We were extremely proud of our team of Year 12 students who battled lack of sleep and a chilly night to take part in the annual 24 Hour Race on Saturday, November 19.

The 24 Hour Race is the largest youth movement in Asia. Since 2010, the 24 Hour Race has engaged more than 1,500,000 youths and raised more than HKD 6.5 million for anti-human trafficking causes. This year’s beneficiaries for the Hong Kong 24 Hour Race are Right4Children and The Exodus Road.

We spoke to Jason Law, our Year 12 student responsible for putting the YCIS team together for the first time, about their experience.

How did you all get on at the 24 Hour Race?

The race itself was a challenge for me as I had a fitness assessment run by the HKAYP the night before and Emily injured her foot prior to it. When we think back now, we all would have liked to run more laps than we did. Overall it was a really memorable experience because I have never done anything like this before and we had a lot of fun with our friends.

How many people were on the team?

There were eight team members this year including myself, all from Year 12: Jason Law, Nicholas Hui, Jerry Wong, Jerome Fung, Angela Chang, Sharon Chiu, Summer Li, Emily Lee

What kind of training did you do prior to the Race?

We originally planned for training sessions with our team but we all had busy schedules and couldn't agree on a single day, so some relied on their weekly sports training and some on other forms of sports. Since it was fitness based, I think it did help equip us sufficiently enough for the race. 

Why did you decide to compete in the 24 Hour Race?

We decided to compete because it’s a very important cause and issue that needs more attention. I think that not enough people are really aware of the huge amount of human trafficking that is still going on in the world today. I also heard many great stories from the people who competed in previous years and I wanted to experience it myself.

It was your first time competing in the race, what was the toughest part?

The toughest part of it would definitely be the lack of sleep. We had to wake up before the sun came up. It was also really cold at night and very windy. We didn't bring enough sleeping bags either so we had to share. It was quite uncomfortable so we didn’t get much sleep.

What was the funniest moment?

The funniest moment would be when we were playing UNO to decide who would be the next runner. Everyone was tired so we decided to use this method to have someone constantly on the track. I was really lucky I never lost, still I volunteered to share the team's load, but the games were all really intense and definitely the best part of the race.

How much have you raised for this cause so far?

We raised almost HKD 17,000 from the Anti-Trafficking Casual Day at school. All students who wanted to dress casually had to dress in blue, as the Blue Heart is the international symbol against human trafficking. We are still receiving donations for the actual 24 Hour Race. 

You mentioned you will compete again next year in the 24 Hour Race, what do you think you will do differently then?

Next year we will get more students in our school to participate and work hard to build more awareness of this meaningful event. We aim to have four teams participating next year. I will definitely participate next year.