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Blind Lau sees dream come true with sub-four hour time

Blind runner Lau Chung-wai overcame a number of hurdles to finish inside his target time of four hours when dipping across the finish line in 3:59:22.

Lau tackled the race with sighted runner Kjeld Dissing, who in the late 1990s was one of Hong Kong's elite runners. The pair were given a place in the elite starting zone after Standard Chartered boss Peter Sullivan stepped in to help them get a fast start.

Lau, a 44-year-old computer expert with the Customs and Excise Department is totally blind after losing his sight at the age of 18 because of glaucoma. He took up distance running four years ago and entered last year's Standard Chartered event, but failed to complete the race within the five-hour cut-off time and was taken to the finish on a double-decker bus.

Determined to complete a full marathon, Lau entered last year?s London Marathon, where he finished in 4:43.

'I picked up an injury a couple of days before Lunar New Year, and have been having physiotherapy three times a week since,' said Lau. 'I was in pain during the first half of the race today, but the pain wore off once we had reached the halfway point.'

Lau crashed to the ground after colliding with a traffic cone while going over the Tsing Ma Bridge, but got up, dusted himself down and kept on going. Dissing, a 46-year-old air traffic controller, said: 'I was trying to steer us clear of some slower runners but misjudged it a bit, and CW clipped a traffic cone. At that point we were overtaking many of the runners who had overtaken us at the start, so we were making good progress.'

Sullivan commended the pair for their performance and said he was pleased to be able to help them achieve their goal. 'I'm very pleased it all worked out well and that CW and Kjeld were able to beat the four-hour mark,' he said.

'The difference between hitting and missing their target time all came down to their position at the start, so I'm very happy to have been able to facilitate them with a place in the elite starting zone.'

Lau said that after knocking 44 minutes off his personal best time he might tackle next year's China Coast Marathon. 'I'll make up my mind when I've had time to analyse today's race,' he said.

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