We made it in 23hrs 35mins.

Although Monami got huge blisters (same size of her heel) on both feet and My old ITB problem came back after 30km point, we finished the Hong Kong 100km race yesterday in 23 hours 35 minutes.

Bonus happiness from our new Singaporean friend Alan and Eason from China's Guangdong. We met at around the 66 km point, where they were struggling to finish the rest of the trail. We pushed each other and finished together hand-in-hand. Running gives us strength and friendship!

Counting down to HK 100!

Getting excited before the race tomorrow. Mo and I will be limping along with more than 700 crazy trailrunners, including some of the best friends we met in the Mongolia race last summer.
And of course, we are running for Shoe4Africa, raising fund for this inspiring charity to build the first children hospital in Kenya. Support us if you have an extra nickel!

(Picture: Timo, Mo and I training for the 100km race in Tokyo last month. Timo is the person who introduced Shoe4Africa to us.)

New Photo Album - Amina the Mongolian Monster

Uploaded a new photo album "Amina".

Amina is the three-year-old daughter of our Mongolian friend Bujima, who generously allowed us to stay at her place in Ulaanbaatar before we headed for the ultramarathon race. During the week we spent with Amina, we observed several things of her:

1) She's super energetic - she woke up before us and slept after us. Whenever we opened our eyes, she was either screaming, jumping on sofa, or eating loads of snacks...

2) She eats a lot - by 3-year-old she can finish a full bowl of udon at Sakura restaurant, a famous Japanese restaurant in downtown Ulaanbaatar. When she's done, she would also pay respect to the owner by yelling, "Oishi!!" ("delicious" in Japanese)

3) She likes photography - when we arrived at her place, the first thing that caught her eyeball was my Pentax Optio WG-1 camera. Amina grabbed my camera and played for days, taking tons of self-portraits. Here is an example of her masterpiece:

Amina self-portrait

Running for a Children Hospital in Kenya

One more update of myself - I have just registered as a runner for Shoe4Africa, a charity organization which focuses on improving healthcare issues in East Africa. For the coming races, Monami and I will be running for them to raise money for a children Hospital in Kenya.

Please visit their website and see the meaningful projects Shoe4Africa have brought to the kids there so far. If you are moved by their initiatives as I do, please support me and Monami by donating any extra dollars you spare for the cause!

My donation page (click on the image to visit the original site)

Thanks so much for your every support so far!!!

Weekend Trails in Hong Kong

View from Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong

 Getting more and more into trails rather than roads after coming back from Mongolia. Fresher air, tougher terrain... definitely more fun!

Hong Kong is an amazing place for hikers/trail runners given its abundant options of routes and high accessibility. You can reach a hiking trail by public transport easily, have a few hours of hideaway from the crowded highways, and soon you can hit back to the main road and take a nap at home.

Among all long routes, the 100-KM MacLehose Trail is propably the most classic one in town. Streching from the eastern to the western side of New Terriorities, the trail is frequently visited by local and overseas hikers, especially from late summer until the end of November as the annual Oxfam Trailwalker race nears.

Started to do a 3 to 5-hour trail-hike every weekend. And today we went to the Stage 6-8 of MacLehose, a 20-KM climb that passes through Tai Mo Shan, the highest peak in Hong Kong where you can oversee the cityscape.

Lovely weather, lovely view and a lovely day.