Rite of Passage: Ultimate Challenge!
- Kayli Liebenberg
- Oct 1
- 5 min read
There are few people, if any, more qualified than Thomas Corbin to talk about why Discovery Bay loves Team Fear. After all, the race was first held for him and his friends, writes Mervyn Black
One of the highlights of the year for kids from DB and beyond, the Team Fear Junior Challenge has been running since 2001, when an eight-year-old Thomas Corbin convinced his dad Steve to create an adventure race.
“Back then, my dad was part of a semi-professional adventure racing team and used to travel around Hong Kong and Asia,” opens Thomas. “I always really wanted him to take me with him. I used to say I could keep up – I didn’t know what I was talking about – but I wasn’t allowed to go. So I asked him if he could make an adventure race for me and my friends.
“My dad talked to his team, which at the time was called Team Fear – the Far East Adventure Racers – and they set up the first race in 2001. Forty kids took part, and it’s taken off from there.”
While Steve no longer lives in Hong Kong and isn’t as actively involved in organising Team Fear these days, Thomas is very much at the coal face as one of a group of 17 committee members that bring the event together annually.
Held each November, Team Fear has become an institution in DB and is something of a rite of passage for many youngsters. It challenges kids aged eight to 17 with running, coasteering, hiking, gorging and kayaking; there’s also a water jump and an obstacle course. Registration is open for this year’s race, scheduled for November 30, at www.team-fear.com.
Team Fear is open to teams of two across seven age groups – under 9s, under 10s, under 11s, under 12s, under 13s, under 16s and under 18s. Each team – all girls, all boys or mixed – must start, run and finish the race together.
“This mutually supportive dynamic forges great bonding opportunities for the racers,” chimes in Chris Mackreth, chair of the Team Fear Race Organising Committee. “In fact, we often see the same teams come back year after year to compete or defend their titles. Every racer gets a finisher medal but there are special medals and a mention for category champions and first runner-up teams.”
There are two course lengths: 8km for the youngest and 12km for the older racers. The courses are not set and they change every year.
“We’re still in the process of planning the 2025 route, and racers can always look forward to a different route than they experienced in previous years,” Thomas says. “Looking to the future, we are considering bringing back some elements that were in place pre-Covid, like the biking and abseiling, or adding new elements that haven't been seen before.”
“The actual course is kept completely confidential each year,” says Chris. “We purposely don’t release the route till just before the event. This means it is always fresh and ensures that racers who live in DB, versus the rest of Hong Kong, don’t get an advantage.”
“There’s another really good reason, we keep the route under lock and key until the day before the race,” says Thomas. “In the past, when we divulged the route earlier, a lot of parents tried it out and injured themselves!”
On race day, children’s safety is, of course, the number one priority. “In our long history we can report a very safe event with no more than cuts, bruises and sprains,” Chris reassures. “Children can expect a well-marked course with ribbons and dedicated marshals throughout to ensure safety.
“We rely on the support of over 250 volunteer marshals who help us all around the course. The marshals manage their section of the route and are well-versed on the particular challenges and any potential hazards. We use sufficient marshals so that we can operate an ‘always nearby’ system to quickly identify any issues.
“It is in fact mandatory for each competing team to have a nominated marshal, aged at least 16 years, available to help on race day,” Chris adds
Additionally, a sweep system is in place so no one can get left behind on the course, and a team of first responders, many of whom are nurses or doctors, volunteer their skills on race day
Roughly 600 brave racers will tackle Team Fear this year, significantly less than the pre-Covid highs of close to 1,000. “It’s building back to what it was, and that’s a good thing,” says Thomas. “Right now, we’re growing the committee with several new members, and we’ve limited participant numbers so that we can scale back up safety.
“I think one of the reasons Team Fear is so popular is that people in DB are normally quite active. Families do a lot of hiking and sports in general and either the kids are interested in taking part or their parents want them to experience it,” Thomas adds. “I’ve done the race many times and I’ve done it with friends who didn’t want to do it, and they’ve done it and they’ve loved it.”
So what are Thomas’ top tips for racers enrolled to compete this year?
“I would say there are two things you need to do in terms of preparation. Number one is to make sure you are comfortable moving over rocky terrain. That’s where you can save a lot of time and overtake people. If you practice coasteering, with supervision of course, and build some experience doing it, you’ll be able to fly through that section. It can be quite difficult if you haven’t done a lot of training.
“Number two is to work on endurance. There’s a cutoff time of four hours, and if you’re fit enough to run most of the course, or at least the flat and downhills, you’ll finish that much faster.”
Thomas is quick to remind, however, that winning is not the be-all and end-all. “It’s not easy, no matter what age you are. Some kids walk most of the way and others train for months and months, but there is always a sense of achievement. It’s not about being the person who gets there first: you feel that overwhelming sense of achievement to have made it to the end wherever you finish.”
Another satisfying element of participating in Team Fear is raising money for charity, with sponsorship funds directed to Youth Outreach, a local charity that supports disadvantaged youth in Hong Kong. “Team Fear has been able to donate over HK$1,000,000 to Youth Outreach since it first started,” Thomas concludes. “The racers get a real kick out of that.”
