Quit dragging your feet - give iconic event more soul

In my native Canada, there are only 49 cities with a population of more than 70,000 people, while Australia has a grand total of 25. Now imagine the entire population of Medicine Hat, Alberta, or Bundaberg, Queensland, running though the streets of those cities all at once and you get an idea of the absolute mass of humanity that grips Hong Kong. They all had good intentions, 70,000 of them, even though only 59,175 made it to the starting line for the 16th running of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon.

And I know that living in one of the densest places in the world can numb you slightly when it comes to massive crowds. But no matter how you shake it, that many people participating in one race is still pretty darn impressive. Turns out it is pretty darn difficult as well because organisers have now officially declared they have reached bursting point and an increase in entrants next year will be impossible unless the government allows some roads on the route to stay closed longer.

Well they could always run it in Canada or Australia, lots of room there. But barring an unlikely change in venue, there are serious issues facing race organisers going forward and not the least of those is counting on a government that often moves in glacial increments and a byzantine manner.

It's kind of nice that the government is worried about inconveniencing all the non-runners during marathon day by closing a minimal amount of streets for short periods of times.

But even though I don't run in the race, I would much rather see a few more roads closed down for a marquee event like this than having to listen to the constant pounding of jackhammers all week while hurdling around one construction site after another in some of the busiest areas of town. To me, that constitutes an inconvenience.

'I don't think 70,000 people running is too many,' said Nelson Li, a Hong Kong native who has run in six of these and just completed the 10k run. Li is a member of a 200-strong running group called Long Run Hong Kong that often meets three times a week and for him the more the merrier. 'It's good to get more people in Hong Kong involved and thinking about running and fitness. Of the people out today, maybe only 10,000 are really serious runners.'

There were 37,000 entered in the 10km, 20,000 in the half marathon and 13,000 in the full marathon. A turnout of about 85 per cent is normal, say the organisers.