"In Wong Chuk Hang, RUN’s vibrant centre is busy with women getting ready for a hike or studying. These women are resilient and courageous, and by denying them a right to integrate into the Hong Kong community, Hong Kong obscures its own multicultural past. " - RUN's Co-Founder, Virginie R. Goethals ' writes to South China Morning Post on the struggles of the refugee community and opportunities for improving their lives in Hong Kong.

Today on World Refugee Day, please join RUN in commemorating the strength, perseverance, and resilience of the 70.7 million displaced persons worldwide.

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World Refugee Day is about commemorating the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees around the world, but it's also a reminder that there is more work to be done.

That's why we're challenging you to run your fastest 8km on June 20th (8,000m to represent the 8,000 asylum seekers still waiting in Hong Kong, and your fastest as symbolic of our desire to speed up a notoriously slow refugee approval process).

Challenge yourself to tackle your personal best while raising funds for RUN's programmes that rehabilitate Hong Kong's most vulnerable refugees through sports and education!

https://www.bravera.co/runhk-8k/new

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World Refugee Day is about commemorating the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees around the world, but it's also a reminder that there is more work to be done.

That's why we're challenging you to run your fastest 8km on June 20th (8,000m to represent the 8,000 asylum seekers still waiting in Hong Kong, and your fastest as symbolic of our desire to speed up a notoriously slow refugee approval process).

Challenge yourself to tackle your personal best while raising funds for RUN's programmes that rehabilitate Hong Kong's most vulnerable refugees through sports and education!

https://bravera.co/runhk-8k/new

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This week we finished a 6 week basketball programme as part of our women's only Hiking to Heal fitness programme. Our ladies had a great time learning new skills and scrimmaging. Thank you to Coach Joe from Dream Sport Academy!

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截至去年十一月，香港有近八千名個人正在等待獲得難民身份。難民身份的申請程序非常緩慢，這意味著那些逃離本國暴力和創傷的人多年來一直在香港陷入困境，而政府的支持極少。香港難民申請的批准率僅為0.52％。 這就是為什麼我們挑戰你在世界難民日（6月20日）跑8公里的最快速度 - 8公里代表香港的8,000名尋求庇護者，而你的最快速度象徵著我們希望加快難民審批程序。報名參加挑戰，並邀請您的朋友在您個人最好的時候得到他們的支持

https://www.bravera.co/runhk-8k/new

As of November last year, there are nearly 8,000 individuals in Hong Kong awaiting approval for refugee status. The application process for refugee status is notoriously slow, meaning that those who have escaped violence and trauma in their home country are stuck in limbo in Hong Kong for years with minimal support from the government. The rate of approval for refugee claims in Hong Kong is a mere 0.52%.

That's why we're challenging you to run your fastest 8km on World Refugee Day (June 20th) - 8km to represent the 8,000 asylum seekers in Hong Kong, and your fastest as symbolic of our desire to speed up a notoriously slow refugee approval process. Sign up to the challenge and ask your friends to pledge their support as you take on your personal best!

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Mission accomplished! (Message from Richard)

It was hard with waves at 3 to 4 metres high at times but we did it in a quick time (thanks to a friendly current) in just under 3 hours, having started at 6.45am, and my GPS pointed to a distance of just under 12 km.
In short the conditions were very rough indeed and I had multiple calf cramp episodes but the last hour was a little easier with the waves and current right behind us, taking us home. At times I thought I was in a washing machine – I have been well and truly pummeled! This is the windy side of HK Island – none of this wimpy calm ocean swimming around Repulse Bay etc!

Please find some evidence attached.

A group of asylum-seekers, originally from Sudan, Yemen and Somalia, welcomed us at Shek O beach and I managed to talk to them about their stories – what these two charities are doing is amazing!

Again, thank you so so much if you donated. If you haven’t managed to donate, please do! I’m really keen to get to my goal and we are so close. Have a look at the pictures attached – surely a donation is deserved?! Big or small, it all counts!

Here is a link to the donation site again – http://bit.ly/crowdfunding-ocean-swim-for-refugees

Done and dusted! It was a gorgeous morning for a run. Melbourne turned out its best for us this weekend. The weather was quite warm, and a headwind on the back half made for more challenging conditions. But, I had a solid finish of 3:37:59, eking out my third fastest time.

Thank you all so much! The money raised from this campaign will fund 3 refugee athletes for an entire year. I’m thrilled to be able to support these incredibly brave and inspirational people in this way.

Less than 48 hours to go! The weather here in Melbourne is gorgeous, if a little warm for racing. But I’m anticipating a great run through a beautiful city on Sunday morning. Thanks to everyone again for their generous support of my RUN HK campaign!

Less than 48 hours to go! Once again, thanks to everybody who has supported my campaign for RUN HK. The weather here in Melbourne is gorgeous, if a little warm for racing. But I’m anticipating a great run through a beautiful city anyway.

I'm so thrilled with the response to my campaign. I cannot thank everyone enough. The past week has been a difficult one for training because of the massive typhoon that swept through Hong Kong over the weekend. Before the storm, we had several days of scorchingly hot and humid weather, and then the terrible winds and rain, none of which is good for long distance running outside. So, I've been on the treadmill a lot - BORING! But, I'm going to attempt my last long run this week. Fingers crossed for cooler evenings!

Wow! I'm blown away by how quickly and generously everyone has responded. Thank you so much!

You all were on my minds last night at the weekly track workout. It was a super steamy night (again!), but our Coach Charlotte had a planned a fairly lengthy workout anyway, 4 sets of 200m/200m/400m. It's been a few months since I've done 400m repeats, and I never do all-out sprints like 200m, it was a much more challenging workout for me than I was expecting!

You did it! Congratulations, Alex and THANK YOU from all of us at RUN.

You did it! Congratulations Karen and Ally and THANK YOU from all of us at RUN.