30,000 runners hit marathon site in just 5 minutes

Some 30,000 people tried to register online for Hong Kong's flagship marathon in five frenetic minutes last month, leaving its website overwhelmed, organisers said yesterday.

Hundreds of would-be runners were left disappointed as a result, but the organisers of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon insist the application system had not broken down, and that efforts were made to streamline traffic on the site.

Many runners have complained about application difficulties, claiming the site crashed intermittently as soon as registration began at 7am for the February races, particularly for the 10-kilometre run. Some said they failed to sign up despite hours of trying.

Committee chairman William Ko Wai-lam noted that they had staggered the registration for the various races on different dates: the full marathon on October 15, half-marathon on October 22, 10-kilometre race on October 29 and wheelchair events on November 5.

"Such an arrangement has helped us to prevent massive sign-ups," Ko said. "But the number was still overwhelming; our website faced more than 30,000 hits [for the 10-kilometre race] at its peak, from 7.10am to 7.15am."

All the slots were snapped up within three to four hours on a first-come, first-served basis.