Four Trails tells the incredible story of one of Hong Kong’s least known adventure challenges

ABOUT THE FILM

The origin of the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge starts with a German ex-pat called Andre Blumberg. Faced with a looming mid-life crisis, Andre had been living the work hard play hard lifestyle for too long. Overweight and with increasing cholesterol levels, Andre had a very hard decision to make. Buy a high-end sports car and have an affair or pick up a pair of trainers and get in shape.

“I was about to turn 40 years old and was well over 100 kilograms (220 pounds) in weight. The doctor said he needed to put me on cholesterol-lowering medication,” said Blumberg. Overnight, Blumberg stopped drinking alcohol, radically changed his diet, and booked a weeklong cleanse retreat in Northern Thailand to celebrate entering his fifth decade.

Two years later, and now an accomplished trailrunner, Andre challenged himself to run all four of Hong Kong's ultra distance trails in just four days. At the time, a feat they said was impossible.

THE FOUR TRAILS

Lantau Trail

The fourth and final trail of the challenge is the 70km Lantau trail. Arguably one of the hardest as it is home to two of the largest mountains in Hong Kong and runners are on the limit of what id physically possible. Exhaustion is extreme and only those with iron wills are able to finish this epic challenge.

Machlehose Trail

The first and the longest of the four trails is the Maclehose Trail. Starting in the West and ending in the East. The Maclehose Trail is 100km in length and roughly 4,800m of vertical elevation change. Runners must complete the trail in under 18 hours to get their ticket to start the Wilson Trail.

Hong Kong Trail

The next trail is the Hong Kong Trail, 50km long and considered the “easiest” of the Four Trails. However, on this trail runners enter their second sleepless night and a seemingly simple trail becomes increasingly difficult to navigate with hallucinations really beginning to set in.

Wilson Trail

The absolute crux of the challenge is trail number two, the Wilson Trail. This 78km trail traverses all the way from the North to the Southern tip of Hong Kong Island. Runners must navigate technical trails, relentless concrete catch water, including a short but complicated ride on Hong Kong's underground trains before finishing over 1,000 meters worth of steps in the last 10km.

The Story

Four Trails tells the story of when the challenge was first imagined to its current format.

Today, to be considered a 'Survivor' you must complete the distance in 72 hours, but to be deemed a 'Finisher', you only have 60 hours. To make matters worse, no trekking poles are permitted, no music devices are allowed and support on the trail is strictly prohibited. On average 15-25 runners take on the challenge a year and as of today, the success rate is only 6%.

In 2021 only former 'Finishers' and 'Survivors' were invited back. This put a unique spin on the event as runners challenged themselves to break new boundaries. Past 'Survivors' aimed to become 'Finishers'. Strong 'Finishers' wanted to be the first to break the impossible 50 hour barrier. And the rest just wandered if they could slog though another 72 hours of sleep deprived torture.

Four Trails IS AN UP-CLOSE-AND-PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF an ELITE BAND OF runners taking on the 2021 HONG KONG FOUR TRAILS ULTRA CHALLENGE

Stone Tsang

A legend of Hong Kong trail running, a government paramedic and professional trail-runner for The North Face. Stone is aiming to break the course record of under 50 hours.
Salomon Wettstein

Responsible for the North Asia market for Synpulse Management Consulting and leads the Synpulse8 tech powerhouse as Co-CEO. Taking an engineering approach to the challenge looks to be the first person to break 50 hours.
Law Kai Pong

Suffering a major injury only 3 weeks before the challenge Law Kai Pong was up against it from the very first step. His mental spirit is beyond anything anyone thought imaginable.
Will Hayward

A university professor specialising in psychology. Known for taking on the most extreme running challenges around the world and completing them in whatever time it takes, fast or slow.
Jacky Leung

The biggest surprise to the 2021 edition. Joining the event on late notice but still managed to re-write the history books.
Hyun Chan Chung

A laid back Korean / Spanish runner lightens the mood of the film given the heavy nature of the event.
Sarah Pemberton

The youngest participant and yet taking on the challenge for the 4th time, more than any other participant, looks for improve her result from survivor to finisher.
Nikki Han

The first female finisher of the challenge. Looking to better her time and become a two time Finisher.
Tom Robertshaw

The current record holder. Coming in with a lot of expectations on his shoulders is faced with an uphill battle to get to the finish line.

A captivating film documenting the physical and mental hardships of runners taking on one of Hong Kong’s most daunting athletic challenges

“Beautifully shot footage shines a spotlight on the jaw-dropping scenery and wide-open spaces which mark Hong Kong as a go-to destination for ultra-runners and endurance athletes.”

— South China Morning Post

The Production team

Robin Lee

DIRECTOR
Robin Lee is a cinematographer, director and DP born and raised in Hong Kong. He has worked in the adventure sport industry for over 10 years working on award winning ski films with Level 1 Productions and collaborating on projects with major industry leaders such as The North Face and Hoka One One.
After many years of short films and commercial work, Four Trails is Robin’s first feature length film.
Allison Friedman

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Allison Friedman is an award winning producer based out of Philidephia, USA. Known for The Mortuary Collection (2019), They and Unorthodox (2013).
Ben Lee

PRODUCER
Ben Lee joins the team with a history as an Event Director for large scale professional sports events in addition to creating his own consumer facing food & beverage festivals. With his background in pulling multiple moving pieces together Ben used his skill set to transition into film production working on projects for HSBC, HKRU & others. Together with his brother, Robin, they launched Lost Atlas Productions.