Hong Kong Marathon: Kenya’s Anderson Seroi claims gold, Ethiopia’s Medina Armino takes women’s title

Seroi pushed himself to the point of being sick once he crossed the finish line and said the Hong Kong race had been “tough”.

“I feel really good, the course is tough but I enjoy running it,” he said, adding that the regular hill climbs and descents made it harder than some other races.

Still, the 30-year-old said he was already thinking about returning next year to run faster. “I ran two hours 12 this year, so next year I’ll aim for two hours 10,” he said.

With competitors racing over 10km, half-marathon and marathon distance, the day’s first winners crossed the finish line as those tackling the full 26.2 miles were just getting into their stride.

China’s Chen Yufan crossed the line in 30 minutes, 58 seconds to claim the men’s 10km title, while Hong Kong’s Candy Tsang Hiu-tung was the first woman to finish in 36:46.

Chen beat out Hong Kong pair Yu Shing-him and Leung Tak-yeung, with Yu coming home in 31:09 and Leung in 31:33.

“I came here to experience a race in Hong Kong and see what the city was like,” Chen said. “I feel I performed pretty well, the weather was nice and cool, which helped.”

Yu, a Hong Kong triathlete, said Chen had caught him with around 2km to go.

“It’s not a good enough time for the Paris [Olympics in July], but maybe in 2028,” the 24-year-old said.

It was an all Hong Kong affair in the women’s 10km, with Wan Sze-wai second in 37:43, and Wong Cheuk-ning third in 38:27.

“I’ve run the [Hong Kong] 10km five times before, but I never thought I’d make it into the challenge group,” Tsang said. “I prefer running 10k to half marathons, but I will run more half and full marathons in the future.”

China’s Sun Xiaoyang took the honours in the half-marathon, finishing in 1:08:05. Hong Kong’s Vincent Lam was second in 1:08:44, with Bian Bianqi third in 1:09:27.

“It felt good running in Hong Kong for the first time, my time was quicker than what I normally run in the mainland,” Sun said.“I’m really happy to be here and record a good time.”

In the women’s half-marathon, Hong Kong’s Choi Yan-yin won in 1:21:01, well ahead of compatriots Chan Man-chi (1:27:12) and Yiu Tak-yuk (1:27:28).

Like Yu, Choi’s main focus is triathlon, and the pair have the Asian Championships in April, but the Hongkonger said she would be running more half-marathons in the future.

“This is only my second time running a half and I’m quite satisfied with the time, but I think I can get it down to about one [hour] 17 or 18,” she said.

At the start of the day, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu sounded the horn as runners set off from Tsim Sha Tsui, and later said on social media he and his team would continue to “promote and organise international mega-events in the city, and solidifying Hong Kong’s position as an international metropolis”.

Back to its full pre-pandemic quota of 74,000 entrants, organisers said some 30,500 were expected in the 10km, with 21,500 in the half and 22,000 in the marathon.

Most of those taking part are amateurs, and as usual there are a healthy dose of celebrities. Cantopop star Ng Po-ki was among those tackling the 10km, and he said he hoped more people would take up the sport for the “many benefits it provides in life”.

Hongkongers Forest Ip Hoi-sing, 27, and Bell Iu Nga-Ling, 34, were all smiles as they celebrated completing the 10km race this morning.

“After Covid, many people including my friends want to join this event, so I wanted to join too,” said Ip, who was running for the first time.

It was Iu’s third time at the event, and she said it had been “very motivating” to see an increase in runners, which “created an energy that wasn’t there last year”.