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Hong Kong Marathon: dream debut for men’s overall winner Wong Kai-lok as local star Christy Yiu Kit-ching claims women’s gold
- The 26-year-old middle-distance specialist returns from serious knee injury to beat heavy favourites Shirotake and Ngai
- Women’s star Yiu reasserts local scene domination with junior Wong Cheuk-ning second and Ireland’s Jennings third
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No coach, returning from a two-year injury, and running his first-ever marathon, it was certainly a memorable Sunday morning for Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon men’s overall winner Wong Kai-lok.
The 26-year-old short-to-middle-distance specialist shocked heavy local favourite Ngai Kang and perennial contender Masashi Shirotake of Japan with a time of two hours, 31 minutes and 10 seconds, pipping second-place Shirotake in the dying strides at a rapturous Victoria Park finish line.
Wong, who founded Traiblazer Running, said he would spend the reduced US$15,000 prize money on the business and his weekly medical treatment such as MRI scans.
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“This is my first marathon and seeing as it would be my PB (personal best), I wanted to get the best time I could,” said Wong, whose girlfriend, national athlete Virginia Lo Ying-chiu, won the women’s 10k event.
“Today was more difficult than any of my previous races. These few months I was still doing middle-distance training, so my approach was to just keep going regardless of competitors or time.
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