Coronavirus: enforced break from trail running changes Stone Tsang’s motivation from competing to friendship and the outdoors
- Stone Tsang, one of Asia’s top runners, has used the Covid-enforced break from racing to re-evaluate what motivates him
- He now values the gathering of friends and is not fussed about the outcome of the competition
Stone Tsang Siu-keung, one of Hong Kong’s best, and best loved, trail runners, no longer cares about racing. Over the past few years, particularly during Covid-19, he has come to value intrinsic motivations over competition, and has written a book on the subject.
For Tsang, a paramedic, the enforced Covid-19 break came at the right time. He was already stepping back from trail racing, taking a long recovery from the notorious 298km Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge (HK4TUC) 2017.
“The fire [for running] is always in my heart,” he said. “I can’t just do non-stop racing. I like running, and I don’t want to do it having pressure.
“Actually [the Covid-19 break] did not really bother me much, because I always like doing running in the mountains and doing it by myself. But the heavy ambulance workload really made me so tired every day, physically and mentally.
“I just want to enjoy the race [this weekend]. I am not in a good shape, but the race is in my backyard, so convenient, also I want to support Action Asia.
“I don’t have much desire for joining a competition now, and the result is not important for me, but the race journey is. For me, joining a race looks like joining a gathering with friends and meeting runners. I enjoy trail running even more than before now.”
Tsang still managed to get out for short runs despite his heavy workload during the pandemic. When his whole family got Covid-19 it added to the stress.
As stressful as the past two years and recent wave have been, he used his break wisely.
“Life is always learning, I never lost passion for trail running,” he said. “When I slowed down [from racing], it was a chance for me to do something that I also desire to do – write a book about trail running training, stories and passion.
“I have been spending time and effort for reviewing the knowledge and my experience about trail running training and programming during the past year.”
The book is set to be released in July.
“It’s looks like a big life project for me,” Tsang added. “However, I am so happy I have it done.”