It’s been three-and-a-half years since the last edition of The 9 Dragons took place, the last ATM points race in Hong Kong. The cosmopolitan city had already been in socio-political turmoil before covid-19 struck , and still today, Hong Kong is struggling to find its feet in an ever-complex world. Once heralded as the heart of Asian trail running, Hong Kong started its season last month oncemore with hardly any trail event properly scheduled. Permits are issued at the very last minute, causing throbbing headaches for event organisers, who try to keep their legacies and their businesses alive. Today, any race above 50 km still has virtually no chance of going ahead. Covid infections remain too big a concern for the authorities. Yet, mandatory quarantine-upon-arrival in Hong Kong has recently been abolished. That means residents can now travel abroad again without too much hassle upon return. The door is open.

Local organisers make do with what they are permitted to. XTE Events is one of the city’s long-standing companies and is happy to announce two of their events going ahead this month. Starting with Ferei Dark 45 this Sunday, start at midnight. A 45k race on the Maclehose Trail that will see the return-in-action of John Ellis, still the reigning Asia Trail Master Champion. Ellis had zero incentive to try and defend his ATM title in 2020, but now we are two years further down the line and his hunger is very much back. This weekend’s 45k race is normally too short and too fast for him, but the Australian sounds keen to give his best and get his ATM campaign in gear. As a former ATM champion, Ellis only needs to score two ATM race finishes to get a wild card for the ATM Championship Final in December. For the Ellis of 2019, the Mount Apo Sky Race 75k is not an impossible task, especially given that race tactics will likely play a significant role there. To underline his ambition to try and renew his ATM title, Ellis has already booked a plane ticket to Davao himself..

At Ferei Dark 45 this Sunday early morning, Ellis will not rank as the top favourite to win the race. Amongst others, there are Jeff Campbell and Ryan Whelan on the start list. Campbell is as keen as Ellis to deliver a great showing in ATM this season. A former double winner of Tahura Trail in Indonesia and also Sungai Menyala in Malaysia, Campbell is moving up to 70k in a fortnight when he is scheduled to race in Vietnam. Similar to Singapore-based Belgian Vanja Cnops in the women’s competition, Campbell has been almost unbeatable over 30-50k race distances. But his competitive performance going beyond that distance is less certain. If he qualifies for the ATM FInal as part of Team Asia Expat, the speedster is likely going to be the first male runner reaching the foot of Mount Apo.

But this weekend, he has Ryan Whelan to worry about first. Whelan has been the coming-man for a few years, the covid pandemic not helping him. He won UTKC 70k in Thailand in February 2020, which could later turn out to be a milestone in his progress as a competitive trail runner. Whelan was fast during our 7 Missions virtual event in January 2021 and we are all looking forward to seeing his performance this weekend.

Given it’s been well over three years, we are bound to discover some new Hong Kong names appearing this month as well. Ferei Dark 45 and Ultramarathon de Sai Kung in three weeks on 22 October will be closely followed, indeed.

Ferei Dark 45 sees the return of the Hong Kong stars