Cass Phang, renowned singer, celebrity ambassador and long-standing volunteer for Mother’s Choice shares her utmost support for Gary for his 35 days run from Beijing to Hong Kong. She would like to extend an apology to Gary and his running guides that she is unable to join the last leg of his run, however, she encourages everyone to join the cheering squad at the Homecoming Closing Ceremony on 28 April 2019.

Cass has been involved with Mother’s Choice for over 7 years and has volunteered in the Child Care Home, singing for and looking after children.

Gary arrives in Hong Kong on the 28 April 2019 and where we will celebrate with a special homecoming closing ceremony to be held at the Cyberport Podium. Be sure to join us between 1:00pm-4: 00 pm to cheer on Gary and his team of more than 35 guide runners upon their return. The afternoon will be filled with family-friendly activities such as booth games, children’s crafts, performances and so on.

Hope to see you all there!

P.S  Do remember to pre-register here, as a required safety precaution.

Gary and Team F did not have the best run paths or best weather in this section of run (April 19 to 23) — they ran into rough paths, paths alongside highway which were dangerous, noisy and polluted, they next ran into rain, thunderstorm and fog. Despite the toughs and roughs in these days, Gary and Team F did not get let down. They arrived in Guangdong from Jiangxi in high spirits and met up with Team G of guide runners, with whom Gary will complete the last lap of his amazing 35-day challenge of the BJ-HK run. May the weather and running track conditions improve in their favour in this last section. We can’t wait to cheer for their homecoming! Go Gary and Team G!

In about 5 days, Gary and his guide runners will be returning to Hong Kong! If you wish to join Gary to in becoming a HOPE Giver to vulnerable children and youth of Hong Kong, you can join in through giving a donation, simply click on this link:https://www.simplygiving.com/event/hope-anchors

On day 21, Gary reached a big milestone – he has completed over 1,000km of the challenge! Nonetheless Gary would not slow down a bit, he keeps running towards Hong Kong, towards home.

Weather has been on and off foggy and rainy since day 22, Gary and Team E ran through wet and slippery roads, muddy roads, from rain to finer weather on day 25. Despite the changing weather and road conditions, Gary and his guide runners never give up, run on and achieve their daily distance target of 50km each day! On day 23, a group of local runners spotted Gary and learnt about his challenge, to support Gary, they ran together which created the record of most runners running with Gary so far!

At this section, Gary took the time to tell us about the use of the guide rope and some guide running skills:- (See video)
1. The guide rope has 2 hoops, one hoop to hoop onto Gary and the other one onto guide runner’s hand. On narrow paths, Gary and guide runner will hold the rope tighter, and they loosen it on wider paths.
2. Guide runner usually speaks to Gary about directions and road situation, as speaking is the fastest and easiest way, he/she can also pull the rope when they have to turn left, however, in order to turn right, the guide runner has to tell Gary otherwise he/she will run into Gary.
3. When there are obstacles or adverse road situations directly ahead, the guide runner will touch Gary’s hand for immediate stop.

In only 10 days, Gary and his guide runners will be returning to Hong Kong! We applaud Gary’s stamina and courage, and his determination in helping us to help vulnerable children and youth in Hong Kong. If you wish to join Gary to become a HOPE Giver to vulnerable children and youth of Hong Kong, you can do it through donation: https://www.simplygiving.com/event/hope-anchors

We cannot wait to welcome our HOPE Giver Gary and his amazing guide runner team home on Sunday, 28 April 2019, we will cheer them at various locations in Hong Kong and held a Homecoming Closing Ceremony at Cyberport. If you would like to cheer for and celebrate Gary and his team, we invite you to join us on Sunday, 28 April to:-
– cheer Gary and his team on route from Sheung Shui to Central (you may select one or multiple location(s)). To register, please click http://www.tfaforms.com/4733410; and/or,
– join the Homecoming Closing Ceremony at Cyberport. To register, please click http://tfaforms.com/4731443

On day 16, Gary and Team D had to start their section of run in some adverse weather condition! Rain came before daylight and continued through midday, Gary and guide runners could only manage to run 12km when the rain weakened in the afternoon, even so, they never give up HOPE! Luckily the rain stopped on day 17, they went back on running through slopes and narrow winding roads towards the direction of home, along the river of Luotian County to Xishui County in Hubei Province, they finished the daily target of 50km, and they felt motivated by the cheer and support from teachers and children of one of the local primary schools!

The dry air and unpredictable routes had made their journey more challenging on day 18. Gary and guide runners experienced a dry throat as a result. Yet we got a special guest that day – our volunteer driver Mr. Li supported the team and started to run with Gary! The team ran from Xishui County to Wuxue City, finishing 50km and beat the challenge. After overcoming few challenges the days before, the team could finally enjoyed running alongside Chang Jiang in a paved road on day 19. Guide runner Angus of Team D also shared this is his first time running in China and was so inspired by the positive attitude of Gary! (See video)

It was the 20th day of the run last Saturday, despite the challenging route conditions, Gary, Yan, Tony and Mr. Li still accomplished a 40km-run! A big shout out for members of Team D! Yesterday was the first day of Team E. May HOPE anchor! Together we cheer for Gary and Team E!

We call for everyone to share with your friends and family about Gary’s charity challenge and cheer for him and his guide runners!

Support Gary and his charity challenge, become a Mother’s Choice HOPE Giver through donation, please click:
https://www.simplygiving.com/event/hope-anchors

As said in our last update, Gary and our guide runners finished the second section of their running journey on April 3. On April 4, day 11, Team B’s leader passed the baton to Team C to help Gary to carry on his challenge, starting in Taikang County, Gary and Team C ran 50.8km and 52km on day 11 and day 12 respectively.

On day 13, Gary sat down and talked to us about his experience (see video), he was thrilled that he and the guide runners have so far completed 1/3 of the total distance, starting from Beijing, went through Hebei and arrived in Henan. Gary was happy to learn about the sceneries (with guide runner describing the surroundings to him), to experience the local delicacies and to talk to some local people along the way. However, he and the team also encountered problems which they did not expect at planning – pollution and dust storms, changing weather conditions and different road conditions (team has to meander on busy roadsides filled with trucks and tricycles). Since health and safety always go first, Gary decided to lower the daily run distance target to about 50km, because running shorter distance per day would hopefully give him and the team more time to rest and recover at the end of each day after exposing themselves to changing weather and pollution.

Gary and guide runner marched on day 13 and 14, arriving Xinyang City in Henan and finishing on an average of 50km each day. On day 15, after running a series of uphill and downhill paths Gary and his team entered Hubei, where Team C bid farewell to Gary and let Team D carry on with Gary and his challenge. Go Gary and Team D!

P.S.- One may notice in some of the photos that there is a big tall gentleman in blazer and trousers and he does not look like he will be running with Gary or his team, he is the volunteer driver for Gary’s Charity Challenge, Mr. Li – he helps to drive Gary and his guide runner teams during the entire challenge and he also looks after Gary and the teams’ meal arrangements, safety, logistics in all the cities, thank you Mr. Li.

We are very grateful that there are so many people helping and supporting Gary with this Charity Challenge, if you wish to support Gary, support Mother’s Choice, we invite you to be a HOPE Giver and donate: https://www.simplygiving.com/event/hope-anchors

Gary and our guide runners finished the second section of their running journey on April 3.

Team B kick-started their run on March 30. From Beijing all the way to Hebei Handan, it accounted for almost 256km already. Despite the chilled weather and poor air quality, Gary and his team ran with a strong determination and motivation, and kept pushing forward!

Along the China National Highway 106, it was dusty and full of sand particles. Yet surprisingly, flowers and trees were blooming and blossoming on the road sides! Spring has come with vivid signs of new life and energy alongside, as if they were cheering for Gary and his team. The team faced different challenges daily, say poor weather, unsatisfactory air quality, unexpected running route changes. They were amazingly tough as if life found its way just like nature’s wonders. They rose up to the challenges and they embraced HOPE! They ran for the vision “every child in a loving family” and they kept striving! Determined that we can do this together!

On day 9, Gary and the team arrived nearby Huang He (Yellow River) – the mother river of China, the origin of life. They all hopped onto a car and drove across the river to continue on the the other side.

Team C commenced the run on April 4, Children’s Day, with the route from Qi County to Taikang County. Let’s cheer for our HOPE Givers — Go Gary, go! Keep going on, our fellow guide runners! You sure are running for the future of the vulnerable children in Hong Kong! Thank you all so much!

You can be a HOPE Giver too!
Support Gary and his charity challenge through donation, please click:
https://www.simplygiving.com/event/hope-anchors

Visually-impaired ultra-runner Gary Leung started his 2,500km charity run to raise funds and awareness for Mother’s Choice on March 25, Monday. He and his guide runners kicked off from Tiananmen Square in Beijing in high spirits and amazing energy (see photo). Under favorable weather conditions and much excitement, the team achieved running 66km and 64km respectively in the first two days.

It was a nice surprise to Venus, one of the guide runners as March 26, Tuesday was her birthday. She shared that “to participate in the charity run with Gary is a meaningful way to celebrate her birthday”, and got a surprise celebration from the team where everyone had an enjoyable evening amidst the challenge.

Continuing on the journey on March 27, the team faced their first round of challenges! After experiencing good weather on the past two days, the team felt like walking into another world on day 3 – the air quality deteriorated overnight, adversely affecting visibility as our guide runners found it difficult to see the roads ahead and they all found it hard to breathe. Moreover, the selected run route was alongside a busy highway with no clear paths. All these made it extremely tough for the team! Nevertheless, HOPE prevails! With the support and help from each other, they accomplished 65km on day 3. Bravo!

Fortunately, pollution lessened in the following days accompanied with chillier weather where Team A, the first group of guide runners, completed the route successfully, and prepared passing the baton to the next team on the evening of day 5, March 29. Well done Team A!! Great job, Gary!!

You can be a HOPE Giver too!
Support Gary and his challenge through donation, please click:
https://www.simplygiving.com/event/hope-anchors