Hong Kong Marathon organisers delay 2022 race to November as city continues Covid-19 curbs

Organisers scratch February date, with concerns over Covid-19 pandemic and ability to attract top overseas talent forcing a rethink

Hong Kong Association of Athletics Affiliates hope more runners can take part than 2021 event – ‘we can only keep our fingers crossed’

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Runners pass through the Connaught Road West flyover at the 2021 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. Photo: May Tse

Published: 8:31pm, 1 Dec 2021Updated: 8:51pm, 1 Dec 2021

The 2022 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has been pushed back from February to November, in a move aimed at giving local runners more time to train – and the race a better chance of attracting overseas competitors.

Organisers had planned to hold next year’s event in February, but concerns over the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, with the city still gripped by restrictions, and the ability to attract top overseas talent forced a rethink.

The new date was posted on the race’s official website on Wednesday.

The 2021 edition had been held on October 24 with an entry quota of just 18,500 runners – less than a quarter of the previous event in 2019, and none of whom were invited from overseas.

The 2022 Hong Kong Marathon’s new date was announced on the race’s official website. Photo: Handout

“The runners are always on top of our concerns and the new date can give them more time for training,” Kwan Kee, Hong Kong Association of Athletics Affiliates (HKAAA) chairman, said.

“Of course we also want to bring back overseas runners for our flagship event but it seems to not be realistic if we are going to have the event in early 2022 as the pandemic situation is still very unstable.”