The Adventure Trail: Art and athleticism with trail-running muralist Elsa Jean De Dieu
- A French mural artist who discovered a passion and spiritual connection on Hong Kong trails talks about her comeback from injury, and her love of trail running
Elsa Jean de Dieu is a French artist residing in Hong Kong who specialises in large wall murals. Some years ago she found herself with a choice of lifestyles, and discovered a passion that changed a lot more than merely how she spent her downtime.
“In Hong Kong you can drink, or you can do a lot of exercise, or do both. I felt like I needed to do something. I didn’t want to spend my time in Lan Kwai Fong. I started to go around to the Hong Kong trails ..." she tells Adventure Trail hosts Mary Hui and Mark Agnew in this latest podcast.
Jean de Dieu became a passionate trail runner, but suffered a knee injury and made her comeback after a three-year recovery in March of this year by running an 18km and then a 44km race on consecutive days for the Green Ultra, winning both events.
Now, she has set herself a new challenge, fusing her career as an artist with her passion as a trail runner. Listen in as she reveals her plan to crowd-source portraits from the public and then “paint 100 smiles and run 100 miles” in a unique project she will embark upon along the streets of Hong Kong.
