[Tilu Interview]The world’s top-level UTMB (Mont Blanc Super Endurance Race) series will be held in Italy, France, and Switzerland on Monday (28th). The event has attracted many high-level runners from Hong Kong to participate. Among them is Hong Kong cross-country runner Zeng Xiaoqiang (Stone). Stone has participated in the UTMB group many times in the past, and now he returns to the UTMB stage after 7 years. This time he chose to challenge the 145-kilometer TDS (Duke of Savoy Trail Tracking Race) group, and the top 10 are the goals.
After 7 years of fighting in the UTMB series, I hope to enjoy the game
Zeng Xiaoqiang (Stone) has participated in the UTMB series many times in the past and ranked among the top 20 in the world. However, in the past 7 years, in order to spend more time with his family and the impact of the epidemic, he has reduced the number of participations. This time he “come back” and chose to compete in the TDS group with a shorter track distance, but Stone said that although the TDS track is relatively short, it has higher technical requirements. The track climbs more frequently, and the most challenging section requires a continuous climb of 1,800 meters, which is equivalent to the height of the two Tai Mao Mountains in Hong Kong. He admitted that he had never tried to walk such a long climbing section in one breath, and this time it would be a new challenge.
Another challenge of this track is that there are three checkpoints that are far away. Stone said that it takes three hours for even the world’s top players to pass, so it is necessary to arrange supplies. Stone’s supply team includes Huang Haocong, who is also a Hong Kong cross-country runner, and The North Face team, helping him better plan his route and prepare before the race. He also said that the team’s support is very different from previous games, and it is a good opportunity to participate in the games he wants to play. Talking about the goals of the competition, he revealed: “Although this competition is not too focused on results, it is mainly about enjoying the competition, but they all set goals for themselves, hoping to complete them within 22 hours, and the top 10 are the goals.”
The North Face team including another cross-country runner Huang Haocong (right) will go to the local area to provide support for Stone
In the past 7 years, Stone has reduced going out for competitions and training in order to spend more time with his family. This time when his two sons knew that their father was going to participate in the TDS event, they all clamored for their father to take them with them. Stone is also thankful that his sons have loved sports since they were young, but this time he was unable to take them to the competition because of his son’s preparation for the start of school. He hopes to have this opportunity in the future. Stone said that the atmosphere of cross-country running in foreign countries is very good: “The atmosphere of cross-country races in foreign countries is very lively. The whole family will participate in it. Parents will hold their children to meet the finish line together. After the race, people will drink beer and chat in nearby restaurants. Although Hong Kong people I am very fanatical about cross-country running, and there are many races every week, but the locals are more individualistic, and they will leave directly after each race.”
Slow down for the family
In the past 6 UTMB competitions, Zeng Xiaoqiang chose to gradually retire from the competition after 2017 and focus on his family: “It is impossible for people to pursue certain things constantly, because the pursuit is endless.” Especially After the birth of his second son, Stone found that his elder brother “grew up so fast”. “I used to participate in too many competitions, and spent most of my time in training. I lost a lot of time with my family, so I decided to slow down.” In addition to getting more The time spent together also gave him the opportunity to publish his first book “A Belief Called Cross-country Running”, sharing his cross-country running experience and training plan. He even learned inline skating with his son. He also said that his son’s skills are better than his, and his son can do difficult movements. The whole process is very interesting. Stone said frankly: “If you don’t slow down, you may not be able to go through this with them.”
Talking about children’s sports development, Zeng Xiaoqiang believes that children should participate in at least one sport: “It is completely different from reading. Sports are full of passion. Sports are very special and give students valuable experience, such as how to persevere when encountering setbacks, how to learn how to Getting along with myself and facing difficulties, I hope my son can have this experience.” Although the son did not follow in his father’s footsteps into cross-country running and chose to join the school football team, Stone did not mind and encouraged his son to choose himself favorite sport.
Because they like football, Stone will look up football knowledge and skills online, analyze and practice with his son, and will take his son to hike mountains to exercise physical fitness, and will take some interesting routes along the way, such as walking among streams and rock climbing. When going up the mountain, Stone would hide from his son and take them on a detour. When they left, they would find that they could reach the finish line much faster and exercise their physical fitness unexpectedly. After arriving at the destination and seeing the pleasant scenery, playing in the water, and catching fish, the son will forget the hard work at the beginning, and gradually they will see that their physical fitness has improved, and their physical fitness is outstanding in the team. They can run the whole course, all because I usually train with my dad. So sometimes they meet their sons to go for a run, and they don’t resist too much. Through the training between parents and children, Stone introduced the principle of “persistence” to his son: “Too many excuses will not complete the training and fail to achieve the goal. Once the goal is set, you must persist in completing it. Persistence is very important.”
Unforgettable UTMB event with many twists and turns and finally finished the race
For persistence, Stone has his own understanding: “The chances you take, the people you meet, the people you love, the faith that you have. That’s what’s going to define you.” Only the people you love and the beliefs you have can define you.)” Zeng Xiaoqiang quoted Denso Washington’s words, saying that difficulties are an opportunity to learn. If you don’t encounter difficulties, you will not grow. To succeed, you must believe in yourself.
Looking back on the past, Zeng Xiaoqiang, who has participated in UTMB competitions many times, said: “We can’t imagine the weather in foreign countries. Bad weather can be very serious, and the power of nature can be very powerful. We have learned from it that we must be humble. We cannot To confront nature, we can only take a step back and think of other countermeasures.”
Stone looks back at the unforgettable events, and counts the UTMB in 2010. He said that the competition environment at that time was extremely bad: “It was really bad. After running for about 30 kilometers, the organizer announced that the race would be cut in half.” Stone repeatedly confirmed to the organizer on the field whether the race would be restarted, but the answers he got were always It is “Stop. Finished”. In desperation, he had to leave the track and return to the hotel. I thought that I came all the way here, and I would return without success after only running 30 kilometers. After returning to the hotel, I took off the racing clothes and put all the equipment in the washbasin of the room to soak. On the second day, Stone prepared to have breakfast at the hotel with a bit of disappointment, but in the restaurant of the hotel, he suddenly received a notice from the conference staff that the race would be restarted, but the 100-mile distance would be shortened to 100 kilometers, and the last train would go to the race venue The bus will leave in 20 minutes.
Stone, who was holding a breakfast bread at the time, didn’t think for long, and immediately ran back to the hotel room to take out the racing clothes and equipment that were still soaking from the sink, put them all in the bag, and ran on the last bus to the stadium . On the drive, he hurriedly wrung out his clothes and put on his upper body, tried to fasten back the cut competition wristband, and called his wife to explain the rematch news. When he got out of the car, Stone saw that the countdown had already started and was ready to start, and the atmosphere at the scene was hot. In his haste, he didn’t even have time to hold the water. Despite all kinds of accidents and not being able to fully prepare for anything, Stone still got a good result and finished the race in 21st place.
For Stone, every UTMB event is like a journey, and this time moving to TDS is no exception. He has been preparing for the TDS competition for the first time for a long time. In addition to continuing to train in Hong Kong, he also traveled to Thailand with his family recently to train along the way. He threatened that “the state is improving”, hoping to achieve ideal results.
Photos and texts: Intern reporters Kam Cheuk-yin and Leung Ya-ying
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2023-08-26 04:50:01
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