It is often around 1am when Petronella Harlin closes the doors of Embla, the Nordic fine dining restaurant in Hong Kong’s Sheung Wan neighbourhood that she runs with her husband, chef Jim Löfdahl. Hours later, while her family and most of Hong Kong are still asleep, she laces up her shoes and disappears onto the trails near her home on Lantau Island.

As she approaches her 40th birthday this September, the Swede describes herself as a woman in the midst of a “midlife awakening”, balancing gruelling endurance races, a demanding front-of-house role in hospitality and raising three children under 10.

She works 40 to 60 hours every week at the restaurant named after their eldest daughter.

“Working in high-end hospitality is an endurance sport in itself. You’re on your feet in a high-pressure, fast-paced environment late into the night,” says Harlin, who has called Hong Kong home for the past decade.

She credits her sense of discipline to growing up on a dairy farm in northern Sweden, from the same region as trail running legend Emelie Forsberg.

“On a farm, there are no snow days, no sick days. The animals and the land don’t care if it’s minus 20 degrees.”

Running has long been a part of her life