Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon: at 39 years young, record holder Gi has eyes on Asian Games prize
- Gi Ka-man will run in the city’s prestigious event next month for the first time in 13 years
- The part-time taxi driver and coach set a new mark at the Valencia Marathon in December 2021
The 39-year-old, who set a local record time of two hours, 19 minutes and 53 seconds at the Valencia Marathon in Spain little more than a year ago, is ranked No 1 in Hong Kong for the 26.1 mile event.
His achievement in Spain came a month after he finished the 2021 half-marathon in Hong Kong hand in hand with rival Chan Ka-ho.
“That half-marathon was a little dramatic,” Gi said. “Both of us were leading a bit after the Western Harbour Crossing, and neither of us knew if we would be in the same race in the future.”
Having already completed 15 full marathons around the world, Gi, who broke Wong Wan-chun’s previous record by one minute and five seconds, decided the time had come to race his second at home since 2010.
In that race, cramps hit with less than five miles to go and he finally crossed the finish line in Victoria Park in a time of 2hr 41 mins.