Oxfam Trailwalker: runners, organisers battle rain, ransacking monkeys as race gets under way
Rain hits start of city’s biggest fundraiser for first time, while monkeys enjoy ‘all-you-can-eat buffet’ of snacks left out at checkpoints
Runners and organisers battled a rainy start and a troop of ransacking monkeys, as the Hong Kong Oxfam Trailwalker got under way for its 40th-anniversary race on Friday morning.
More than 4,000 participants gathered at Pak Tam Chung in Sai Kung for Hong Kong’s largest fundraising event, which is also one of the city’s “mega-events”.
Runners have 48 hours to complete the 100-kilometre-long trail run that finishes at Harrow International School Hong Kong in Tuen Mun. There is also a shorter 40km race.
“It’s quite hectic because of the weather most of our signage has been damaged, so we had to repair it,” said Michael Wong, Oxfam Hong Kong’s director of fundraising and communications.
“We usually set up the food and drink two or three days before, and this year, the monkeys realised that there was food in the boxes, so they brought a gang along and had a great time, an all-you-can-eat buffet.”
Wong said the monkeys took down the food stores on Wednesday night, but thanks to the 3,000 volunteers helping out, the rain-damaged signs and refreshments were all restored before the start.
