Half a year back, the group of us decided to go for the Hong Kong Marathon, however, there is a cut-off time of 5hr30mins for the full marathon (42.195km) and we heard that the run course is not easy at all. In the end, everyone of us signed up for the half marathon (21km).
28 February was the race day, and all of us were excited for it. We collected our race pack from the expo the day before, browsing through the information booklet, we were glad that we made the right choice when we saw the elevation of the full marathon.
The race started at 6am, so we had to wake up at 4 in the morning to prepare ourselves, had breakfast and check in our baggage. There were already alot of people warming up along the road as we walked to the trucks to check in our baggage.
This was a picture taken before I check in my camera in the baggage. Everyone looked fresh and all ready to start the race.
I enjoyed the race tremendously, the atmosphere was great and supporters were really enthusiastic. In Hong Kong, there is no lack of slopes, the running course was from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. The runners had to run mainly on the expressway and not forgetting the underground tunnel that connects Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. Towards 18km, when I thought that the slopes ended, it was just the beginning – runners were met with the steepest slope of the whole course, you could see many starting to walk the course, with others seeking medical help such as getting deep heat from the medical officers to soothe their cramped muscles. There were a few more serious cases where the runner collapsed at the side of the road.
Some of us were evaluating after, we were really thankful that we have been running at Mac Ritchie. If not for the training, we would not have survive the slopes. As we started earlier, by the time we finished the race, the weather was still good. Everyone finished well and started to discuss how the next race already. Honestly, I don’t mind running the full marathon in Hong Kong next year.
[...] overseas race together after many years of running together. We planned out our 2010 races – Hong Kong half marathon, North Face and then Standard Chartered Marathon. Our weekly running dates at MacRitchie Reservoir [...]