Reigning Hong Kong Marathon champion Mike Kiprotich Mutai targeting course record
Kenyan has his eyes on bonus prize after winning life-changing amount of money in last year’s race
Last year’s Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon was literally life-changing for Kenyan Mike Kiprotich Mutai, and the 2016 winner warned his rivals he’s targeting the course record on Sunday.
The 29-year-old from Eldoret, the town in Kenya that is synonymous with long-distance running, took home US$65,000 (HK$504,000) for his win last year, a huge sum in a place where the average monthly wage is less than the equivalent of HK$5,000.
And Mutai said he’s made Hong Kong the sole focus of his training year, with his eye not just on the US$65,000 winner’s prize but also the US$10,000 (HK$77,000) bonus for a time faster than two hours 10 minutes.
Mutai had previously won a marathon in Chongqing, but last year’s victory was by far his biggest prize and has helped transform the fortunes of his family and their farm.
“I’m targeting below 2:10:00,” said the softly-spoken runner as organisers unveiled an elite特field of more than 20 overseas runners, most from the long-distance strongholds of Kenya and Ethiopia.
