Hong Kong Marathon 2023: day of celebration for happy couple as they both claim half-marathon titles
- Eric Wong and Virginia Lo race same distance at the city’s flagship event for the first time
- Both now have their eyes on greater success at marathons in Japan and Korea
Eric Wong Kai-lok and Virginia Lo Ying-chiu have thousands of reasons to celebrate on Valentine’s Day, after the couple won their respective races at the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon on Sunday.
The pair, who have been together for three years, said it was the first time they had raced the half-marathon at the same time at the city’s flagship athletics event.
In the absence of any overseas competitors, Wong was the surprise winner of the marathon in 2021, but opted for the shorter distance this time around as part of a training plan geared towards a fast time at the Tokyo Marathon in three weeks.
The 27-year-old crossed the finish line first in one hour, nine minutes and 50 seconds, with Lo coming home in 1:20:23. The pair beat the defending champions in both races.
“It’s extra special that we can start the race together, it’s an encouragement for both of us,” said Wong, as he waited for his partner at the finish line.
Wong, who ran his quickest half-marathon time of 1:07:41 set in Taipei last December, said he had considered retiring because the 90 per cent humidity had made it “so difficult to breathe”.
“But thinking about Virginia and my target set in this race, I hung in there and was so happy to finish first,” Wong added.
His decision to race the shorter distance on Sunday was taken with an eye on a bigger target in Japan, where he wants to beat Gi Ka-man’s Hong Kong record of 2:19:53, despite having a personal best of 2:31:10.
“I hope to secure a place in the Asian Games this summer, so I chose a flatter Tokyo Marathon to take,” Wong said. “Even though my marathon personal best is around 12 minutes slower than the city record, I’m confident of breaking it in Tokyo.”
Defending half-marathon champion Chan Ka-ho, meanwhile, was never a threat to Wong, finishing in 1:14:20. Chan Wai-chung and Wong Kwun-hang finished second and third overall with times of 1:10:25 and 1:11:00.
In the women’s field, Lo was up against defending champion and full-time teacher Crystal Vut Tze-ying, who finished second in 1:21:35. Tsang Hiu-tung came home third in 1:25:51.
Lo said Wong had helped pace her during the first half of the race, which saved some energy.
“It is true that humidity was the main factor that stopped us running personal bests today, but overall I’m happy, and it boosted my confidence to take my first marathon in Seoul [mid-March],” she said.
Lo, whose personal best in the half marathon is 1:17:26, is targeting a time of around two hours and 40 minutes in Korea, and said the couple had trained hard for the race.
“We will enjoy ourselves today and get back to our training tomorrow,” she said.
Hong Kong’s triathletes dominated both the men’s and women’s races in the 10k, which returned to the Island Eastern Corridor, with defending champion Wong Tsz-to finishing first in the men’s in 32:09, and Hilda Choi Yan-yin taking the women’s race in 37:31.
“We have an Asia Triathlon Cup later this month in Hong Kong, today is not my best form, but I’m so happy to be able to defend my title, it is no easy job to make it back to back,” Wong said.
“I know that in the last few editions, triathletes dominated the 10k, I hope we can continue this tradition.”
Ip Nga-kit and Yip Tak-long were second and third in 32:28 and 32:34, respectively.
Choi, champion in 2018 and 2019, and runner-up in 2021, was overjoyed to reclaim the trophy.
“This is a warm-up race for the Asia Cup, a good race to test my physical side after more than a month of training,” she said. “And the time is close to my personal best of 37:15, which is very encouraging for me.”
Wan Sze-wai and Pauline Courret finished 37.33 and 38.45 after Choi in the women’s 10k race, respectively.
