CHAN-ROPER, Man Yee

I ran my first cross-country race when I was a 5th grader (9 years old), taking a number of an absent runner from my older sister's high school team. I finished 7th, awarded a paperweight. I was very proud of myself to race against runners who were at least two years older than me, and I realized that I was gifted with long-distance running.

For the 15+ years of representing HK, I had many memorable moments. Perhaps representing HK first at the young age of 14 was noteworthy. Setting the first national record at 16 and earning the title of Distance Queen were significant. Being sponsored by Nike, Watson's Water, Oakley, etc. was notable. Getting a full-ride scholarship to Brigham Young University for higher education and training was life-changing. Qualifying to represent in the Olympics in both 2000 and 2004 was monumental. I treasured many other special moments in my running career. I would have done it all over again in repeat.

Sadly, my legs reached their lifetime mileage in 2007 after breaking a bone each year in the past 4 years, and I hung my shoes up from competitive running. For the extra time I didn't spend on running after my retirement, I pursued a master degree in Exercise Physiology, started coaching high school teams, started my own craft business, and birthed 3 children. Unfortunately, none of these busy works filled the hole in me from missing running.

In 2014, I started doing triathlons. I was in even better shape than when I was a runner. I won almost every race and qualified for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Austria. But then, another injury and surgery took me out of running completely in 2018.

Currently, I live in the USA, passing on my running knowledge to the new generation through private coaching. I miss being a racer, so I started racing on a road bike in 2021. I am alive as a competitor again. My cycling career is yet to come as of now.