The Hong Kong 100 events see the welcome return to Hong Kong of world class runners from Europe and North America and incredibly strong competition between the best of Asia’s trail running talent.
There will be four days of racing on Hong Kong’s most beautiful trails which kicks off at 8am local time on Thursday 18 January with 500 runners tackling ‘The Third’, a 33km loop from Pak Tam Chung, which showcases Hong Kong’s UNESCO Global Geopark, the amazing beaches of Long Ke, Sai Wan, Ham Tin and Tai Long Wan and the magnificent panoramic views from Tai Cham Koi (407m).
Friday 19 January sees another 500 runners take on The Half, a 56km loop from Pak Tam Chung which offers the climb up Ngau Yee Shek Shan and a fleeting visit to the Hoi Ha Marine Park, in addition to the spectacular scenery enjoyed by the participants of The Third.
Then on Saturday 20 January, 1800 athletes will take on Hong Kong 100 – the original HK100 race first run in 2011. It features 103km of trails and over 5,300m of elevation gain.
Hong Kong 100’s fourth event is the Grand Sam. This involves doing The Third, The Half and Hong Kong 100 on consecutive days. Started as a virtual challenge during the COVID pandemic, it became a physical stage-race in February 2023.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 version of the main Hong Kong 100…
Hong Kong 100 - livestream and updates
The Hong Kong 100 will be streamed live on YouTube, which we will embed below when it becomes available.
Hong Kong 100
start list
Remarkably, nine of the top 10 male finishers in the 2023 Hong Kong 100 are racing again in 2024.
If You Peiquan wins it will be three-in-a-row for him. He set the course record in 2020 at 10 hours and 17 seconds and said after his win last year that he can break 10 hours if conditions are cool. He is certainly in good form, having tuned up with a win at Yangxian 100 in November.
Ahead of the race, You said: “I am looking forward to racing at the top level again on a course that suits me and which I have really enjoyed in the past. I’m trying to get my third win and can’t wait to get going.”
Last year’s runner-up, Zhao Jiaju, enters the race with an ITRA Performance Index (“ITRA PI” – the official ranking of trail runners recognized by World Athletics) of 904, the highest of all the competitors. After coming second by just six minutes last year, he will be keen to add Hong Kong 100 to his long list of titles. These include Mt. Fuji 100 after his win there in 2023.
Deng Guomin has placed third in the last two editions of Hong Kong 100 and, having run it six times so far, knows the course as well as anyone. Last year he had problems with his headlamp and joked at the finish-line that it didn’t matter because he could run the route blindfolded.
For the women, the top two contenders for the title, Eszter Csillag and Dominika Stelmach, both hail from Europe (although Csillag, originally from Hungary, now lives in Hong Kong).
Stelmach, from Poland, is the European record holder for 100km (7 hours and 4 minutes) and the world record holder for distance covered in 12 hours (152.6km). She has a marathon PB of 2 hours 36 minutes, won Cappadoccia in 2021 and was second in Black Canyon Ultras in 2022.
Csillag has been in great form for a while, having just won the Izu Trail Journey (68km) and having placed third at Western States in 2023 and fourth at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in 2022.
Notable runners
Route
The race starts in Pak Tam Chung and runners will first enjoy the UNESCO Geopark and the beaches.
They then head for the hills on the Maclehose Trail closer to the city before climbing Hong Kong’s highest peak (Tai Mo Shan or “Big Hat Mountain” at 957m) and descending to the finish line party in the Rotary Club Park.
Analysis
Aside from the men’s favourites mentioned on the start list section, if we just look at the ITRA rankings, the favourites are as follows: Zhao Jiaju (ITRA PI 904), Zhang Huohua (895), Qin Guidu (894), Meng Guangfu (888), Duo Ji (888), Bate Mengkai (887), Zhao Hu (876), Tyler Green (USA) (873), Deng Guomin (873), Zhang Jiao (869), Ricardo Cherta (Spain) (867), You Peiquan (864), John Ray Onifa (Philippines) (862), Wang Jiqian (837) and Alexandre Boucheix (France) (830).
Of course, rankings tell only part of the story. Experience on the course and of Hong Kong conditions counts for a lot and favours the Hong Kong 100 returnees. But Tyler Green arrived in Hong Kong from the USA in early January, so will be acclimatised. Having come second at Western States and third in Transgrancanaria last year, he’s a fascinating contender.
And watch out for Zhang Huohua. At just 25, he has youth on his side and is fresh from a Christmas Eve win at Ultra Trail Tianzhu Mountain (51km).
On the women’s side we’ve already highlighted Eszter Csillag and Dominika Stelmach but the challenge to that European duo is likely to be led by China’s Wu Yuanyuan, who won the Hong Kong 100 Grand Sam in style last year. She was first in The Third, second in The Half and seventh in the Hong Kong 100. Since then she has also cruised to victory in Moganshan 100 and Jiangnan Skyrace.
One of the stories of Hong Kong 100 last year was Anna Li’s second place, having started in the fourth wave and run past almost the whole field.
Li has since confirmed her huge talent with wins at Tsaigu (115km) and UTSS (65km) and it would not be a surprise if she achieves a podium finish again this year – especially as she doesn’t have to give everyone else a 15 minute head-start!
Course record times
The men’s course record is You Peiquan’s superhuman 10 hours and 17 seconds and the women’s is Xiang Fuzhao’s breathtaking 11 hours and 28 minutes.
But the 30-hour cut-off time should allow mere mortals to reach the finish line too. With a DNF rate usually between 20 and 30 per cent, however, thorough preparation is recommended.
Past winners
Tab 2 content.
![Courtney Dauwalter at Transgrancanaria 2024 which started at midnight local time [Photo credit: The Adventure Bakery / The North Face Transgrancanaria]](https://run247.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Courtney-Dauwalter-Transgrancanaria-912x720.jpg)
![Courtney Dauwalter Transgrancanaria win [Photo credit: The Adventure Bakery / The North Face Transgrancanaria]](https://run247.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Courtney-Dauwalter-Transgrancanaria-win-912x721.jpg)
