Hongkongers’ endurance sport challenges motivated by charity fundraising

From ultrarunning and extreme triathlons to rollerblading across the United States and rowing across the Atlantic, five Hong Kong adventurers are embarking on very different journeys – each one driven by a higher cause

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Mayank Vaid and David Gething will be taking part in the Arch 2 Arc extreme triathlon in June.

Published: 8:16pm, 14 Mar 2018Updated: 10:28am, 16 Mar 2018

When you are out of breath, tired and your legs are burning, all you want to do is give up. But five Hongkongers find the will to keep going as they draw on higher causes.

Mayank Vaid and his friend David Gething are embarking on the Arch 2 Arc extreme triathlon in June, running from London to the English channel, swimming the English Channel, and cycling to Paris, for the charities Zubin Foundation and Outward Bound Hong Kong.

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Fund manager Stephen Pau will run a 170km race in Patagonia in April for medical charity Orbis and a 100km ultra marathon in July around the Eiger in the Bernese Alps for the British Red Cross .

Yanise Ho has just started an epic adventure rollerblading from Miami almost 10,000km around the United States with little money, relying on the kindness of strangers for food and shelter, while raising funds for charity One Girl Can. In December, sports marketer Chris Giffin will be rowing across the Atlantic to raise money for Whale and Dolphin Conservation and the Thistle Foundation.

Each will call on the worthy issues they support in their low moments.

Yanise Ho is rollerblading her way around the US.

Vaid is the intellectual property director for Louis Vuitton Asia-Pacific; Gething is a veterinary surgeon and veteran triathlete. Their triathlon is 460km, and they are determined to raise enough money per kilometre to help 288 children through two charities.