Organisers will have to provide better arrangements for wheelchair racers if they are to continue the event next year.
After a break of 14 years, wheelchair competition was reintroduced to the annual event with two categories - a full marathon race which was won by Mazayuki Higuchi of Japan in 1:43:14 on the same course for able runners and a 3km race mainly for local competitors.
Prawat Wahorm of Thailand and another Japanese competitor, Nobukazu Hanaoka, finished second and third respectively in the wheelchair category out of five overseas entries. In the 3km race, Hong Kong's Cheng Yan-keung needed only 15 minutes and 29 seconds to finish the course from Wan Chai Sports Ground to Victoria Park.
'This is only a trial and we will have to consider many factors before we decide to make it [the wheelchair race] a regular event in future,' Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association chairman Kwan Kee said. 'We also need to consult invited overseas runners to see if the course is too difficult and whether the support services are adequate or not.'
The disabled marathon race started between the half-marathon, which started at 5.30am, and the marathon, which started at 6.45am, to avoid clashes among different types of athletes, but Higuchi complained there was congestion approaching the finish and it was dangerous because of their wheelchairs.
Kwan said: 'We know it will be an ideal situation if we can allocate a specific lane for wheelchair runners but because of limited competition time and road space we cannot afford to do this. Anyway, we have to review the situation before coming up with a decision, but we are keen to make it happen again next year, perhaps maybe even as an official event.'