Wong Wan-chun reclaims Hong Kong marathon record in Hamburg, but says he expects it to be broken again soon
- Wong finishes Hamburg Marathon in 2:19:16 knocking 37 seconds off previous best, set by Gi Ka-man in May 2021
- “Someone will claim the fastest time again soon enough, records are meant to be broken anyways,” Wong says
Hong Kong’s Wong Wan-chun has slashed 37 seconds off the city’s marathon record, but said he expected the time to be lowered again soon.
On the same day that Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum ran the second official fastest time over the distance in London, Wong was finishing the Hamburg Marathon in 2 hours, 19 minutes and 16 seconds.
The 27-year-old, who finished 26th overall, outpaced Gi Ka-man’s time of 2:19:53, set at the Valencia Marathon in May 2021.
Wong averaged about 3 minutes and 10 seconds for each of his first 15 kilometres in Hamburg, and had covered half the 26.2 mile distance in 1:06:03.
But his pace dropped off in the remaining half and he admitted he felt as though he had been “exceeding his limits”.
Following his performance, Wong, who is now moving onto Berlin for a training camp, downplayed the importance of the new record on social media.