Difficulty: Summiteer (Level 3)
Hongkonger Vriko Kwok broke down in tears on her fourth day of Lululemon’s ultra-marathon, Further. She aimed to run 300km in six days, and every part of her body hurt.
Seeing her distress, seven of the nine other women in the ultra-marathon dropped their daily goals to accompany Kwok as she worked to hit the 160km marker.
In the end, the 32-year-old ran 303.31km in the ultra-marathon in March in the US state of California. Just one year prior, she had not even been able to run 1km.
Kwok had never imagined she would accomplish such a rigorous competition. She always thought that running was not for her because she was “bigger.”
“I never saw myself in the active women’s space because there’s just no bigger girls represented in sports,” she said.
Where it all began
In secondary school, Kwok explained that she was teased for her size and “bullied quite badly” when she exercised.
Because of these experiences, Kwok didn’t become more active until her 20s.
Then, in 2023, Lululemon asked her to participate in Further. The ultra-marathon invited 10 female athletes from around the world and from all walks of life to run their longest distance to highlight the needs of women in sports.
As they prepared for the event, the women received professional training and custom-made gear. Trainers used tests to improve the runners’ performance.
Often, women are not included in athletic studies, and there is not enough information on women in sports.
Kwok wanted to challenge herself in a new sport and promote female health and inclusion in sports science.
Fitting in
Of the 10 women in Further, Kwok was the only one without running experience. When she first met the rest of her team in April 2023 for an introductory session, Kwok remembered feeling like she “didn’t belong there”.
Despite all of her obstacles, Kwok exceeded her goal by 3km.
Kwok remembered the day she broke down during the ultra-marathon. She had thought: “The miles don’t matter now. I only care about my teammates.”
The athlete credits much of her success during the ultra-marathon to her teammates. By the nature of the event, the women were not competing against one another but against themselves, each trying to set personal records.
Use the puzzle below to test your knowledge of the vocabulary words in the story.
Sample answers
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Stop and think: What was one of the purposes of inviting all women to compete in the ultra-marathon? The goal was to promote the needs of women in sports and give more visibility to studying and understanding women’s athletics.
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Consider: Why did Kwok hesitate to get involved in athletics until her adult years? This is because Kwok was bullied a lot because of her size in school, and she felt like she couldn’t fit in because people of her body size were not represented in sports.
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Think back: How did Kwok’s teammates help her during the race? Kwok’s teammates saw that she was hurt and upset and let go of their personal goals to run with her and encourage her. Kwok also credits her success to her teammates and their support.
