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Danny Lee

A couple of superheroes and a US president took to the streets of Central yesterday.
But Superman, Captain America and Barack Obama were hardly noticed as they raced among the other fancy-dress entrants in this year's Central Rat Race.
Hundreds of white-collar workers swapped their weekday suits for silly outfits in aid of mental health awareness.

More than 460 employees from 60 companies turned out for the annual event, which raised HK$3.08 million for Mindset, a mental health charity.
The record amount beat last year's efforts, amounting to the highest raised since the race began in 2006.
Relay racers burst through Chater Road, Chater Garden and along the elevated walkways of Chater and Alexandra House and The Landmark, while runners headed to Exchange Square and Jardine House in later stages.
Organisers said the most competitive teams could complete the route in as little as three minutes.
But as mid-morning temperature quickly soared to 30 degrees Celsius some teams pushed, fell and jumped over each other as they came out of the starting gate.
"Two people fell and I had to jump over one person, dodging a lot of bodies," said South China Morning Post team runner Daniel Oliveira.
Despite an enthusiastic start, two of the Post team members fell, on legs five and seven.

"I was very excited and hyper but my legs were tired," said Chapmann Leung, who stumbled on the bridge at Alexandra and Chater House.
Jhonny Leung Huang, representing accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, who was dressed as a native American, said: "The race was really intense. I can't feel [anything] in my legs, the calves are really cramping already."
Wearing a costume from Japanese anime Dragonball-Z, Lam Fook-cheung, 25, of real estate agency Jones Lang LaSalle, said after the race that he was overwhelmed by the competitiveness of some of the runners.
Despite getting off to a strong start, the Post team crossed the finishing line near last.
The chief executive of event organiser Hongkong Land, Pang Yiu-kai, praised the participants for making the race the best funded with the most teams.
Race officials had earlier breathed a sigh of relief after the immediate area around Chater Road was cleared of Occupy protesters just days before the Rat Race. The event was close to being cancelled because of the blocked roads.
The route incorporates four races: the team relay Rat Race, the Big Rat Race for senior executives, the NGO Rat Race and the Junior Rat Race.
The South China Morning Post is a media partner and participant in the competition.


Rat Race runners turn into superheroes to raise more than HK$3m for charity

Runners hit the streets of Central dressed in all kinds of fancy dress. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Crazy attire was the norm for most entrants. Photo: Jonathan Wong

SCMP team member Kevin Kung finishes the last leg of the race. Photo: Jonathan Wong

News

Hong Kong

City's white-collar workers swap their suits for crazy outfits to help raise more than HK$3m


A couple of superheroes and a US president took to the streets of Central. But Superman, Captain America and Barack Obama were hardly noticed as they raced among the other fancy-dress entrants in this year's Central Rat Race.
