Street sleepers’ running club heads for Hong Kong marathon event

Hong Kong’s marathon next February is set to feature a special team. A running club, mostly made up of current and former street sleepers, is entering the 10-kilometre event in hopes of changing society’s perception that homeless people are “useless.” 

Formed by anti-poverty group the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO), the team of 18 individuals from marginalised communities began training in October. They aim to raise at least HK$80,000 for the marathon’s charity programme. 

At present, the team has five street sleepers and nine individuals who have previously experienced homelessness, along with four members in mental health recovery. They train once a week at the Sham Shui Po Sports Ground, a district with many homeless people. 

Among the runners is 46-year-old Ng Ka-man, who lived on the streets intermittently since 2009 before moving into a dormitory operated by SoCO last year. During a training session in October, he told HKFP he was “forced to participate” in the running practice by Ng Wai-tung, a veteran community organiser from the NGO, who noted that Ka-man had developed health issues over the years due to his fondness for oily, fried, and sweet foods.

“[Ng Wai-tung] knows I have some health problems and do not move very well, so he asked me to join the run club and try my best to jog,” Ng said in Cantonese. 

The running club is not Ng Wai-tung’s first sporting initiative aimed at helping street sleepers rebuild their confidence and reconnect with society. In 2005, he established the Dawn Homeless Football Team, which took part in the Homeless World Cup.

Over the years, the football team evolved into a charity organisation and has continued to promote the inclusion of marginalised groups through sport.

Training alongside Ka-man, Ng Wai-tung recalled that the former street sleeper was diagnosed with high blood pressure as his weight rose to around 90 kilograms. He said it was “not ideal” for someone in their mid-40s to face such health issues, adding that many other street sleepers experienced similar conditions. 

“Some street sleepers reach a point of giving up and they neglect their health as well,” said Ng Wai-tung, who has more than two decades of experience supporting the homeless in the Sham Shui Po district.

“That’s why we wanted the homeless not to give up on doing sports, and not to give up on themselves,” he added. 

According to figures from the Social Welfare Department, Hong Kong had 1,441 street sleepers as of the end of March 2023. 

During his years of seeking shelter in fast food restaurants, parks, and piers, Ng Ka-man noted that many street sleepers were often on their guard and reluctant to communicate or interact with others.

Jacky Chan, the running club coach, told HKFP that some runners were quite reserved and tended to linger at the back of the group during warm-up exercises. Some also seemed confused by instructions but did not express their concerns.

He said building a rapport with the runners took time as they sought acceptance and recognition. That was why he said he felt it was essential to be more attuned to their needs and provide clear directions to ensure they could effectively follow the training programme. He was confident they would gradually open up over the 16 weeks of training. 

“The sports ground is a blank piece of paper to these runners… I am not training a group of elite athletes. I just hope that this sport can change some of their perspectives in life,” he said. 

Assistant coach Cathi Wong, who said running had helped her overcome emotional distress in the past, wanted to help the amateur runners develop a habit of exercising as a means to alleviate negative emotions. 

Some runners had improved after just three training sessions, Wong said. Among them was Wan Shing, who needed a pair of walking sticks during the first class but was able to abandon them by the third session.

The 65-year-old had been homeless for years before finding temporary shelter at a friend’s home in recent years. He told HKFP he underwent lower back surgery in his 20s due to pain and numbness in his left leg. Since then, it had become a “mental obstacle” that affected his self-confidence.

Wan reflected that he had made “many wrong decisions” that ultimately led to him living on the streets. He described the experience of being homeless as “confusing,” noting that the homeless population consists of individuals who have become detached from society and have come together with other marginalised groups. 

Due to his medical problems, Wan for years avoided running. However, when Ng Wai-tung, who had previously recruited him to join the homeless football team, invited him to join the running club, Wan decided to give it a try.

Having not run in many years, he was curious about why the sport had gained such popularity in the city and wanted to explore it “step by step.”

During the first training session, Wan stood out from dozens of runners because of his use of walking sticks on the tracks. He later wanted to overcome his fears and “stop running peculiarly.” 

Wan was still worried about the safety of a long-distance race, citing injuries and even fatalities at past marathons. But he also wanted to support others experiencing homelessness.

“It’s difficult to define the concrete meaning of participating in this event, as some aspects are commercialised. However, sometimes you need to engage in mainstream activities alongside others. You won’t gain anything if you don’t give it a try,” he said.

With the marathon – of which the 10K race is part – just three months away, coach Chan acknowledged the challenges beginners faced in completing such a race. However, he is hopeful that at least 85 percent of the group will finish before the cut-off time.

For Ng Ka-man, his goal is to lose at least 22 kg before the race so he can “run as far as possible.” He has started dieting, avoiding unhealthy foods, and going on hikes to improve his fitness.

When asked what message he wanted to send by joining the race with homeless people, Ng Ka-man said it was simple.

“Homeless people are not useless. Regardless of whether they finish the race, at least they are putting their hearts into it,” he said.

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