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Hong Kong Marathon 2015
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Winner Sam Kong (centre), second-placed Fan Ka-king (left ) and Ho Lok-man with their trophies.Photo: Nora Tam

Persistence finally pays off for patient Sam Kong in women's 10km

For Sam Kong Lai-ming, it's more like "10th time's a charm".

After running the Standard Chartered Marathon "more than 10 times", she was relieved to run a personal best and finally claim victory in the women's 10km in 38 minutes and 33 seconds.

I think it's not my best performance yet and there's still room to improve
Sam Kong Lai-ming

With defending champion Christy Yiu Kit-ching running the marathon distance, the winner's spot in the women's 10km field was ripe for the taking. And Kong, 29, was adamant she was not going to miss the opportunity.

"I expected I could be the champion of the field today," admitted Kong, a physical education teacher. She started in front and kept it that way all to the finish, almost a minute ahead of her competition. "I was running by myself today - it felt good."

She's been on a winning streak in recent months, taking first place in the Mizuno Hong Kong Half-Marathon Championships last month and bagging two important podium places in November - first in the Unicef 10km race, followed a week later as the first local runner home behind two Kenyans in the Mizuno Shek Mun 10K Race.

"I think it's not my best performance yet and there's still room to improve," she said. Kong hopes for a time "around 36 minutes" next year, which would pit her against Yiu's 2014 mark.

With last year's runner-up Fan Ka-king again second in 39:20 and Ho Lok-man third in 39:42, it was an all-local podium.

Although Fan was six seconds slower than her 2014 time, she was delighted with her result in the face of injury.

"I have been suffering from an Achilles injury, so actually it was an unexpected result," said the 23-year-old City University student. "I did my best today considering everything," she said.

Meanwhile, it was a bitter-sweet result for fourth-placed finisher Charlotte Cutler.

Cutler, 42, was the 2007 winner and has had multiple second-place finishes on the course. "I've run 37 minutes on this course and I was really hoping to run sub-40 today so I'm a bit gutted. But I'm really pleased the race was run in 38, especially without Yiu running," she said.

"I'd rather come lower down with young girls running a good time that finish higher up with a slower time that's not competitive. It's really good to see the young local runners racing so well."

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Persistence finally pays off as Kong ends long wait
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