Want to run or hike the hills of Lantau and promote conservation at the same time?

Hong Kongers have that chance next month with the first UTML – aka Ur Trail du Mont-Lantau – offering nine different events ranging from a 2km walk to a 100km endurance race.

Organisers Ms So and Ms Chung say they took the idea from the famed UTMB around Mont Blanc, the world’s biggest trail race.

Ms So said with the government pushing ahead with the Lantau Tomorrow reclamation, “we wanted to hold an event to encourage people to hike the hills and forests to save Lantau.”

The UTML comprises nine different races, starting with a 2km road walk around Tung Chung, moving up to 10km -16km courses for regular hikers, and then three ultra-trail routes 50km, 60km and 100km in length.

The other twist on the UTML is it’s a virtual event. It will run for all of November and people can complete their chosen course in their own time.

“You go to Lantau, you pick one of the routes that we provide, and then you finish the trail,” said Ms So.

“Then you get the GPS record through a smartphone app, Strava, Polar, or Garmin etc, and you can screencap it and share it, along with photos taken along the route.”

The hashtags are #HKUTML #and IloveLantau.

Ms So said that apart from promoting the preservation of Lantau, she hopes to help bring together people with similar views.

“It’s about community building. This belongs to everyone who loves Hong Kong and loves Lantau.”

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