Hong Kong Marathon

The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon is an annual race held in February in Hong Kong. In addition to the main marathon, there is a 10 km run and a half marathon.

History

The race started in 1997 with 1,000 runners; today over 40,000 take part each year.

1997

In 1997 Standard Chartered decided to sponsor the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Marathon, held by the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association, which had been previously suspended for three years due to lack of funds. The route was between Sheung Shui and Shenzhen.Exhibition on marathon in Victoria Park, February 2008, by the organizer of the Marathon]

1998

The Marathon started at Tsing Ma Bridge and ended at the newly-finished Hong Kong International Airport on Chek Lap Kok, with 6,000 participants.

1999

The race was moved to urban areas for the first time, starting in Central, ending at Sham Shui Po Sports Ground, with 7,000 participants.

2000

The route started from Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui, and ended at the Sham Shui Po Sports Ground. The half-marathon was added, alongside with the already-existing full marathon and 10km race.

2001

In 2001 the number of participants exceeded 10,000. The race track started from Nathan Road, then out to West Kowloon, onto West Kowloon Highway, followed by Cheung Tsing Tunnel, Tsing Ma Bridge, Ting Kau Bridge, then going all the way back into Western Harbour Crossing, ending at Golden Bauhina Plaza in Wan Chai North.

2002

2003

2004

2005

In 2005 Standard Chartered started sponsoring the newly-created Greatest Race on Earth. Hong Kong was included in the four constituent races.

2006

In 2006 the Marathon was held on February 12, with a prize fund of US$100,000. The entry fee was US$37 for foreign runners who paid on time. Almost 40,000 joined the Marathon. Two fainted during the race, with their lives severed. One of them died at about 3am on February 14. The champion was from Kenya with a time of 2:14:18.

2007

In 2007, the Hong Kong Marathon took place on Sunday, March 4. The organizer, learning from experiences in the previous year, arranged first-aid service for the participants. A record-breaking number of 6249 participants, or 16.7% of the total participants got injured. 35 of them had to be sent to hospitals, amongst which a young runner had his life severed due to the hot weather. [cite news|url=http://hk.news.yahoo.com/070304/12/22ybm.html|title=迫爆馬拉松 青年中暑危殆 6249人不適|publisher=明報|date=2007-03-04]

2008

In 2008 the Marathon was held on February 17, participated by some 42,000 runners, of which over 30,000 joined the 10km event. (Originally 49,000 had signed up but 7,000 of them did not turn up.)

10km

The 10km race took place at Island Eastern Corridor instead of Western Harbour Crossing like previous years. The race track started from City Garden in North Point, and ran eastwards until Shau Kei Wan, where it made a U-turn, back along westbound IEC and ended at Victoria Park, near the western terminus of the IEC. Due to the proximity of Island Eastern Corridor from residental blocks such as those at City Garden, and also the early starting time of the races (05:10 to 06:40), residents complained about noises as loud as 60dB. The organizer, however, stated that it hopes to use IEC again for the 2009 Marathon, since it successfully alleviated the problem of large numbers of runners rushing into Western Harbour Crossing, which made breathing difficult within the tunnel. The new route was welcomed by the participants, saying that it was better than the old one.cite web|url=http://www.asiatraveltips.com/news07/3010-HongKongMarathon.shtml|title=New Route for 2008 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon|publisher=ASIATravelTips.com] [cite news|title=四萬人跑馬拉松破紀錄|publisher=Sing Tao Daily|date=2008-02-18] cite news|title=馬拉松噪音超標居民投訴|publisher=Ming Pao|date=2008-02-18]

Full and half marathon

The full and half marathon's race tracks remained generally the same, starting from Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, then going out to West Kowloon using Austin Road, followed by West Kowloon Highway and Tsing Kwai Highway, where half-marathoners turn back. Full-marathoners continue through Cheung Ching Tunnel, then do a return trip each on Tsing Ma Bridge and Ting Kau Bridge. Competitors then ran back all the way to West Kowloon, joining half-marathoners again at Kwai Chung, and into Western Harbour Crossing. The finishing point, however, was changed to Victoria Park instead of the Golden Bauhina Plaza in Wan Chai North. This arrangement was welcomed by elite athletes, citing that it would improve their performance. [cite news|title=渣馬新賽道跑手畀滿分 跑入鬧市長直路助創佳績|publisher=Ming Pao|date=2007-02-28]

References

External links

* [http://www.hkmarathon.com/ Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon ]
* [http://www.marathon.hk/ Hong Kong's Marathon Guide] - information on this and other running competitions in Hong Kong
* [http://www.findamarathon.com/china/hongkongmarathon.html Findamarathon.com - Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon ]