The Umbrella Ultra Marathon, or Umbrellaultra, was a 102 km distance running event held on 29 October 2014. It was not a competitive race, but a running event to support the
Umbrella Movement
The Umbrella Movement () was a political movement that emerged during the Hong Kong democracy protests of 2014. Its name arose from the use of umbrellas as a tool for passive resistance to the Hong Kong Police's use of pepper spray to dispe ...
of Hong Kong. The course covered New Territories, Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, which shows an umbrella shape on the map. Thus the trail is also known as the Umbrella Trail.
Names
The name of the "Umbrella Ultra Marathon" came from its aim at supporting the
occupation protests by the umbrella movement,
which also called the "Umbrella Revolution" in reference to the umbrellas used by
protesters
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...
to defence against police's
pepper spray
Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, ...
and
tear gas
Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...
.
Some runners implemented this idea through a
distance running
Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength.
Within e ...
passed through the main areas occupied by the pro-democracy protesters.
Another reason of the name was: The course covered New Territories, Kowloon, and Hong Kong Island, which shown an umbrella shape on the map of Hong Kong.
Background
The Umbrella Movement started on 28 September 2014, when initiators of the
Occupy Central movement announced the commencement at a rally taking place the
Central Government Complex on
Tim Mei Avenue Tim Mei Avenue () is a street in Admiralty, Hong Kong.
The street is built on land reclaimed as part of the Central Reclamation Phase II, which was completed in 1997 and reclaimed 5.3 hectares of land at the former Tamar naval base. The area wa ...
. Police blocked all entrance to Tim Mei Avenue to obstruct Occupy Central supporters, and arrested demonstrators inside the Central Government Complex by 1:30 pm. A crowd gathered and anti-surrounded the police outside Tim Mei Avenue to stop police's transference of the arrested demonstrators. Police used pepper spray and tear gas to disperse the crowd, while the crowd use umbrellas to fight against pepper spray and tear gas. The umbrella becomes symbol of this movement, and thus called the Umbrella Revolution or the Umbrella Movement.
On 29 October, the full-month of the Umbrella Movement, some distance runners conceived the idea to support the Movement and to show solidarity with protesters by running a course which shown an umbrella shape on the map of Hong Kong.
Another reason to choose running to show their support was: "running is synonymous with freedom", added Olya Korzh, an ultramarathon champion.
Organising history
The event was organised by John Ellis, Andrew Dawson, Richard Scotford, and Andre Blumberg. Ellis and Dawson conceived the idea on Sunday, 26 October with the aim of showing support for the students and the Umbrella Movement. They expected only a few friends would run the event.
The event was publicised on Facebook, and the media picked up the announcement on the Tuesday evening.
Event
The Umbrella Ultra Marathon started at Shing Mun Reservoir at 4:00 on 29 October 2014. Three participants took part at the start, while some spontaneous supporters joined later at different check points: Tai Lam, Shek Kong, Tai Po, Ma On Shan, Sai Kung, Sha Tin, Mong Kok, and Admiralty. Many supporters joined at Mong Kok and Admiralty during the evening. It was estimated that 150 runners were involved in the event. The total distance was 114.9 km, with elapsed time 16:49:09.
The running team took a little rest in three "occupy areas" in Mong Kok, Admiralty, and finally Causeway Bay to show support to the protesters.
References
External links
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{{Umbrella Movement
Ultramarathons
2014 Hong Kong protests