HOW HONG KONG HELPED THIS AMERICAN SPRINTER MEET NEW CHALLENGES – AND LEARN TO RUN AGAIN

Claire Cormier Thielke moved to the city in 2019, made friends through running and has now even completed the 777 Marathon Challenge

For Claire Cormier Thielke, running used to be about fractions of a second. Now it is about using it to know Hong Kong better, both on a personal and professional basis - a way to make connections, in every sense.

The former Stanford University track and field captain, who specialised in the 400m and 800m, went on to compete for USA Track and Field as a member of the national team. Her life revolved around training schedules, stopwatch splits and performance targets.

"Running 800m is a painful, 'mind over matter' race," Thielke said. "You run in oxygen debt the whole way. It is good for mental discipline."

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After she retired from sprinting, Thielke made a personal rule: to take on challenges that seemed almost impossible and to use them to support a cause. That mindset led her to tackle an Ironman, a marathon on Mount Everest and a swim around Hong Kong Island for the Splash Foundation.

The big shift came when Thielke moved to Hong Kong in 2019. For the first time, running became more than training - it became a way to connect.

"Before I moved to Hong Kong, I did not know that you could run and chat with friends or take photos of the scenery," Thielke said.

On Bowen Road, a popular running route in Hong Kong, she joined the "Running Babes", a 12-member running crew that, as core member Ming Chen described it, was "the run club before run clubs".

"That group completely changed my idea of running," Thielke said. "The consistency wasn't just in the running. It just created such consistency of not just the running, but the relationships. So I learned that running can be a way to really form friendships."

Her casual runs soon turned into city adventures.

"Sometimes I would email friends and say, 'Tell me where you are, I will run to you'. That has taken me from Kowloon Tong to West Kowloon and all around the city. It is a way to explore Hong Kong and see people, not just tick off kilometres."

Despite embracing distance running, Thielke still carries a sprinter's habits. She rarely wears socks - "something most sprinters do, but almost no long-distance runners" - and sticks to regular food instead of sports gels. "The internet tells you you need all the fancy gear during a run," Thielke said. "I just use my normal stuff."

Now the global head of product development at a logistics real estate company, Thielke has merged her professional and running worlds.

"Running helps me get to know Hong Kong - its geography, neighbourhoods, even its economy," Thielke said. "In real estate, you need to understand how people move: where they shop, which neighbourhoods are emerging. When you run, you see those things. You get a sense of the city's economy because you literally cover more ground.

"I started inviting brokers, bankers and lawyers to join me on runs," Thielke said. "It became a great way to get to know the market and to connect with peers on a different level."

Not just in Hong Kong but all over the world.

"In every city I visit, I run with investors and partners - but I really learned that approach here in Hong Kong. Before, I would just go out and run fast by myself. I don't do that any more; now I run socially," Thielke said.

At the start of 2026, Thielke took on one of her biggest challenges yet: the 777 Marathon Challenge: seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. The race spanned Antarctica, Cape Town, Perth, Dubai, Madrid, Fortaleza and Miami.

Invited by a former coach and marking her new status as a Hong Kong permanent resident, Thielke used the event to raise 888 volunteer hours for Hong Kong and international charities.

"Hong Kong has given me so much," Thielke said. "I wanted to do something to give back."

As she finished the 777 challenge successfully in February, increasing her pile of marathon participation medals, Thielke was already thinking about what's next.

"I would love to do something that pushes me really hard again - maybe not just running, maybe rowing or swimming - but something that raises awareness for good causes," she said.

One idea close to her heart is running across the Greater Bay Area.

"I would love to start in Hong Kong, go through the mainland cities and finish in Macau or Zhuhai," she said. "There's no race like that, so we would have to plan it ourselves. But it would be such a cool way to experience the region."

The idea holds both professional and personal meaning.

"When I moved here, the high-speed rail had just opened and the bridges were being built. I've seen the Greater Bay Area grow. For me, running feels like connecting with the region that has shaped my life here."

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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

Copyright (c) 2026. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

2026-03-06T09:53:20Z