Local runner ‘nervous, fearful’ about competing blindfolded in Hong Kong Marathon

One year after he pledged to run the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon blindfolded, a “nervous and fearful” Marco Wong Sui-kam is set for his very own race in the dark on Sunday. Wong has covered the 26.2-mile Hong Kong course in each of the past 20 years. Shortly before last year’s race, where he ducked under three hours for the second time, Hongkonger Wong was introduced to Kim Mok Kim-wing, who in 2010 founded the Fearless Dragon Running Team for blind runners and deaf guides. Kim suddenly lost the sight in his right eye at six. Aged 13, he suffered a retinal detachment in his left eye after bumping into a classmate. “From then on, it was as if I stumbled into a dark abyss,” Kim has said. When Kim laid down the blindfold challenge, Wong accepted without hesitation. “I am truly inspired by him, he faces a lot of difficulties but he doesn’t treat them that way,” said Wong, 44, a father of three and owner of AlphaMind education centre in Causeway Bay. “He has overcome so much, and brought people together. “Before the marathon last year, he told me to focus on doing sub-3 hours, then to do this in 2026. I promised him I would.” Wong, who began preparing last July, will have two guides. Jason Cheng Chi-kin, a deaf runner, will stay a few paces ahead of Wong, clearing space and managing logistics, such as collecting water and arranging energy gels. Lukas Wambua Muteti, the 2014 Bangkok Marathon champion, will be silently tethered to Wong, using hand movements and touch to issue instructions. Kenyan Muteti, 40, who last year guided Lee Chun-fai to a Hong Kong record two hours and 55 minutes for a blind marathon, is convinced Wong could manage to go below three hours, but the trio want to finish together, and lower Cheng’s 3:20 personal best. “In my first session with Lukas [last month], I felt very scared because he didn’t talk,” Wong said. “Hearing a voice gives me a sense of security. He says if you speak, you lose two or three seconds without realising.” Trepidation was also the overriding emotion when Wong first covered his eyes to run, aided by a deaf guide. “You can hear a lot of sound, it feels like it’s approaching you and that something will crash into you,” said Wong, whose longest blindfolded training runs have covered only 10km. Now, if Wong senses panic rising he leans on Kim’s advice to “not pay attention to the sounds, just trust the person next to you”. “I feel nervous, I’ve not run such a long distance blindfolded, so I’m going into the unknown,” Wong said. “I have no idea how I can overcome any difficulties that arise. But whether I feel fear or nerves is not important, life is like that. If I feel stressed, I have to do my best to overcome it.” A keen amateur footballer, who played as a defensive midfielder, Wong began running two decades ago to increase his stamina. Training grew more intense 10 years ago, after Wong tore a meniscus in his right knee, an injury that has required three operations, and was advised to stop playing football. He ran 2:59 in the 2017 Hong Kong marathon, then matched that effort last year. A runner who enjoys observing his environment, and typically uses the “me time” to “refresh and self-reflect”, Wong expels outside thoughts when he has no vision. “I have to completely focus, so it’s more tiring,” he said. “Last year, when I could see my environment, two hours passed before I knew it.” After he qualified for April’s Boston Marathon, his first overseas race, Wong will have only a few days off next week before resuming training. “Sub-3 [hours] is a must there,” he said. He will take a long break after Boston, because “if you keep running for times, you feel stressed and limit other sports you can do”. With a wife, 12- and 10-year-old daughters, a seven-year-old son, and his own business tutoring students, aged 12 to 18, in mathematics and physics, time management is problematic, too. But Wong’s motivation for his blind marathon partly stems from the desire to “show my students you can overcome challenges in life”. “There is more to education than academics, it’s how you inspire others,” Wong said. “Examinations are their challenge, but if you trust others you can overcome anything. “I also want to show [able-bodied] people how lucky they are, and that resources for runners with disabilities are limited. If possible, I’d like them to give more support to Fearless Dragon and disabled people.”

Local runner ‘nervous, fearful’ about competing blindfolded in Hong Kong Marathon

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Marco Wong will be aided by a deaf guide and Lukas Wambua Muteti, the 2014 Bangkok Marathon champion

Marco Wong will be aided by a deaf guide and Lukas Wambua Muteti, the 2014 Bangkok Marathon champion