Lamma Island: A longer Run To Food (20km)

Lamma is Hong Kong's second largest island after Lantau.  It is also nothing like the rest of the SAR retaining something of a hippy, off the grid type atmosphere.  It does get busy, especially at weekends as day trippers head out, but away from the main village and after the beach, the crowds tend to thin out and at the southern end of the island, you will be almost on your own.  Lamma is also blessed with three different arrival / departure points so you can do loops or point to point type runs.

This longer Lamma run starts and ends at Sok Kwu Wan and assumes that you are coming for a longer run.  There are plenty of options to skip sections and reduce the distance to 15km or 10km.

Running clockwise around Lamma, you will stay mainly on the flat for the first 8km.  This will take you around the east and southern coasts of the island.  From here you will head on towards and up Mount Stenhouse, the highest point on the island.  If you don;t want to climb to the top, you can exit around 9km and skirt the edge meeting up with the trail that comes off the peak by running up the east coast.  After Stenhouse, you can again exit bac to Sok Kwu Wan or carry on north for a few extra kms and a couple more climbs before returning back around the coast.

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South Beaches Run (5km)

This is a great 5km workout that takes you along the southern beaches.  Given that it is a populated area it can be done at night and you will also find refreshment options open well into the evening as well as transport links home again.  If you are in Hong Kong and want to see more than the city without hitting the trails, what better way to get away from it all than visit the beach?  You can even cool off with a post run swim.

Start at the Hong Kong Country club and walk down the hill to Mills and Chung Path.  From here it is a case of following your nose around the beach.  Make sure to take the headland path after Deepwater Bay around to Repulse Bay and then follow the road along to the end of Repulse Bay Beach and follow the road up and down to South Bay.  At the end you can turn on tail, or walk down to the beach, grab a beer from the cafe and jump in the sea.

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Run With The Horses: Happy Valley Race Track

Happy Valley race track is open from early morning to late at night, and with the exception of Wednesday evenings during the racing season has a couple of options for track work or just running off some steam at the end of a working day.  It is dead easy to get to.  You can enter from either of the Wong Nai Chung Roads (runs both sides) through the stadium or opposite.  There are changing facilities in the middle, plus showers.  You normally need a padlock for a locker but there are some $10 ones if you can find them.  A few refreshment machines are around and there is space to do strength exercises if you wish.

The outer track is the 'ambulance track (nice). but offers 1400m of hard paved running.  In the middle is a shorter track that is more 'sprung' but this is narrow and (currently) is disrupted by building work.  The track rises towards the north end giving for a nice downhill run into it.  Here you can do sprint work or just run in something that is more than a 400m circuit.  Pity you are not allowed on the grass.

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Sir Cecil's Ride: To / From Quarry Bay and Tai Koo (8.5 or 5km)

This is a great option if you are based in the Eastern end of the island.  Whilst the areas may seem built up and busy, within 10 minutes you can be out and on the trails.  This run also has the benefit of being a full 8.5km or a shorter 5km run as you can start at Parkview and head off, or if coming from Quarry Bay / Tai Koo direction finish there if you don't want to continue to Mount Butler Road.

Full 8.5km
Start at the Mount Butler / Jardines Lookout entry to Sir Cecils Ride.  This is easily accessible by bus.  You are following the Tai Tam Country trail to Park Place at Wong Nai Chung Road.  From here it is a left up to Park View to join the Hong Kong / Wilson Trail


For 5km
You are starting at the HK / WT signpost.  If you have gone direct to Parkview this will be the first of two uphill sections and takes you to the top of Jardine's Lookout.  From here it is downhill (at the junction around the 5km point you want to turn left and follow the Wilson Trail NOT the Hong Kong Trail to the right) and then back up to the top of Siu Ma Shan.

At the bottom of Siu Ma Shan, take the steps up for a short way and then follow the road round the hairpin and keep heading down hill, past the old stoves and back to 'civilisation'.  It is a short walk / jog back to Tai Koo MTR.

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