Around 74,000 runners took part in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon on Sunday morning, as the mega sporting event returned to pre-pandemic scale.

Many of the participants, including home-grown movie star Chow Yun-fat who took part in the half marathon, hailed the beautiful weather and breathtaking scenery along the way.

"Today is sunny and it is very comfortable. I'm happy to see a lot of senior citizens running with me. I encourage Hongkongers to do more exercise," Chow said, adding that he’s considering joining the full marathon next year.

Another half marathon participant, Rory, told RTHK that running in Hong Kong is a unique experience.

"It's lovely to run around in Hong Kong and see the skyline and cross the bridges. It's a nice run. It's kind of unusual to run in a city like that to [run] in between the skyscrapers,” he said.

Jessica, who participated in the 10km event, said she’s already thinking ahead to next year.

"It's great, especially the sunrise is so beautiful. So we are thinking to prepare more carefully for the next year and we will join 21km,” she said.

Chief Executive John Lee officiated the start of the full marathon event in Tsim Sha Tsui at 6am. He later wrote on his social media page that the atmosphere was amazing and that he was very happy to see the level of vitality and energy in the runners.

Kenya's Anderson Seroi claimed the men's full marathon title in 2:12:50, while Medina Armino from Ethiopia became the first woman to cross the finish line in 2:28:47.

The chairman of the Hong Kong, China Association of Athletics Affiliates, Kwan Kee, said the number of full marathon runners eligible for the HK$10,000 award doubled from last year.

He noted that 446 people were able to complete the full course within a specified timeframe – under three hours for male runners, and 3.5 hours for female participants.
_____________________________
Last updated: 2024-01-21 HKT 13:42