HONG KONG: What's the farthest you've ever run? How long did it take? What if you were 25? Would you be willing to run 250 km in the hot South Africa sun? Bonita Choi, a 25-year-old Hong Kong bank researcher did it. She ran the distance for fun and for charity.

Who would imagine the lady, dressed in ordinary office attire, just endured the marathon in Africa between May 17th and 23rd?

She's always loved running. After one of her close friends fell victim to domestic violence, Choi immediately conceived of a fund-raising marathon after hearing about the charity work of The Christian Action's Chungking Mansions Service Centre, which helps asylum-seekers and victims of domestic violence in Hong Kong.

"Why not kill two birds with one stone?" she exclaimed. "I had already signed for the race beforehand. I want to do it in a more meaningful context. I want to run for the charity."

No baths, limited rest, physical and mental exhaustion, these are some of the trials of the 7-day 250-km RacingThePlanet marathon in Namibia. With one ankle swollen and a foot injured, Choi ignored her pain and dismissed it was nothing, compared to the sufferings of refugee women. She believed she was lucky just to be able to enter the race.

The run not only changed the lives of the people she helped but also her own. The 25-year-old felt grateful for what she had and she thanked people around her in the race. "The day of the 100-km run, we were going down a lot of mountains. I was terrified of heights. If I wasn't lucky enough to have people walk around me, I wouldn't have one person holding my hand and guiding me along," she said. "I remembered the first day, I was dehydrated for eight or nine hours. A man gave me his bottle of water. He could just say stop but I just 'goop' 'goop' 'goop' 'goop' 'goop'. If he didn't give me the water, I would have been dehydrated."

The fact that people were helping one another was what impressed Choi the most.

Choi admitted her mother was quite worried about her. The hardships of the marathon had made her think of giving up even on the first day. However, the toughest day was the fourth day, the day of the 100-km run. She was already in pain, had no sleep, was dehydrated as everybody else, and her foot injury was becoming increasingly painful.

Despite the difficulties, she got 100 percent support from family and friends. "It was very nice to receive emails from your loved ones when you are in the dessert and have to struggle physically and mentally." Checking emails and getting notes from family during the race gave her the strength. And Choi kept pushing through the desert sun and made it to the finish line.

(HK Edition 07/01/2009 page1)