A SHORTER course has attracted most of Hongkong's leading distance runners to this morning's annual Olympic Day Run at 9 am.
The 6.4-kilometre event around the banks of the Shing Mun River starts and finishes at the Sha Tin Sports Ground athletics track.
Previously the race was run over 10 km and was considered by many athletes to be too long in the summer heat.
With the shorter course today's run, organised by the Hongkong Amateur Sports Federation & Olympic Committee (ASF & OC) in conjunction with the Hongkong Amateur Athletic Association (HKAAA) at Sha Tin, has attracted a capacity field of 1,000 starters.
Watson's Elite Programme's top distance runner Ng Fai-yeung, currently Hongkong's leading marathon runner, and hard running Kwok Hon-kwai are expected to dominate the men's race with Road Runners' Lee Kar-lun.
But promising junior Simon Parsons of Watson's AC could cause problems for the favourites .
