Shoulder to shoulder

At the sound of the starter's pistol, local and international runners began the arduous 42 km Hong Kong Marathon on February 17. Some would win, most would finish, and its long-time sponsor would declare it an improved event meeting international standards.

Before no more than a local long-distance run, it has evolved into multinational competition, attracting professional athletes from Kenya, South Korea, Japan and other countries across the globe.

Including a men's and women's 10 km race, a half-marathon and the full marathon, the event's title sponsor for the 12th consecutive year was Standard Chartered Bank.

Other corporations that signed on as sponsors include Watsons Water, New Balance Athletic Shoes (Hong Kong) Ltd and Citizen Watches (HK) Ltd.

Benjamin Hung Pi-cheng, CEO and executive director of Standard Chartered Hong Kong, says the bank continues to sponsor the competition due to growing awareness of and participation in the race.

Apart from prize money of $70,000 for winners of the full marathon, Standard Chartered continued its tradition of giving prizes to the top-three finishers in each race who are permanent Hong Kong residents, with a total of HK$144,000 awarded to them this year. As well, every local runner who finished the full marathon in under three hours for men and three and a half hours for women received HK$1,000.

Runners in last year's event said the route for all three races, West Kowloon Highway, was too crowded and made accidents more likely, so a new route and other improvements were introduced this year.

Organizers changed the course for the most-popular 10 km race this year to follow Island Eastern Corridor.

The change not only segregated 10 km runners from other racers, it allowed them to take in the view of Victoria Harbor.

The finish line for all three races was also moved from Bauhinia Square at Wanchai to the larger Victoria Park at Causeway Bay to accommodate more spectators.

Efforts by the organizer and sponsors paid off as a record-breaking 42,500 runners participated in this year's race. The youngest was 3 years old and the oldest more than 80.

Almost 98 percent of runners finished their races, a better result than in 2006 and 2007. More than 2,000 runners fell sick or were injured, but the number 60 percent fewer than last year.

"Comments from the 10 km runners show how successful the event has been," Hung says.

"They all say the route is much better. The course is less crowded with more air and open space. And runners liked the great atmosphere as more spectators cheered for them at the finish line in Victoria Park."

He adds they are considering moving the entire race to Hong Kong Island next year.

William Ko Wai-lum, chairman of the organizing committee, says he was most happy with this year's event.

"There's more space for logistic arrangements at the finish line. Also there's not a bottleneck like previous years, when 10 km and marathon runners easily bumped into each other in the Western Harbor Tunnel," he says.

Runners agreed that this year's race was better, with more cheering crowds along the better-designed route. Cool, dry weather also helped their performances, they said.

Local runner Chan Ka-ho, winner of the men's half-marathon with a personal best time, says the finish in Victoria Park gives the runners an experience similar to running in cities overseas.

"When we were running on the streets in Causeway Bay, it was like running in overseas races where lots of people cheer for us," he recalls.

Canto-pop singer Miriam Yeung Chin-wah was among the 10 km runners. "The new course is amazing. It was so beautiful," she says.

A 10 km runner surnamed Hui also liked the route as the road is flat along the Island Eastern Corridor. Another 10km runner surnamed Tang says she ran faster than last year because of the improved course.

A half-marathon runner surnamed Mok says a breeze refreshed him while running along the West Kowloon Highway.

(China Daily 03/03/2008 page8)