Hong Kong marathon organizers are doubling down on prize money and announced the addition of another 42-kilometer to next February's event.

Total prize monies for Standard Chartered marathon winners have increased from HK$624,000 to HK$1.17 million for the 2011 races. The registration quota has been set at 65,000, up 5,000 from the 2010 Marathon.

Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association (HKAAA) President Alex Moh hopes the new measures will continue to draw more elite international runners.

"Over the past 14 years, the Marathon has become increasingly popular and participation levels have reached record highs," Moh said.

To accommodate the year-on-year rise in the number of participants, organizers will also introduce a second marathon and a third half-marathon event, bringing the number of races to 10, including five 10-kilometer races.

Routes will remain unchanged from last year's layout, which will take runners from Tsim Sha Tsui to Tsing Yi via Stonecutters Bridge before looping back and returning to Causeway Bay's Victoria Park through the Western Harbor Tunnel.

Half-marathon racers will omit portions of the New Territories routes, while 10 kilometer runners will be once again plying the pavement of the Island East Corridor.

HKAAA chairman William Ko said this year's race lay out was unchanged because finding an alternative 42-kilometer course that ended on Hong Kong Island was very difficult.

The route, introduced for the last marathon, was criticized since it involved steep inclines such as the ascent onto Stonecutters Bridge and the climb out of the Western Harbor Tunnel.

"The first half of the marathon is nearly all uphill while the second half is mostly downhill. This is a unique characteristic of the Hong Kong Marathon and of the city," he said.

With some 31 hospitalizations from the last event, Ko said the route will have more than 500 auxiliary medical personnel on stand by along the route. Ten ambulances will be distributed along the route with 29 aid stations manned by qualified doctors and nurses.

Aside from time prizes of HK$1,000 for men and women who finish marathons in less than three hours and 3.5 hours respectively, a new special time bonus of HK$195,000 will be given for men and women who finish under two hours 13 minutes and two hours 31 minutes respectively.

Registration for the events opened Thursday. Proceeds from the event will go to two groups. One is the Hong Kong Anti-cancer Society's global initiative "Seeing is Believing," aimed at preventing avoidable blindness. The other is the Hong Kong Paralympics Committee and Sports Association for the Physically Disabled.

China Daily

(HK Edition 10/01/2010 page1)