How entrepreneur Vriko Kwok went Further than she had ever been

When Hong Kong entrepreneur Vriko Kwok signed up to tackle an ultra marathon for six days in a row, she could not run even a single kilometre.

But that did not stop the Brazilian jiu-jitsu athlete from taking on the biggest sporting test of her life and challenging those who thought she was “too fat” to run.

“I hated running because I never saw myself doing it. I got bullied quite badly growing up and that put me off running for a long time,” Kwok said.

So, when sportswear brand Lululemon invited her to take part in Further, the 32-year-old decided to not let bullying define her relationship with running and instead chose to take “a leap of faith”. The gamble paid off and Kwok went from zero to 303.31km in less than a year.

Taking place at Lake Cahuilla, California, the Further event supported 10 female athletes from around the world to run their farthest distance over six days. A research team from the* Canadian Sport Institute also collected data during the event, to be published at the end of the year.

Collectively, the women ran 4,636.32km, with US ultra runner Camille Herron setting 13 records, including the women’s six-day world record at 901.76km.

Kwok was the only athlete with no previous running experience at the start of the 4.12km-looped course. She was joined by Chinese ultra runner Xiaomeng Jia and Korean judo black belt exponent Yoon Young Kang. Australian Montana Farrah-Seaton and Americans Stefanie Flippin, Kayla Jeter, Mirna Valerio, Devon Yanko and Leah Yingling made up the rest of the team.

The women were supported through a year-long training programme with access to coaches, sports scientists and nutritionists.

Completing the challenge among world-class athletes meant Kwok gained valuable experience from her teammates. They told her to focus on training to time rather than distance, and be comfortable with walking over pressure to run a whole session.

Her training began 11 months before the challenge and built up progressively via a mixture of running, aerial yoga and strength training. In March last year she was running 55km a month, but by January this year this had increased to 500km. This equated to 25 to 30 hours of training a week – which meant getting up at 4am and fitting in three strength sessions per week during lunch time and evenings.

Living in Yuen Long, she spent much of her time running in Tai Tong Country Park. Although she initially continued with jiu-jitsu, when her opponent pulled out of a major event in May last year, Kwok took this as “a sign to fully focus on running”.

Despite the intense running programme and a pre-existing knee problem from the martial art, Kwok did not pick up any injuries. She believes this was because she listened to her body and reduced training when she had any niggles or excess fatigue.

And although she lost nine kilograms during training, when it came to the Further challenge she knew calories were vital. She had to consume up to 4,000 calories a day to stay energised, and this involved regularly eating gels, rice, noodles and energy drinks.

“Every morning without fail, I had avocado with poached eggs and two slices of bacon – which I hadn’t eaten for 25 years. But one of my teammates said the sodium and fat were really good for ultra running.”

During the six-day event, Kwok got up at 4am to start running laps before having a nap in the afternoon when temperatures rose. Then she would start running again until around 10pm with the aim of completing 50km a day.

Lululemon tested pioneering bespoke kit during the challenge, with 36 innovations specifically designed for women. These included everything from footwear to cooling vests, ice sleeves, sports bras and running onesies. Despite covering more than 300km in six days, Kwok did not pick up a single blister or injury.

She even started her period unexpectedly on the first day. “I did have the option to take a pill and stop the period but I did not. I just went with it because it is part of being a woman. But it was hard because the course had no coverage and there was no shade. It was completely exposed and very hot and dry. Then at night it was cold and very windy.

“When you are running in a loop, it gets very lonely. I did not listen to anything because I was already under a lot of stress and I find that adds to the stress. But from day two we started running some laps together for company even though we were at different speeds.”

Although Kwok said finishing was “the highest of highs”, she soon hit the post-race blues. “Exhaustion lingers in the body and I have been sleeping lots more. But my physical health is coming back. But emotionally I’m still dealing with coming off an ultra high. This was something I did not expect.”

To tackle this low feeling, she agreed to run the Chicago Marathon in October with the Lululemon team. Now a fully fledged runner with jiu-jitsu on pause, Kwok is hoping to inspire inclusivity and representation. “Further was bigger than just a sport. I hope my journey can be an invitation for everyone to try something new and explore your full potential.”