Almost every running community has its almost-impossible challenge. Some are more daunting than others. Hong Kong hosts the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge, which has been excellently chronicled in the film “Four Trails.”
Hong Kong is a huge metropolis, but it contains thousands of kilometers of trails. This juxtaposition of civilization and nature makes a perfect backdrop for the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge. All images are screenshots from the film “Four Trails.”
The challenge was created by local ultrarunner and German expat Andre Blumberg. Blumberg, motivated to get out of a midlife fitness rut, wondered if he could link together Hong Kong’s four major trails in one go. In 2012, he completed the route over four days, covering 298 kilometers (185 miles) and 14,500 meters (47,572 feet) of climbing.
While on his own health journey, Andre Blumberg founded the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge, which has taken on cult status for Eastern and Western adventure runners.
The four trails are the 100-kilometer MacLehose Trail, 78k Wilson Trail, 50k Hong Kong Trail, and 70k Lantau Trail. They each pose unique challenges, including vert, technicality, endless stone stairs, navigation, heat, humidity, and, quite notably, monkeys, all while you time your transitions between each trail via subway, ferry, and car through the bustling metropolis of Hong Kong.
In 2013, Blumberg invited other runners to join the challenge, setting a strict 72-hour target. The challenge quickly caught on with the local community, and the finishing goal was soon reduced to 60 hours. The rarity of sub-60-hour finishers stands as a testament to its brutal difficulty — as of 2026, there’ve been 38 finishers. Those who finish the course in under 72 hours earn an equally revered title of “survivor.” Each of these hard-earned honors are traditionally celebrated with a champagne spray upon reaching the iconic green mailbox marking the challenge’s finish.
Jacky Leung becomes the first person to break 50 hours in the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge.
Perhaps humorously for everyone but the participants, over the years, as more runners complete the challenge, Blumberg has found ways to increase the difficulty by limiting runners’ crew to only the start and end of each trail system and by banning poles, music, drop bags, and pacers.
Now, after 15 editions, the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge has earned a cult status among Eastern and Western adventure runners alike. So, what better way to celebrate than with a feature-length film? “Four Trails,” directed by Robin Lee, follows a select group of runners who took on the race’s 2021 edition. While it is rare for a niche trail-running documentary to make waves at the box office, “Four Trails” broke the mold during its theatrical run in its hometown, grossing an incredible 10 million Hong Kong Dollars ($1.27 million), making it the second-highest-grossing documentary in Hong Kong cinema history. It also earned Lee the Best New Director award at the 2025 Hong Kong Film Awards. Now, some years later, “Four Trails” is streaming for free on Tubi, Fawesome, and Fandango.
The film’s long run time allows viewers to connect deeply with Hong Kong’s scenery and city life, as well as the race’s cast of characters. Five runners are followed closely, along with several other featured competitors. During this edition of the race, the seed has been planted to be the first sub-50-hour runner. While several pursue this goal, one man, Jacky Leung, breaks the barrier with an effort that seems both perfectly calculated and emotionally driven. For the women, Nikki Han captures an elusive sub-60-hour finish, incredibly her second time finishing the challenge under 60 hours.
Nikki Han is one of few women to have broken 60 hours at the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge. During “Four Trails,” she finishes under 60 hours for an incredible second time.
The film focuses on some of the back-of-the-pack “survivors” as well. Will Hayward, one of the final survivors, describes his strengths as grit and stubbornness. As someone who went head-to-head with Hayward for the final eight hours of the 2019 Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra, I can attest to this grit. He has no quit, and in “Four Trails,” this is once again on display. Hayward recalls his first ultra at CCC, when the weather was awful, and his friends called to say they’d quit. He admits he didn’t even realize that was an option.
Viewers watch runners navigate a stark contrast of environments: scrambling through stony staircases and sweeping ridgelines, then sitting directly on public subway floors and scrambling for food and drinks inside 7-Eleven storefronts the next. The cleanliness of Hong Kong is highlighted, as no level of tiredness would cause this author to sit on the floor of any of those places in New York City, Philadelphia, or any other major U.S. city.
Hyun Chan Chung stretches and snacks on the floor of 7-Eleven.
Throughout this film, I found myself rooting for these seemingly normal ultrarunners who accomplish superhuman feats. Sarah Pemberton brings me back to my early days of ultrarunning, when curiosity ruled my running and pushed me to find my absolute limits. Reflecting on her grueling journey to become the youngest woman to conquer the challenge, she notes, “You reach a point where you stop running away from the pain — you start running with it. That’s when the trail gives something back.”
Call for Comments
Have you run the trails of Hong Kong?
Are you one of the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge finishers? Tell us your story!
The stunning landscapes of Hong Kong.