Hong Kong Marathon: boost for city as showpiece athletics event gets go-ahead marking return of elite sport
- The annual race returns on Sunday, October 24 with a slimmed-down field of 18,500 participants across the three categories
- The last time the event was held, in 2019, 74,000 runners took part
More than half of the runner quota for the three contests – marathon, half-marathon and 10-kilometre – have already been reserved for runners who successfully enrolled in last year’s cancelled race.
The annual blue-riband event will be the city’s first large-scale public participation sporting event since the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Marathon organiser, the Hong Kong Association of Athletics Affiliates (HKAAA), revealed last Thursday that it was hopeful negotiations at an emergency meeting with government officials had made sufficient progress to stage the race, but could still not confirm the event on.
“Since the cancellation of last year’s Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, the organiser has been closely monitoring the pandemic progress hoping to resume the race at the best time,” said Kwan Kee, chairman of Hong Kong Association of Athletics Affiliates.
“Our utmost priorities are always the safety of the public ... After continuous discussions with relevant government departments, we are aware of the anti-pandemic guidelines including the pre-race Covid-19 test.
The HKAAA stressed the need for a green light by early August claiming there was insufficient time to prepare for the event if they were forced to wait longer for approval.
On why it took so long for the authorities to give the go-ahead, a government insider, who was familiar with the matter, said the police force expressed hesitation about exempting the event from the four-person maximum limit on public gatherings, despite the Home Affairs Bureau greenlighting the event a long time ago.
“The police force had extra concerns for street events. The consideration was different when compared with previous events held in fixed venues in which Covid-19-related restrictions could be imposed relatively easier,” the source said.
But it added that the force also understood that the policy bureau had been under huge pressure from sports associations and charities who were planning similar events.
Earlier this week, Commissioner of Sports Yeung Tak-keung appeared to dampen expectations around the Marathon when he told a radio show that the field would likely be reduced to just 10,000 fully vaccinated runners.
“If the marathon is held successfully, the route will be changed and the number of participants is expected to be limited to 10,000, with the requirements of completing two doses of vaccines,” Yeung said.
The start area for the marathon will be located on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, and the race will finish at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay. There is a total prize fund of US$73,000 on offer.
Registrations for the public ballot to enter the race open at 10am on September 2. Organisers said that, due to the scaling-down of this year’s edition, unsuccessful applicants can again choose to reserve a spot in the 2022 race.
Additional reporting by Natalie Wong