Marathon effort to look good pays off for female winner
It takes Winnie Nyansikera almost three hours to braid her hair into corn-rows - just about the time it took her to win the women's marathon.
The diminutive Nyansikera, sporting 26 neat and tiny corn-rows, turned heads as she sped to glory in two hours 41 minutes and 23 seconds.
'It takes me nearly three hours to do my corn-rows,' she grinned. 'I did it in a salon back home in Kenya. It's nice isn't it? It will last for two weeks at least.'
The feeling of fulfilment and gratification will last longer for the 26-year-old as this is the first marathon victory of her fledgling career - remarkable considering the short time she has been running the distance.
'I have only been running the marathon for a year. I came here with the goal of trying to improve my personal best time, which is 2:36. I'm thrilled to have won this race. I didn't expect this,' she said.
The Kenyan held off the challenge from the rest of the field with an easy gait, which allowed her to build a lead. In second place, Thai Sunisa Saylomyen was more than six minutes behind, in 2:47:30, while China's Zheng Wenrong was third in 2:49:22.
Hong Kong's best finisher was Fan Sui-ping, who came ninth in 2:57:24. Another local girl, Wong Siu-ping, was 10th in 2:58:13.
'It wasn't easy out there,' Nyansikera said. 'This is my first time in Hong Kong and I found the conditions not so comfortable. I struggled as I have never run a hilly course like this.'
She was echoing the views of the majority. All the overseas runners in the showpiece men's and women's marathons said the course was among the most difficult they had faced.
Russia's Leonid Shvetsov believed that if Hong Kong had a flatter course, timings would improve.
'You could lop off at least three to four minutes if the course was flat. I'm not complaining, but this is not easy, especially with the weather conditions,' Shvetsov said.
