Ozone Exposure

Training hard can lead to some unusual pains for the amateurs we are.

We were all very surprised and a bit scared as well to experience chest pains while hiking. Thanks to Elodie, we know what happened now: Ozone exposure.

Ozone is in the lower atmostphere (the air we breath) an air pollutants created by cars emissions and other pollutants when there is sunlight. The more sun the more ozone and consequently ozone peaks are at the hotter hours around noon. And it is typically an urban pollution.

Of course, ozone exposure causes adverse health effects, lucky us. Symptoms of exposure include chest pain, but not only: feeling of irritation in the eyes, nose and throat, shortness of breath, and wheezing.

Outdoor activities are therefore not recommended when ozone levels are high.
But we did not know it and we did exercise in an urban area, on very sunny days and felt chest pains.
How do we check the level of ozone in HK?

The HKSAR Environmental Protection Department created an Index: The Air Pollution Index (API) than is monitored on a real time basis. Check the API out before going outdoor!
Besides, the website of the HKSAR Environmental Protection Department on Air is very clear and I highly recommend it.

To learn more about Ozone:
A very good Q&A on Ozone by the Dpt of Health of the State of New York Ozone Exposure 1
The WHO study on Ozone pollution Ozone Exposure 2
And an excellent summary of this study by Green Facts Ozone Exposure 3

The Story Episode 3: The Fundraising

We are also in to participate because this is a charity event that aims at raising funds for Oxfam and fight against poverty and climate change.

Learn more about our cause on
http://www.oxfam.org.hk/oxfamtrailwalker/eng/

This is why teams who raised more than hk$28,000 the previous year or pledge to raise hk$70,000 the current year can get a priority registration.

So, though we want to raise as much fund as possible, for our first participation as a team and for three of us, we want to focus on the sport challenge rather than the fundraising one.

Still there is a minimum hk$6,500 to be raised to be able to participate to the Oxfam Trailwalker.

You wish to support us?
You wish to support Oxfam Hong Kong?
Then simply click on the Donate button to make an online donation to our team and to Oxfam!!!
Of course all funds go to Oxfam ;)

We thank you a lot for your support!!!

Training 6: Hong Kong trail

The team, glamour style

Training 5: section 6&7 of the Maclehose Trail

The Story Episode 2: The Test

Saturday 8th August 2009

Team members: Chloe, Joan, Lorene Special Guests: Ian, Ludovic

Weather: Definitely too hot

During the race, all team members need to go through the 10 checkpoints (CP) together, so one of the tricks for team success for the Oxfam Trailwalker is to have the same walking rhythm in the team. Nothing less motivating than to walk alone or have to wait for your team mates at the CP.
It is set that Chloe, Elodie and Lorene are poor hikers. But as we are young, we hope that with a lot of training we can catch up with the rhythm of Joan, if only she is not hiking crazy fast…It’s decided that Chloe and Lorene will challenge Joan on the Twin peaks on HK island.

The twin peaks are also known as the 1,000 stairs hike and as the best training in town for trailwalker. It is also the Wilson trail stage 1 reverse, *** (very difficult), 4.8 km.

To our surprise, we were timed at the start of the 1, 000 stairs. In the end, we sweated a lot, walked the stairs in 23 min with a very hot weather and completed the trail in 2.5 hours. Most importantly, we were declared fit enough to walk with Joan. Yeahhh!! For the story, her best time on the Twins trail is 1.5 hours but again, this Saturday was very very hot.

The Story Episode 1

Once upon a time, in June, during a CSR walk at Mount Butler, Elodie is one of the nice organizers and she is closing the hike. I, her friend Lorene, am staying behind to chit chat. We are keeping company to the last two hikers, the lady who has been dragged by her friend to the hike in office gear, designer bags and little heels shoes, and Angela, our dear sweet colleague, who has finished the Oxfam Trailwalker twice. So Angela has difficulties to do the Mount Butler hike, which is a medium difficulty hike, but she finished twice the 100km endurance hike… And then Elodie remembers that I suggested I wanted to do it and that I am a poor hiker and she says that she is absolutely not fit and has no muscle so we should do the Oxfam trailwalker together. Mmm why not, but we need to be four in the team. She then mentions Chloe, that she got to know better in the past few weeks, and that she would be perfect for the team as she would like to do the Oxfam trailwalker but has almost no hiking experience. The three of us would form a great team of zeros. It’s Chloe who comes up with our fourth team member, Joan. Joan did the Oxfam trailwalker 6 times and finished twice. She is looking for a team, she is working for SG, and after a Twin peaks test, we are a team of four SG ladies, the Sport and Glamour team.

Training 4: section 4&5 of the Maclehose Trail

Training 3: section 9&10 of the Maclehose Trail

Sunday 6 August

Team members on call: Chloe, Elodie and Lorene

Weather: Hot and Sunny

Objective: Section 9&10 of the Maclehose trail + New Finish
Length: 21.9 km
Difficulty: * and *


For this week-end, when again the very hot weather signal is on, we decided to try long and easy, to try section 9&10. In the morning, no more very hot weather signal, but it is still quite hot, so section 9&10, here we come. Also we really need to discover the new finish point.


Section 9 goes very smoothly and quickly. Only 15 min later we noticed we finished it. Lets not forget the break in front of the pine tree as we still cannot get a nice rest area with a view on the reservoir. Indeed, weirdly, after two hours of hiking and a half, we arrived on the new finish trail. Weirdly because the hike is supposed to take 8 hours ... on top of that we jumped from a Maclehose trail signpost 73 to an OTW signpost 93...


We go back to try to understand what and when it went wrong. On our way, we meet some fellow trailwalkers, four guys - but a t what time did they start hiking to be already there .. without taking a shortcut - Yes they did see the reservoir, yes we definitely went the wrong way. No worries, we continue to go back on our steps and find where we missed the trail.
We are now back on track. Youpi!

1 biker, 2 bikers, 10 bikers, the path is not large at all and quite crowded, we need to stop and let them go each time... grrr. We only like the bikers when they show off their abs.
We do see the reservoir now. We turn left to the new trail. It is quite flat, not flat, no road anymore. We finally arrive at the signpost 93, again. Hopefully also, because we can start feeling the lenghth of the trail in the legs.

One last twist though, we are supposed to turn right after the barbecue site .. but which barbecue site? Number 7, 8, 9? Countless barbecue sites around us. At the grocery shop, Elodie put at use her cantonese and we learn that the finish point is at only 20 little minutes walk. Yeah! 2O mn later we do find the holiday camp / Finish point, though we did not eactly arrive the right way, but it is close enough and the normal way go through a gate that will only be open the day of the event. We call it a day.

In the end, with our little detour of 3 km, we walked 25 km. Long and "easy" challenge accomplished.