The Hong Kong Marathon (sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank) is the premiere running event in Hong Kong. I started participating in it 20+ years ago, around 2001, as far as I can remember. For the first two years, I ran the 10km race in what was to me a reasonable time. That gave me the confidence to try the half marathon, which I did twice also. That, in turn, prompted me to try the full marathon. To me, with severe flat feet and absolutely no athletic talent, that was the ultimate challenge.
The first time I tried it, I could not finish within the allotted time, but I wasn’t too far off. In the following year, I was able to finish in less than 6 hours. Ever since then, I ran in the full marathon whenever I am in Hong Kong during the event. And I have always been able to finish within 6 hours, but never under 5. That is very slow. But that, at least, gave me the satisfaction of completing the run.
Then the 2020 version was shut down by Covid-19. And I have not run the full marathon ever since. In late 2020, I broke a metatarsal in my right foot. In summer 2022, just when I was recovering from the broken foot, I pulled a muscle or something in my left knee, which prevented me from running for half a year. Then in early 2024, I fell down a flight of stairs and cut open my forehead, resulting in no real running for almost a year.
During this time, I felt that my body has slowed down quite a bit, perhaps with advancing age. I have no confidence anymore that I can run a full marathon. In fact, I have not run anything significantly more than 10 kilometres properly since 2019. Hence I entered the 2025 Standard Chartered (Half) Marathon with some trepidation. What gave me the resolve to at least try was that 3 family members are running in it: our eldest daughter, her husband and our youngest daughter.
It was cold, but not as cold as we feared when the race started. So that was encouraging. I actually felt reasonably well for the first 10 km. Along the way, there were enough interesting characters among the runners which sometimes took my mind off the running, relieving some of the anxiety.
There were quite a few visually-impaired runners, linked with their guides. At one point, I felt a slight kick on my trailing left foot, which almost caused me to stumble. When I turned to look, I found that it was one of those visually-impaired runners. Of course, it was not his fault. I quickly stepped aside and continued to admire their athletic ability and determination to run against such odds.
Then there was this T-rex look alike, who was running in the opposite direction, who flew by too fast for me to take a photo. Fortunately, I later on passed by a couple of astronauts. The there was this last dressed up like the landlady (包租婆) in the movie Kung-Fu Hustle 《功夫》by Stephen Chow (周星馳). And more.
I wish to say thank you to the many people who cheered us, high-fived us, fed us cherry tomatoes, etc. They made the run so much more fun, and harder to quit.
Running into the dungeon that is the Western Cross-Harbour Tunnel was always unpleasant. But it was somewhat relieved by the loud cheering by the other runners, who encouraged each other.
When I passed the 20 km mark, and then turned into the crowded streets, I started getting a second wind, and actually ran faster.
I was so happy, relieved, and exhilarated when I crossed the finish line, under the 3 hours allowed. Subsequently I learned all 4 of us had finished in time. We ended the day with a big family dinner with our favourite seafood. It was a most satisfying day.
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