‘Four Trails’ Review: Beautiful Documentary of the World’s Hardest Trail Run

Originally published in The Indiependent on 3 October 2025

(Source: Lost Atlas Production)

In 2021, 18 mountain runners in Hong Kong ran non-stop for 298 km. For over 60 hours, through days and nights, they ran. At the same time, the crew of Four Trails needed to turn the seemingly tedious race into an engaging documentary. With excellent structuring and cinematography, they succeeded.

★★★★★

Four Trails, directed by Robin Lee, is a Hong Kong sports documentary recording the 2021 Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge. Founded by Andre Blumberg, a German expat in Hong Kong in 2012, it requires contenders to complete the city’s four hiking trails—spanning a total distance of 298 km—in one go. Those who finish within 60 hours and 72 hours can claim the titles of ‘finisher’ and ‘survivor’ respectively. The 2021 race, despite approaching its 10th anniversary, was held back by COVID. Therefore, Blumberg only invited previous finishers and survivors to challenge themselves again. Eighteen signed up.

The challenge is considered one of the most gruelling trail running contests in the world. Unlike other races, the four trails are disconnected and have no aid stations. Contenders need to sort out their own transport between the trails, buy their own food at grocery stores on the way, and sleep on the streets to recharge. Thus, finishers and survivors need to be physically fit enough to embrace the huge variety of landforms; mentally strong enough to stand the loneliness; intelligent enough to plan the journey; and lucky enough not to miss the train. 

All this background information is clearly explained at the beginning of the documentary. Using a chronological structure, the documentary first introduces the race and its significance before bringing in the most acclaimed contestants and detailing how they prepare for the race. Then, it tracks the contest from its start to the end. The clear and smooth structure lets everyone, regardless of their familiarity with trail running or Hong Kong, follow the story easily.

The race, which is the key part, showcases Lee’s strong storytelling abilities. Although the race is challenging, it is basically a group of people running days and nights. That could easily be boring on the screen,so the director highlights the human-interest aspect with a character-driven approach. The first half of the race centres on the most famous runners as they take the lead. The focus then switches to a dark horse, which gives a dramatic twist. When the finishers have completed, the lesser-known, slower runners are still fighting. The last section sheds light on them, applauding their persistence and giving equal credit to all those braving the race.

The combination of chronological and character-driven structure makes the documentary gripping. As the race continues, the contestants are pushed closer to their physical and mental limits. On the verge of collapse, they can only be fuelled by their will. The human-centred storytelling shifts the competition from being between the 18 contestants to within each one of them. By showing the contestants’ preparation and daily life, it explains their decision-making and behaviour during the race. For instance, one runner is an engineer. The engineering mindset allows him to calculate the optimal speed and heartbeat at each stage, but his extreme rationality becomes overwhelming. When his plan falls apart due to illness, he has an emotional breakdown.  Understanding each runner’s story and mindset allows the audience to deeply understand their strength and vulnerability. 

Unlike most sports competitions, the race involves no prize or national pride. It is purely a challenge of the contestants’ physical and mental limits. Participants must keep one question in mind, Blumberg stresses: “Why do I do it, or even push myself to death?”

When we are often forced to compete with each other in schools, the workplace, and on social media, these self-challengers remind us to focus on our own paths and pace. Just like the Four Trails Ultra Challenge, there is no winner or loser. We just have to finish it, and it is fine even if we cannot ‘survive’. Just try again next time. 

This life lesson is universal, but the film is highly local. Its outstanding cinematography captures the magnificent natural beauty of Hong Kong, known by many just as a concrete jungle filled with skyscrapers. After being hit hard by the pandemic and socio-political turmoil in 2021, this documentary, featuring the pure passion of a group of runners, is a heart-warming boost to the city.

The Verdict

With effective structuring and storytelling, Four Trails authentically documents the power of passion and persistence. It is not about putting award-winning athletes under the spotlight, but highlighting those who humbly yet firmly follow their trails.