There was uproar just before last weekend’s Borneo TMBT Ultra when rumours came out that XTE Events in Hong Kong had secured a permit for a 45k real trail race on the Maclehose Trail on Sunday, 2 October. Several runners in the plagued city contacted us to please have the race as a last-minute addition to the ATM Championship calendar, as it has virtually been impossible for them to race or even leave the city at all. Today, we are happy to confirm that the 45k night race is ON , and that it will indeed be a points race for the ATM Championship ranking, opening the options for plenty of Hong Kong based runners to be part of this year’s ATM Final in December. We are grateful to Mr Felix Shum and XTE Events to make this possible at such short notice, and we are looking forward to a fantastic night of trail running in just under a fortnight from today!

XTE Events is known in our circuit from its HK 168 Ultra event, which was on our calendar until 2018 and until the new date made that too difficult. Earlier this season, it had already been announced that XTE’s other event - Ultramarathon de Sai Kung - would join ATM on 22 October. That event is also still on, albeit only regarding the 50k race. Hong Kong authorities currently still do no allow any race longer than 50km, so the 100K race in Sai Kung won’t happen. Lantau 70 one week later suffers the same fate. Hence, Ferei Dark 45 is a welcome gift for many runners in Hong Kong. At least, there’s the genuine possibility of 2 ATM race finishes, a prerequisite to be qualified for the Asia Trail Master Championship Final in Philippines on 17 December.

The start venue is Shui Long Wo, and the finish the Tsuen Kam Au Rotary Park. The race will be run on the Maclehose Trail in the New Territories. Race start is Sunday midnight, and there’s a very long cut off time of 15 hours. Stay tuned for more news soon. Registration goes via the official website, which you can access via the link below. Of course, the conditions of entry are still more cumbersome than before. Please be aware of these covid-19 mitigation efforts:

1. All runners must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (i.e. receiving THREE doses 14 days before the event day).
2. All runners are required to take COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and provide validated negative results within 48 hours before the start of the race.
3. All runners must conduct rapid antigen test (RAT) on the event day with their names written on the test device. They need to show the pictures of testing result to the Safety and Hygiene Officers at the start area.

Website ferei dark 45

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Alert: Ferei Dark 45 ends Hong Kong ATM drought!