Vriko Kwok knew that day four of the six-day ultramarathon would be the hardest. She had some room to make up if she wanted to reach her goal of running a total of 300 kilometers (just over 186 miles) six days in a row, or about 50 kilometers (31 miles) each day.
She woke up at 4 a.m. to get ready for work, she always did. She ran non-stop for 9 hours and 30 minutes, excluding her gear changes. But with just two laps left from her goal for the day, she sat in her rest tent completely gassed, and she felt like she had nothing left to spare, not even her tears.
What happened next summarizes how she met and even exceeded her 300km goal, running 303.31km (188 miles) in the Lululemon Furre ultramarathon, having never even logged a mile before taking on the 31-year-old novice runner. Just 11 months ago she started training for an ultramarathon.
expert in this article
- Vriko Kwok, ultramarathoner, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor, and entrepreneur
Kwok is a former Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor and entrepreneur living in Hong Kong. In early 2023, Lululemon announced her as a member of the 10-Women Extra Ultramarathon, an initiative to be held from March 6 to 12, 2024 in her La Quinta, California location. The race was launched in partnership with the Canadian Pacific Sports Institute (CSPI).
Each woman set individual goals that she would attempt to achieve over the course of the race. Lululemon and CSPI aimed to advance awareness, understanding and research of women's endurance sports by documenting and studying each woman's training and performance.
Other members of the team included ultramarathon world record holder Camille Heron, ultramarathoner and athlete Mirna Valerio, and celebrities and athletes from a variety of nationalities, backgrounds and body types. Although the experience on the team was varied and challenging for everyone involved, Kwok was a solo distance running novice. Nonetheless, in a further launch in May 2023, she announced a 50K per day goal with the goal of reaching a total of 300K. This is like running an ultramarathon every day.
“I remember starting Further. The night before, I was talking to my partner and I thought, ‘Do you think I can actually do this?’” says Kwok. “The day we started, we still had doubts because it was such a big challenge. But one of the quotes I always reflect on is ‘If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough.’ And I want to choose the biggest dream I can shatter.”
Over the next 11 months, Kwok will literally go from 0 to 300 (kilometers) alongside additional teammate Stefanie Flippin, a running coach, doctor and ultramarathoner who holds the 2021 women's title for fastest 100-mile run. I trained to move. From sub-hour walk runs to marathons, she ran 2,700 km (1,677 miles) during her training and logged 30 hours of running and other forms of training per week.
This is the essence of how Kwok did it. But there's a bigger story behind the numbers.
“One of the quotes I always reflect on is, ‘If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough.’ And I want to choose the biggest dream I can shatter.” —Brico Kwak
As Kwok sat exhausted in her relaxation tent after day four, additional teammate Montana Farrah-Seaton, a member of the Australian national basketball team and an experienced distance runner, spotted her. Farrah-Seaton greeted her with a big hug, and both women had an outpouring of emotion as they confirmed how proud they were of each other.
When Farrah-Seaton asked Kwok what it felt like with her arms around Kwok's head, Kwok responded, “Fuck it's horrible.” Farrah-Seaton didn't deny or minimize those feelings. Instead, she suggested that we go back out on the course together.
The women began by walking, but as they neared the final mile before Kwok's 100-mile goal, more team members put aside their own pace and mileage goals and joined the march to the finish line. Kwok and her teammates completed Kwok's 100-mile run together.
“It was the highest level of my experience,” Kwok said. “Contrary to what many people think, Furious isn’t really about one individual. Furthermore, if there is one thing I have shown to the world, it is [it’s that] Running is more of a team sport.”
After achieving that goal, Kwok took his first real break of the day.
“I actually took a good hour and a half break to nap, eat and feel good again,” Kwok said. “Then I went back out and did another half marathon before calling it a night.”
By listening to and nourishing her body, giving her rest when she needs it, staying focused on her goals, and most of all, being surrounded by people who truly care and understand her, Vriko's addition at the end of Day 4 We've summarized what the activity is. Kwak, what I felt while training for the ultramarathon and running the race itself. It's an accomplishment she hopes others can learn from to find their own finish line.
“Our journey is about running, but it’s so much more than running,” says Kwok. “I sincerely hope that our combined stories will help more women and humans in the community reflect on themselves and ask, ‘What is your own version of the Furious?’”
How Kwok went from a beginner to running 303K in 6 consecutive days
1. She took a ‘wellness-first’ approach.
Kwok, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor, is used to pushing through pain no matter what.
“I dislocated my shoulder and broke several fingers while sparring with different partners for 10 hours a day,” says Kwok. “My training partners would tell me to just endure it, deal with the pain and move on.”
To train and ultimately race in Furious, that approach was out of the question, as Kwok knew he needed to get to the starting line unscathed if he wanted to race.
“I started out thinking that running was a somewhat more challenging form of exercise,” says Kwok. “But in the bigger scheme of things, I actually learned a lot about my body, how to take care of it and how to prioritize self-care on my running journey. To eat really well, you have to rest really well. And in that sense, taking care of myself is what allows me to get more done.”
Practicing ‘wellness first’ meant maintaining close communication with Coach Flippin. If Kwok feels depleted, Flippin advised her to put off her mileage goals for the week and not move on to her next goal until she feels better and is truly ready.
The 30 hours a week of training also included yoga, stretching and physical therapy. That means my training time was devoted to recovery, mobility, and flexibility as much as it was to building strength and endurance.
The wellness-first approach paid off.
“I went in. [Further] I made it out without any injuries, not a single injury, and didn’t have a single blister during the six days of running,” says Kwok.
2. She underwent strength training
Ultramarathon training sessions also included a lot of strength training. Weight training for running is an underrated component of your training. This allows runners to get the most out of every stride by allowing them to engage muscles that are too often prone to loosening up, especially the glutes and hamstrings.
Building muscles around the joints also reduces the impact around the joints. This is very important for high-intensity exercise like running to prevent injury. In that way, strength training was also part of the wellness-first mentality.
“For the most part, I used my training time to take care of my body,” Kwok said. “I do a lot of weight training to strengthen my lower body. I'm a bigger girl, and I got injured while running when I came back from Jiu-Jitsu. So, I focused on lower body weight training to strengthen all the muscles needed for running.”
“I believe that whatever you do, if you find your people, you can go further.” —Brico Kwak
3. She found balanced goals and didn’t “change her expectations.”
To avoid burnout during training, Kwok didn't change or increase his goals because he knew he could run longer distances. The 300K goal was definitely a huge goal. But over the past few years, she's taken on additional challenges with the same goals she set for herself in the beginning, as opposed to the big goals she set for herself.
“I always say, ‘Don’t move the pole.’ I remember always moving the pole when I was in my 20s. I mean, I want to do something like this, and when I get there, I remember just moving the pole and trying to make it. It’s much more difficult,” says Kwok. “Choose challenges that push your limits without overdoing them.”
4. She used the right equipment
Lululemon gear, including Beyondfeel shoes and the soon-to-be-released Support Code Bra, has helped Kwok avoid blisters and chafing. Additional athletes have had race kit custom-made for them (not every athlete can do that), but not settling for something that doesn't fit or doesn't feel right is a priority that Kwok urges others to take to heart. It was a ranking.
Beyondfeel Women's Running Shoes — $158.00
You can run in the same shoes that Vriko Kwok and other barrier-breakers wore as they covered more than 2,880 miles over six consecutive days. The design of the neutral shoe is based on over a million scans of women's feet to specifically serve female runners.
5. She used her insight into her own body
Throughout the Furious team's ultramarathon training, CSPI tested biometrics such as VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen the body uses during exercise) to gain insight into the women's endurance performance. This allowed Kwok to learn about his body's limitations and how it processes energy.
These tests helped her identify different speeds, from maximal effort to “perpetual speed.” That is, she knew how to push when she needed her extra strength and how to pace herself when she needed to sustain her movement. Kwok actually took advantage of that eternal pace when she ran an additional half marathon at the end of day four, after taking an hour and a half rest.
“It gave me strength and helped me see what pace I could run forever without feeling tired,” says Kwok. “I was actually using that speed to run four laps in a row. The funny thing is, after those four laps, I thought, 'Oh shit, I'm a runner now.' I am a real runner now. ‘What did they do to me?’”
6. She found her people
Without hesitation, Kwok says team training and running for the ultramarathon is what got her through the event and what she is most proud of. While Kwok was training in Hong Kong, she felt lonely at times, but the thought that her teammates, most of whom were based in the United States, were also spending time there for miles helped her keep going.
“This experience has taught me a lot and I think most of all it’s about the love and support you share with your teammates and how we share it,” says Kwok. “The idea of community and how we can do this as a team is hopefully my idea or message that I can share with my audience. Because I believe that no matter what you do, you will be successful if you find the people. “We can push further.”