Most Beautiful Thing?

12) Talk to us about your experience. What did you like / not like? How did you feel going in? What were the up and down moments?

13) How safe is the place / the race?

14) Any animals on the trail?

Physical training for the TMBT

1) Talk to us about your training program for the TMBT. When did you start to train?

2) What were the challenges of training in Hong Kong for TMBT?

3) Having done the TMBT, is there anything different you would do now in terms of training for the TMBT? What advice would you give new TMBT “attempters” ?

Mental training for the TMBT

1) Was there a time when you wished you were not there?

2) What did you tell yourself when the going got tough?

Nutrition and gear

1) What was the checkpoint food like? What did you have for nutrition?

2) What about gear? What kind of gear did you carry with you? Was there something you missed out on?

As we begin to wind up:

1) How would you rate the race (o to 10)

2) Any advice for the race organizer?

3) Anything our race organizers in HK can copy?

Goals:

1) Will they do TMBT again?

Parting words of wisdom:

1) Mantra or motto or creed that you live by (either running or life)

To subscribe to this podcast, please go to iTunes and search for The Hong Kong Trail Rockers Podcast (https://itunes.apple.com/hk/podcast/hong-kong-trail-rockers-podcast!/id994423166).

Music: A big “thank you” to http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Summary:

In this second episode of our Race Talk, we are going to talk about Lantau Two Peaks which is going to be held on Oct 4th, 2015.

This race is part of the Sky Word Cup and the Hong Kong Trail Racing League.

– “Skyrunning is an extreme sport of mountain running above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) where the incline exceeds 30% and the climbing difficulty does not exceed II° grade”

– It’s an Action Asia event 23k this year, 1988m elevation gain (2km added on the clockwise course). 15km is put on hold

– Starts at 0730 on Sunday Oct 4th from Tung Chung

Checkpoints and food available:

“A very tough hill climbing course that you need to train for. Tung Chung Citygate, Wong Lung Hang Road, Wong Lung Hang Country Trail stairs, Sunset Peak (807m), Pak Kung Au Water CP1 (331m) , Lantau Peak – Fung Wong Shan (934m), Ngong Ping Water CP2 (458m), Nei Lek Shan contour trail (564m), 360 Rescue trail, Tung Chung Citygate.

Three hour (3 hrs) cut-off at Pak Kung Au will be in effect after start and those not making cu-off will be re-routed down Tung Chung Rd to the last 3km of the course. In 2013 the last runners arrived 2hrs 45min.

Water, Gatorade, bananas, bisquits & oranges at CP1 (Pak Kung Au) & CP2 (Ngong Ping) with water & bananas at finish (Tung Chung). You must bring your own water to start and recommend at least 1 litre to start. Support teams are only allowed to stay within 50 meters of each checkpoints and not allowed to provide runners drinks/food on other parts of the course. Let’s continue the spirit of trail running and try our best to enforce this.”

To note: The extra 2km near Pak Kung Au

Special Warnings:

PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL RUNNING INTO THE MTR SQUARE BY CITYGATE AS WE DON’T WANT TO SPOIL THE RACE BY HAVING SOME RUNNER HITTING SOME CHILD OR ADULT CAUSING AN INJURY. SO PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND LOOK AROUND YOU WHEN RUNNING TO THE FINISH.

Topics of coverage:

– What should the strategy be for a person running?

– How should one go about pacing?

– A word about the teams that are participating and the favorites

– Last year’s top ten

Favorites for this year:

Male

– Clement Dumont

– Brendan Lee

– John Ellis

– Matt Moroz

– Michael Sko

– Jeremy Ritcey

– Steve Cale

– Guissepe Mollica

– Santosh Tamang

– Dan Falconer

Female

– Zein Williams

– Li Dong

– Nadia Koucha

– Valerie Lagarde

– Marie McNaughton

Past records:

(Past winners based on 21km course)

Course 21km Male Solo winners:

2009 – Will Davies – 2:30:18

2010 – Stone Tsang Siu Keung – 2:31:00

2011 – Clement Dumont – 2:31:07

2012 – Jeremy Ritcey – 2:25:54

2013 – Clement Dumont – 2:28:12

2014 – Daved Simpat – 2:34:33

Course 21km Female Solo winners:

2009 – Corinna Turner – 3:34:43

2010 – Lucy Marriott – 2:58:56

2011 – Claire Price – 2:53:24

2012 – Claire Price – 2:55:05

2013 – Claire Chapman – 3:06:18

2014 – Marie McNaughton – 3:09:51

 

To subscribe to this podcast, please go to iTunes and search for The Hong Kong Trail Rockers Podcast (https://itunes.apple.com/hk/podcast/hong-kong-trail-rockers-podcast!/id994423166).

Summary:

We usually release episodes on a Thursday evening. However, given that we’re approaching the UTMF weekend, we are releasing this episode today as it could benefit the UTMF racers. We’ll publish our next episode around 1st October 2015.

Many of our Hong Kong Trail Runners were in Europe late August 2015 to do the UTMB course, CCC course and the TDS course. And, many more are going to go to Japan late September to attempt the UTMF race. In this podcast, we talk to two trail runners who have completed the TDS and the UTMB course respectively to ask them about lessons they learnt from their experience so that the UTMF guys can benefit from it.

Our “panelists”:

[UTMB Finisher]

– John Ellis

[TDS Finisher]

– Milos Pintrava

Over to the “panelists”

1) First we will introduce the various runners we have on the “panel” and the race they just completed. John did the UTMB. Milos did the TDS

Let’s start off with the TDS

(Same questions re: the UTMB and the podcast is more like a discussion)

1) Tell us about the course. What is TDS? Please describe the race course and the details. Elevation/distance

2) What was the atmosphere like?

3) What was the weather like?

4) How does the trail or race compare to HK100 or one of the Hong Kong races?

5) Which trail in HK does it most closely resemble (if there is one)

6) How difficult was the course and why?

7) What were the main challenges?

8) Talk to us about your experience. What did you like / not like? How did you feel going in? What were the up and down moments?

9) Any animals on the trail?

Physical training:

1) Talk to us about your training program for the TDS. When did you start to train?

2) What were the challenges of training in Hong Kong for TDS?

3) Having done the TDS, is there anything different you would do now in terms of training for the TDS? What advice would you give new TDS “attempters” ?

4) How will what you’ve learnt help the UTMF guys?

Mental training for the TDS:

1) Was there a time when you wished you were not there?

2) What did you tell yourself when the going got tough?

Nutrition and gear:

1) What was the checkpoint food like? What did you have for nutrition?

2) What about gear? What kind of gear did you carry with you? Was there something you missed out on?

As we begin to wind up:

1) How would you rate the race (o to 10)?

2) Any suggestions / advice if the race organizer were listening?

Goals:

1) Will they do the TDS / UTMB again?

Parting words of wisdom:

1) Summary of lessons

2) How do you handle stress?

 

To subscribe to this podcast, please go to iTunes and search for The Hong Kong Trail Rockers Podcast (https://itunes.apple.com/hk/podcast/hong-kong-trail-rockers-podcast!/id994423166).

Music: A big “thank you” to http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music