The country park will be unusually quiet this weekend as Trailwalker 2019 has been cancelled by Oxfam, the organisers. The 100 km trail-run has been cancelled because of safety fears as protests continue to grip the city, the organisers have said.
Over the past few days many concerns have been raised as to the safety of the runners and support crews. These also focused on the access to the event as the public transport system is crippled by protests.
The organisers announced that this year’s participating teams can reserve their quota and any donated funds to the next Trailwalker in 2020. Those who do not intend to retain their entrance quota can return the paid registration fees and any donations.
Hong Kong’s oldest ultramarathon was supposed to start on Friday. Finishers take between 12 and 48 hours to complete the course. It starts at Pak Tam Chung in Sai Kung Country Park and finishes near Tuen Mun, taking participants over the mountains of the New Territories. The 5,200 participants run in teams of four. Together with volunteers and supporters, more than 10,000 people are on the mountains at any time on the day of the event, making it the largest mountain race in Hong Kong.
Participants who have not yet received this year’s Oxfam Trailer Souvenirs can still pick them up at the Oxfam Office later. Participants and members of the public who have purchased bus tickets to the starting point can also arrange a refund.
Since 1981, this is only the second cancellation of the Trailwalker; the last time was in 1982 due to the Battle of the Falklands. This is the first time since Oxfam started hosting the event in 1997 that it has been cancelled. In 2000, the event was cut short by bad weather.
Trailwalker is the third large-scale hiking and mountain race cancelled since the troubles began five months ago. Other races cancelled were the “Totem Run 2019”, scheduled to be held on October 5, and the “Lei Lei Trail Long March 2019” to be held on October 12-13. Both were cancelled owing to the unrest.
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