'It also gives us a nice level of exposure. We've been here for 150 years and we feel very much a part of Hong Kong. This is the heart and soul of our bank because Hong Kong is the biggest business in our group. There's a strong emotional attachment for us in Hong Kong, and sponsoring this event is our way of expressing it.'

Sullivan, 56, said the bank would look into the possibility of a redistribution of prize money for the half marathon and 10-kilometre events, both of which now draw the greatest number of runners.

'The event has grown with many more people running in the half marathon and the 10k, so we should seriously consider having prize money for those two events as well,' said Australian-born Sullivan.

'Even though our main focus is on the marathon, it's certainly something we need to consider. The popularity of the shorter events has grown so much that we probably need to provide some incentive for the runners that compete in those two events.'

The first 'StanChart' was run in 1997, a cross-border race to Shenzhen, symbolising the return of Hong Kong to the motherland. More than 1,000 people participated, but now, nine years later, the field has multiplied to nearly 31,000.

Many full marathon runners have found the West Kowloon Expressway a boring and featureless route for a 42.2km event, particularly as spectators are not allowed on to the structure. Sullivan is in favour of course that is more accommodating to the watching public.

'I would like to see a spectator-friendly route but in Hong Kong it's quite difficult to do that. Thirty thousand is the absolute upper limit for the route we have today. Next year we would expect to see an increase in numbers again, so we would have to negotiate a different route anyway.

'To the extent that we could make the course a little bit more interesting by putting it through areas where people can cheer the runners on, I think it would be terrifically helpful for the runners to be cheered on by the crowds. I can imagine nothing more soulless than running down an empty highway.

'Logically there's no reason why we couldn't find a spectator-friendly course in Hong Kong. We will have to try to negotiate that with the authorities for next year,' said Sullivan.

Problems in previous years have come about when the leading marathon runners have met a wall of walking half marathon competitors near the end of the race. Sullivan said one possible solution would be to separate the 10km from the half and the full marathon races.

'We're going to have to reconfigure the course somehow because we want to keep the numbers growing,' Sullivan said. 'If it means spinning off the 10k into a separate course, then that could be a solution. Whether it's the right one or not we need to do a little bit more work and see whether it would help, but certainly that's something that we will consider.'

No decision has yet been taken on an increase in total prize money, but Sullivan confirmed he would like to see the event raised to world-class standards.

'I think we're going to have to review the level of prize money after analysing the Greatest Race on Earth [Groe],' said Sullivan. 'A lot of money has gone into the Groe this year, and that type of prize money certainly is world standard. I think the trade-off for us is, do we make that amount of money available for the Groe or do we make it available for individuals so as to attract a higher calibre of runner? That's something we'll have to decide during the course of the year.

'Obviously, if we had Paula Radcliffe [the marathon world record-holder] or someone else well known it would give the event a huge lift and a huge amount of kudos,' Sullivan said. 'Whether we could afford Paula and a Groe I'm not sure. That's something that we would have to look at during the course of this year.'

The Groe series reaches its climax in Hong Kong. The novel event boasts a US$400,000 first prize for the four-strong team with the lowest aggregate time in marathons in Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong.

Charity will be the big winner irrespective of who crosses the finish line in first place tomorrow morning.

'A large part of our marathon work is to raise money for our Seeing is Believing charity,' Sullivan said. 'At this point we've helped restore sight to about 120,000 people.

'We also sponsor US$1,000 per kilometre to [blind runner] Henry Wanyoike. Henry and his running partner [Joseph Kibunja] have already raised over US$160,000 from our sponsorship alone, so those two guys on their own have restored sight to 5,000 people. In addition, to that we've also raised over $10 million for disabled athletes in Hong Kong over the past nine years.'

Wanyoike is the global ambassador for the Seeing is Believing restoration of sight campaign, which provides medical facilities to help restore the sight of one million visually impaired people.

Sullivan, who won 15 caps for the Australian rugby team and was captain in the 1972-73 season, had been in serious training for the 10km, but will not be able to run tomorrow after hurting his back. 'I was going to run the 10k, but I've now got to start the event,' he said. 'And now that I've hurt my back I definitely won't be running. I don't run as much as I used to simply because I haven't got the time, mainly because my job's pretty demanding, but I do enjoy it.

'I was training for the race by running five days a week, on the road and on the treadmill, so I'm a little disappointed as I was looking forward to running.'

Asked what distance he prefers, Sullivan replied: 'I usually run about 10k. I've got a personal best for 10k but it's a long-distance memory.'