National Security Law Hovers Over Marathon

The Standard Chartered Marathon will be held this Sunday

 

The national security law affects all aspects of life in Hong Kong, even running a marathon. The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2021 will take place this Sunday, the first time a mass sporting event is held in the coronavirus pandemic era, but also participants will bear full responsibility if they violate the national security law.

At a briefing session today, organizers said they would check every one of the 18,500 runners for the 10K, half-marathon and full marathon to make sure the outfits are "safe", in that they don't interfere with other participants. Only a handful of people wear wacky costumes dressed like dinosaurs or giant candy bars.

Organizers will check all 18,500 runners

However, organizers admitted they have no control of runners if they have political slogans on their race gear.

"We are running a sports event and will focus only on the sporting aspects," said Kwan Kee, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Athletics Affiliates.

"We have no restrictions on the use of colour (of the apparel), but we can't comment on if any slogans on their clothing would be banned as we haven't seen the slogans [yet]." 

For example they suggested instead of writing 加油 or "add oil" on their T-shirts, they could write "Runners add oil" just to be clear...

All the participants must be fully vaccinated at least 14 days before the race, submit a health declaration form that they have not traveled outside of Hong Kong in the past 21 days and the must take a Covid-19 nucleic-acid test when they pick up their running kits between Thursday and Saturday.

The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2020 was called off two weeks before the race last February citing the pandemic, and this year's edition was postponed from January to October with a fraction of the runners from 74,000 down to only 18,500.

Runners on the hook for illegal political slogans

While spectators are allowed to attend, they will have to abide by social-distancing measures (ie no more than gatherings of four), while runners will be exempted from these measures for this particular event.

If a runner has an illegal political slogan will they be tackled along the course by the police? Or will they save their energy and arrest them at the finish line?

HK to Push Up Elderly Vaccination Rate

Fewer than 30 percent of seniors over 70 have their first jab

 

Looks like Hong Kong might really be getting serious about pushing up vaccination rates now as there are plans for government workers to go door-to-door to visit the elderly and persuade them to get the jab. 

Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, who is overseeing the vaccination drive, stressed the city was behind its target of inoculating at least 70 percent of the eligible population. Fewer than 30 percent of residents over 70 years old had gotten their first dose, and the rate was substantially lower for those over 80, he noted. 

"Elderly people in the city are the group least interested in vaccination. We have to be more proactive, and make getting into the community to reach senior people our coming strategy," he told a radio program.

Nip says workers will visit elderly door-to-door

However, one should keep in mind that many university students like the ones at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Clear Water Bay must be fully vaccinated to even be allowed on campus, teachers must be jabbed, and many companies have pushed hard for their staff to get vaccinated, particularly those in the hospitality industry.

At the start of the vaccination program, when seniors were invited to get inoculated first, there were reports of those who had serious side effects, and some died -- that were not at all related to the vaccine -- which scared off many elderly residents.

To that end Nip says talks will be organized as some housing estates and malls, with free consultations and immediate vaccination on site.

"We will also do more talks at care homes for the elderly, as most of them did not get vaccinated there due to family members' worries," he added.

Doctors will be on hand to give consultations

Going door-to-door is a very strong step up from trying to persuade people to get jabbed in press conferences. Depending on how they approach the seniors, government workers may get doors slammed in their faces or adamant refusals to get vaccinated.

Maybe they should have teamed up with the Census and Statistics Department a few months ago to not only count the number of residents in Hong Kong but also check to see if they have been inoculated.

Implementing this strategy now shows the government was not that serious about pushing for vaccinations, and seems to use this as an excuse to continue the restrictive social-distancing measures, particularly gatherings at a maximum of four people outside.

Meanwhile the Standard Chartered Marathon 2021 really is happening on October 24 when a total of 18,500 runners (all fully vaccinated) will take part in the 10K, half marathon and full marathon... 

The Standard Chartered Marathon is going ahead

I did not get chosen in the lottery to run the 10K, and just as well, as the starting point has moved to the Western Harbour Crossing toll booth, which means running through the cross-harbour tunnel (which I hear is a slog) and finishing at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay. 

Running in October will also be more challenging with the humidity than the usual time of late January, early February, and I have hardly been training either, opting instead to walking.

Nevertheless, we wish the government good luck in trying to persuade seniors to get jabbed... they can be a tough crowd!

Lam Defends Government (In)actions

Lam is back and now leading the effort to stop the coronavirus from spreading

Finally Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is back in Hong Kong, and finally some action is being taken to try to stop the Wuhan coronavirus from spreading in the city.

Hours after landing from Davos, Switzerland, Lam held a 90-minute press conference where she announced primary and secondary schools will be closed until February 17 and it seems universities are following suit, all travelers who are not Hong Kong residents must fill out health forms, and everyone should wear masks. Currently Hong Kong has five confirmed cases, and worldwide there are over 1,400 cases, and 41 deaths.

Upcoming Standard Chartered Marathon has been scrapped

She insisted that her administration was not waiting for her to get back. "Even when I was in Davos I never stopped liaising with Secretary for Health Sophia Chan and Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung."

Then how come they didn't see it necessary for all travelers on the high speed rail to West Kowloon didn't have to fill out health declaration forms and why was the second infected patient in Hong Kong allowed to leave for Manila? Yesterday the Philippine government said it was flying back all Chinese nationals in a bid to lessen the number of coronavirus cases there.

In addition the Standard Chartered Marathon that was supposed to be held February 9 is cancelled, which makes people like me half relieved, but also half shrugging. I could have done the race, as I have been training for it. But I will continue training anyway.

Lam said the new package of measures was introduced because the situation had reached a "critical point", two days after the city's first confirmed case.

A lot of people are wearing masks in public spaces

But surely she must remember from 2003 that these cases can spread very fast? The government needed to be more aggressive in the first few days, not dither.

However, health experts had called on the government to immediately shut down the border with the mainland, but Lam refused, saying it was "inappropriate and impractical" to shut down all ports linked to the mainland.

What does she mean by "inappropriate"? This is about life and death for some people who have been infected by this virulent strain. Does she mean the flow of food coming from the mainland? She needs to explain for people to understand instead of just saying it's "inappropriate".

A labour union representing medical staff said public doctors had threatened to strike if the government refused to shut the border.

"Maybe we have become used to more radical moves in the past few months, but I hope medical staff will not resort to a confrontational approach to fight for their cause," Lam said.

Yuen Kwok-yung (right) says the coronavirus is contagious

These doctors would not threaten such drastic action if they felt they could handle the caseloads. They are genuinely terrified of what could happen if not enough is done to prevent more cases from coming into Hong Kong and spreading.

As for the shortage of masks, Lam said she had written to the State Council for cooperation. Why are we asking the mainland for masks. Shouldn't we be buying supplies from elsewhere? I have relatives who are terrified that the mainland would sell recycled masks. That shows how much confidence they have in Chinese-made products...

Microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung from the University of Hong Kong believes this coronavirus is highly contagious.

"Hong Kong or Macau or other world cities could easily become another Wuhan or another 2003 Hong Kong," Yuen said in an online message, referring to the SARS outbreak in 2003 that killed 299 people, including eight medical staff.

Most people on the streets are wearing masks as a precaution. Strangely those non-Chinese who cough, don't...

McDonald's Tasting Spree

Ebi or shrimp burger with pineapple in it at McDonald's is very bland

My general rule is to only eat McDonald's once a year -- after I finish the Standard Chartered Marathon 10K race as an excuse to refuel on calories, and it's open early.

However the other day I broke that rule when a friend visiting from the United States was on a mission to try some McDonald's food that you can't find there and I agreed to help try some of it. Why not in the name of research?

Pass on the mango drink with cheese on top

At the giant tablet where you can order food without a human, he was all excited to try several items and luckily we got there just before the lunchtime rush to secure a table too.

After about 10 minutes the food arrived in boxes and wrapped in paper, though the regular waffle fries -- called "potato grids" were already decent on their own. But when we added the extra seasoning of sesame oil flavour, and shook them in a paper bag together, the waffle fries -- oh I mean the potato grids -- were coated in a powder that made it hard to consume, and only when combined with my saliva did I detect the sesame oil taste that was completely redundant.

In terms of burgers we tried the ebi or shrimp burger with pineapple. Intriguing, right? Wrong. There was absolutely no taste in this deep-fried shrimp patty with a piece of lettuce, mayonnaise and canned pineapple. Why would anyone want to eat this?

We also tried the cowboy Angus -- a 130g thick cut Angus patty with a deep-fried onion ring, Cheddar cheese and Emmenthal cheese and shredded lettuce. You need a really big mouth to fit all that in, but it was a burger masquerading to be something fancy, but in reality it was hardly impressive. There was too much going on that the flavours cancelled themselves out.

Definitely go for the deep-fried chicken wings!

McDonald's is trying to catch up with the bubble tea craze minus the boba or black pearls and offering cheese toppings -- sourced from Europe and New Zealand -- on different flavoured drinks, like soy milk matcha tea, salted caramel latte, and long black. My friend ordered a mango one and it arrived with a thick white foam on top with an artful design of hearts in mango sauce.

But alas, I can only say the same refrain -- no taste! As we were drinking this without a straw, it took several gulps to even get to the mango part, and even then there was no mango taste! It's so visually misleading.

However our visit to the fast-food joint was redeemed by the chicken wings, deep-fried of course. Luckily we could order two pieces, one drumstick and one winglet. The outside was crispy, and surprisingly moist inside.

So I'm definitely done with McDonald's for the rest of the year. The lesson learned is to stick to the classics -- but maybe with a chicken wing on the side.

10K Race Report

At the far end in front is the starting line! It was overcast and light rain

This morning I woke up at 4.15am to be out the door by 5.30am to get to the start of the Standard Chartered Marathon 10K run for a 6.45am start. Mentally I was prepared to not run all the way, but run as much as I could as I hadn't trained as much as I wanted.

The weather conditions were good -- it was humid though not too hot at 19 degrees and I kept warm by wearing a plastic raincoat. Near the starting area I hung back and stayed near the furthest porta-potties to avoid waiting in line to pee a few times before the race (I drink a lot of water when I wake up!).

Walking towards the starting point just after 6am

In the lane opposite us were the first batch of runners on their way to Victoria Park for the finish. I watched them go by and standing next to me was a middle-aged local man who looked like he was responsible for first aid. He asked me the distance these runners had already done at this point and I said it was around 8K.

Seeing me now in just a T-shirt and shorts he asked if I was cold and I said no, it was fine. He was worried I would catch a cold. But it was perfect conditions, overcast. However, as I approached the starting line -- though way at the back, light rain started falling and the winds were picking up.

At 6.45am the bullhorn sounded for us to run, but it took me at least six minutes just to walk to the start! I started at a slow pace and somehow just kept going. Perhaps it was me being completely focused on the road ahead and not putting pressure on myself to beat my time which led me running at a comfortable pace.

Pic of the giant Central-Wan Chai air purifier by the highway

When I hit the 1km mark, I was surprised as others were to see some runners already waiting in line for the porta-potty! "Did they have a stomachache or something?" asked one guy to his friend. This is why I go a few times before the race...

I saw at least two people injured along the race route, as well as three pairs of visually-impaired runners holding a giant rubber band with their volunteer guide runners. Very cool. One woman from the heat before us was in a giant white chicken costume and had to walk the whole thing. She got lots of photos with runners though.

The light rain came and went periodically and when we turned around from Shau Kei Wan to go back to Causeway Bay, we were in lanes that were further from the water so it wasn't as windy. I had to be careful not to run along the dividing line markers as there were periodic raised bumps and saw one person trip on one of them and fell.

Watching the first batch of runners going to Victoria Park

Pretty soon I passed 6K, 7K, 8K.... the end was already near and I felt OK, no cramps and just kept going. At the 9K mark near the end is a really steep hill. I started to climb it slowly but then decided to take a quick breather and walked up, and when the road went downhill, I began running again towards the finish.

In the end my time was around 1:10, slower than my previous times of 1:07, but I was just happy to finish the race and felt good about it. Perhaps I could have gone faster, but I was thrilled that it was a comfortable run overall.

So perhaps I was more fit than I thought! Or conditions were just right for me and kept a conservative pace.

I'm glad my colleague encouraged me to do the race because she knew I would feel regrets if I didn't do it.

She's already told me to tell her when to sign up for it so we can do it together next year!

Race Day Countdown

Getting runners excited about the upcoming race on Sunday

The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon is in its 23rd year and the race will be held this Sunday.

Having been sick for the past month, I'm not exactly in tip top shape for the 10K, but I have decided to do my best. These last few days I have managed to do some decent training and pleased that I've done OK.

There is one giant loop to get T-shirts...

This year there have been some changes in how participants pick up their T-shirts and running bib and after this event is over, there's going to be a barrage of complaints.

While participants are able to pick up the T-shirt and bib number on any of the four days starting yesterday until Saturday, there's been chaos in figuring out what is going on.

It turns out runners pick up the bib number along with their coloured bag depending on their race and time in one place, and then their T-shirt on the grass pitch in Victoria Park.

I was confused and got into a line and then soon realized it was for the T-shirts when I hadn't even gotten my bib number yet. Luckily the line wasn't too bad, but like everyone else, was wondering why couldn't we get the T-shirt in the same place too like we used to?

After I got my running bib, then I had to join the line I had mistakenly gone to in order to get onto the grass pitch to pick up my T-shirt. There was a massive backlog and at one point the entire walkway was covered in several lines weaving back and forth.

Eventually I finally made it to the grass pitch and then it was separated between men and women and from there I got the T-shirt in minutes. Why did it take so long? It just seemed so strange to have to line up twice.

... and there was a mass of people closer to the grass pitch

Also this year there was no paper notice mailed to us to pick up the running kit -- it was all done online in the hopes of wasting less paper, but I saw many people print out the email with a giant QR code... kind of defeating the purpose of trying to reduce paper usage.

Another feature for 2019 is that the bibs have our names on them. Whoohoo... organizers thought this would help people on the sidelines to cheer for us. But for the 10K run, hardly any spectators are allowed except towards the finish at Victoria Park... oh well.

Now that I've gone through the effort (and frustration) of getting my bib number and T-shirt, I guess I will be running on Sunday!

Another Year, Another 10K

At the starting line -- which is a five-minute walk ahead!

Hard to believe but another Standard Chartered Marathon has come and gone.

I was lucky to be picked in a lottery to run the 10K and I remember being on our Silk Road trip in September when I received the email. I excitedly managed to pay the HK$350 online with my credit card (via VPN) and just remembered the race would be in late January.

And then suddenly it was mid-January. Where did the time go?

Looking over Victoria Harbour there's a big fog at 6.30am

I went to bed around 10.30pm and thought I had slept somewhat soundly when I looked at my phone. Midnight.

Then I woke up again at 3am and the when my alarm sounded at 4.30am.

I made breakfast and was out the door by 5.30am to get to the first checkpoint by 6am for the 6.45am start. It was pretty dark, but whenever I am on the way to the race I am surprised to see so many people up so early in the morning -- who are not running.

This year the weather was warm and a bit humid. By the time I got closer to the checkpoint there wasn't much need to wear the plastic rain poncho to keep warm. And there were tons and tons of people. Some were late for the first heat at 6.15am!

As I hadn't trained much this past week as I was away in Guangzhou, I found this year's run to be quite a slog, wondering when I would pass the next kilometre, which isn't a good sign. I tried to keep a steady pace and at the same time dodge lots of people who were either walking or running slower.

There's several thousand people in each heat for the 10K

By the 6km mark, a mild cramp had set in and I walked for a bit before continuing on and having an energy jelly helped me get my energy back, but then again past the 8km mark I walked a bit more. Somehow I managed to convince myself to finish the race for good and kept going, even at the sharp turn towards the end that has a very steep hill. I just kept pushing on, remembering that I'd trained for the incline last week.

At the end I tried to run faster, but wondered if my legs would keep going or not. But I made it! 1:09:51.

Not my best time, but not my worst either. I was very happy to finish it.

The Risks of Not Training

Tens of thousands of people compete in the 10K race in six heats

Following the Standard Chartered Marathon yesterday, one woman died this afternoon after she finished running the 10K race and collapsed.

The 52-year-old woman was rushed to hospital and then died, with no updates on the cause of death yet.

She is the third person within five years to die. In 2015, a 24-year-old died in hospital after collapsing 100 metres from the finish line in a 10K run. And in 2014, a 26-year-old man died moments after completing the half marathon.

It is crucial for runners to train even for the 10K race

After his death, marathon organizers increased the number of medical staff on site from 700 to 800.

But is that really the solution?

Part of the problem is that there is a number of people who haven't trained at all for the 10K run. While marathon organizers say it isn't feasible to screen the health of participants, the onus is really up to the runners. Surely they must know what a 10K run involves? If not, they need to ask someone who does, and see if it is something they can accomplish and if so, find out how to train for it.

In 2014, Baptist University conducted a study that found one-third of the event's 10K runners didn't train at all for the race in the 12 months leading to the big event.

Another one third trained for the run once a week.

Dr Lobo Louie Hung-tak, who lead the study, said training three times a week -- 40 to 48 kilometres of running -- were recommended to reduce the risk of injury for the 10K event, while half and full marathon participants should train five to six times a week.

He said insufficient training could lead to not only injury, but possibly death.

A 2014 study found 1/3 of runners didn't train for the 10K

"It's like a car that's being pushed to keep going even when the fuel tank is at empty," he said.

"In some serious cases, runners can collapse, be in a state of shock, start hallucinating or fall into a coma."

If that warning isn't shocking enough to get people to seriously consider training, or have second thoughts about running the race, I don't know what is.

The entrance fee for the 10K run is about HK$350 which is very reasonable, but people need to take a race of this distance with some seriousness.

While it is thoughtful of organizers to boost the number of first aid responders along the three routes for the 10K, half marathon and full marathon, it is really up to the runners to know their athletic ability.

There are fatalities at marathons around the world -- usually the full marathon, people collapsing at or near the finish line. But 42km is an extreme distance for the vast majority of us. That doesn't mean that all of us can run 10K -- we can, but we should train for it.

To not train for any race is wishful thinking and disrespecting one's body by pushing it to extremes it is not prepared for.

It would be interesting to know if other 10K races around the world have seen serious incidents. If it's only in Hong Kong, then there is a serious problem about health education in the city.

Nice Day for a 10K Run

Finally making it to the starting line before starting the 10K run

I went to bed early hoping to get a decent night's sleep, but was a bit anxious about running the 10K in the Standard Chartered Marathon. While my start time wasn't too early, I still had to wake up early to get ready and get to the site.

When I ran it in 2015, I overdressed and got overheated, resulting in me walking twice to catch my breath. This time I followed what other experienced runners do -- wear a plastic rain poncho to keep warm.

Several thousand people ran together this morning

And it pretty much did the job, and the weather cooperated as well. However, I drank a bit too much water in the morning and had to go line up for the porta-potty three times...!

By the time I got to the starting line -- I was way, way back. It took me five minutes just to walk to the starting line. And then we were off! But the first almost two kilometres were crazy, dodging people and trying to get some rhythm in my pace. It was hard, thanks to the narrow road (one lane was closed off because of construction), and so it took a while just to jockey out of the crowd.

At first my hands were very cold -- I had shake them periodically to get the blood circulating. The sun was out and so it was nice to be in the shade thanks to buildings covering the sunshine.

In about half an hour we reached and passed the Film Archive building in Sai Wan Ho and turned around to go back. The highway was undulating up and down. I just tried to keep my pace. At the five-kilometre mark I looked at my phone that had an app tracking my progress and it was at 33 minutes. Pretty good.

The view this morning from Tin Hau starting point

Soon it was 6km, 7km... and there were more people walking. I've said this before, but it bears repeating -- people who plan to walk, should move off to the side so that they don't get in the way of runners, particularly in the beginning. But by this point we were decently spread out and I was catching up to people who had been up in the front.

There were also people taking pictures at each sign that indicated which kilometre we were at. Really? Don't you want to run as fast as you can and not waste time taking pictures with your friends?

Past the 8km mark was the second drinks station and the end was in sight. I even saw one of my colleagues and shouted his name and waved to him, and he took some pictures of me...

Just past 9km, I was starting to get really tired, but I had to tell myself to keep going because it was almost over. Getting onto the on ramp (actually the cars use it as an off ramp) was tough because it was pretty steep, but I kept my pace. Many people were walking at this point, others began running again at the top because it was downhill from there.

It took me five minutes to walk to the starting line!

When I turned into Victoria Park towards the finish line I tried to run as fast as I could. The time on my phone? 1:06:17. My official time is 1:06:19.

I shaved off several seconds from my 2014 time, and several minutes from 2015.

Interestingly I wasn't as exhausted as I was before, perhaps because I have been training so hard for this race in the last month or so. But the real test will be tomorrow and see how my thighs are doing.

For a recreational runner I'm pleased with the result and the weather conditions were just perfect for running today.

Five Legs Never Quit

Fung Kam-hung proves amputees can do it too

Every once in a while you come across someone who has the Lion Rock spirit and today it's Fung Kam-hung, a 63-year-old amputee who lost his leg in a traffic accident 36 years ago.

He, along with his wife Chong Bing-ying, 57, and a lawyer Raymond Chak Man-lai, 41, Will be racing 250km on foot in Chile's Atacama Desert within seven days to raise money for the Hong Kong Amputees Association.

Fung's team is called Five Legs Never Quit, and the will be among 183 others competing from around the world.

Fung (centre) with his wife (left) and Raymond Chak

The retired administrator admits, "I'm quite scared. We have to walk 40km every day, carrying 7kg to 8kg on our backs. But to me, exercise is like an addiction -- you start small, then you keep on wanting to challenge yourself more."

Fung took up running 12 years ago after being part of the support team for his wife who has been competing in the Oxfam Trailwalker for more than 10 years. Oxfam Trailwalker is a 100km charity hiking race from Sai Kung to Yuen Long.

"I was pat of her support team, then I wanted to accompany her in the challenge," he says.

Since then he too has competed in Trailwalker and also Standard Chartered's annual 21km half marathon and 42km full marathon.

It has also helped that the development of prostheses has made it less painful and dangerous for people like Fung.

"Many of us are scared of doing exercises on land because it's easy to get injured -- before [there were quality prosthetics for exercising], each step caused friction to my stump and it would get painful after a prolonged period of running," he says.

Fung says the development of prosthetics helps him run better

To prepare for his latest challenge, Fung and Chong go on 20km hikes three to four times a week in Sai Kung or Fanling, and every weekend meet Chak on Lantau Island to hike from morning to evening.

"We try to trek through rivers and uneven trails -- once even during a red rainstorm warning -- because at least that could give me an idea of what difficulties I would meet [in the desert] and what solutions I could have. It's all a matter of whether you are prepared or not," Fung says.

"With my wife, I feel more at ease competing in such challenging events," he says in tribute to his wife of 32 years. "She is my coach and she knows best [the needs due to] my prosethetic limb."

Meanwhile Chak has competed in this upcoming race three times before.

Fung really does have the fighting spirit and age is not a barrier.

"I want to give out a positive message. I want to tell people that I dare to do it and I dare to accomplish," Fung says. "I want [able-bodied] people to look at me and ask, 'Why can't I do it if he can?'"

The fact that he wants to attempt this race and is training hard for it is definitely putting the rest of us to shame.

We wish him and his team Five Legs Never Quit the best of luck!

For more information (mostly in Chinese), check out their Facebook page.

A Tough Slog!

Waiting for runners in Heat 2 to start their race just as dawn breaks

I went to bed early, but pre-race jitters resulted in not enough sleep sleep for the 10K run as part of the Standard Chartered Marathon.

My race was third of five heats, as I had grumbled a year earlier about being in the second heat at 6.45am.

This time though, I was able to take the MTR from Kennedy Town to Tin Hau which made the stress of getting there pretty much stress-free, and there weren't the hordes of people like there were last year crowded in the station.

Getting to the starting line in Fortress Hill

However, I thought I was prepared for the race, and watched the weather conditions. Yesterday was very windy and so I thought I'd better be ready with leggings to go under my shorts.

But as soon as I walked out of my building I realized I was going to be too warm -- the temperature was far from cool, but by then it was too late to go back up to change...

At least I wasn't like other runners in the second heat who were still getting to the starting line when their race had already started! Apart from that everything was pretty much as it was before, though the starting point was several metres further east than the previous two years.

It was dark when I arrived at the starting check point and by the time 7.15am rolled around, the sun was already up. And when I began to run, I got hot very quickly, probably because of the leggings. I removed my light jacket and tied it around my waist, but even then that didn't help cool things down much.

For me the run was quite the slog -- I was already getting tired by the 4km mark, sweating profusely! It was not good -- breathing heavily and trying desperately to keep pace with others. I started off OK, but soon petered out to the point where I stopped four times along the route for a few minutes to catch my breath.

Perhaps another challenge was having so many runners squeezed into the lanes because one lane had to be reserved at all times for emergency vehicles. That made it at times difficult to pass people who were walking or stopped suddenly. Runners had to be aware of what was going on at all times.

As I walked, seeing so many people on the highway reminded me of the Umbrella Movement -- except this one was approved and planned by the authorities! It was only a few months ago we could freely wander around the streets...

A man carries an Umbrella Movement banner as he runs!

When I approached Causeway Bay and past the 9km mark, I started to pick up the pace in one last push. As I slowly climbed up the ramp that took us to Victoria Park, I heard a woman scream and a thud as I looked back down to see a young guy who had fallen face down onto the road. Luckily first aid staff were very close by, but one had to wonder if he fell because of an accident or of exhaustion?

Throughout the race I tried hard to push myself and to keep going, but maybe mentally I wasn't psyched up? I tried to make up for it at the end, in the last stretch, trying to run as fast as I could to the finish line even though I could feel my heart might leap out of my chest from working so hard.

I could hear big cheers as I approached the finish -- were they for us? No -- there was a marathoner who was crossing the finish line next to us...

Boy was I glad that was over! I looked at my timer on my iPhone to see that I was only off my previous time by over two minutes. It wasn't as bad as I had assumed, which makes me wonder if I started off too quickly.

Nevertheless, I was just relieved it was done and made my way home.

Post Script -- It was reported today (January 26) that the young man I saw collapse 100 metres from the finish line passed away in hospital. He was 24 years old.

Running for a Reason

People trying to find their names on the wall. Mine's there... somewhere...

This afternoon I picked up my runner's kit for the Standard Chartered Marathon next weekend. I'm not running 42km, but just under one-quarter of it (10K). While I've made great strides in fighting my cold in the last few days, I don't know if I'll be 100 percent for race day. Oh well!

Interesting that at the entrance to the area to claim the running kits, a gweilo was handing out small sheets of paper. Turns out it was to notify runners that the second ever Pyongyang International Marathon will take place April 12 this year, with the full marathon, half marathon and 10K.

Look! The green T-Rex wins the marathon!

"This is a unique opportunity to be part of history and to run in one of the world's most secretive and fascinating countries," the flyer says. Wonder how many people will be intrigued enough to sign up.

After collecting the kit, I quickly wandered the area where sponsors set up booths, and aside from the massive lineups to test people's fitness or play games to win prizes, there were Lego creations interpreting the upcoming marathon.

Perhaps the best one was having the green dinosaur from Toy Story winning the race...

A splash of yellow and umbrella logo to add to the race...

But also leaving Victoria Park, there were some men holding up plastic bags with a yellow wrist band and a sticker saying "I want genuine universal suffrage" with umbrella decals. They handed them out to anyone interested.

Wonder how many people will be wearing these paraphernalia next Sunday...

Another Pre-Dawn Run

On the way to the starting line many runners take souvenir pictures...

After a night of very light sleeping I woke up at 3.20am to get ready for the 10K run that is part of the 2014 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon.

I've been running regularly and in the last few months increased my distances on the treadmill and added a few interval training sessions in the hopes of improving my time last year of 1:07:30.

But 3.20am is too early to do anything and though I'm going through the motions, my eyes aren't quite wide open -- and don't even open throughout the race either!

Learning from last year, panicking because there were no buses or taxis in Kennedy Town in the late hours, I booked a taxi ahead of time and he was there at 4.30am on the dot.

When I got in he kept asking me if the license plate number was the one I'd been given and I said yes over and over. Apparently if a taxi driver picks up the wrong person, they are punished by not being allowed to take reserved taxi requests for a week.

Still dark out but many people getting ready for the 10K

He told me that he'd just been to Shau Kei Wan and the highway was closed off for the marathon so he had to take the regular streets and then rushed all the way to Kennedy Town to pick me up.

We got there in less than 15 minutes, though with the hefty surcharge of HK$30 the fare came to HK$95. I was too groggy and anxious to argue about the extra charge and just paid the fare and got out.

I'd arrived a bit too early at Tin Hau MTR station, but I guess it was a way to get acclimatized. It was cold and I was dressed in a running jacket, the race T-shirt, shorts and leggings. I was shocked to see some people (mostly men) just dressed in singlets and shorts. Others were either like me or bundled up even more.

At around 5.20am (and after three trips to the loo) I made my way up to the on ramp to the starting line. It was definitely cold with the wind and I tried to keep my legs moving. Many people were taking selfies or group pictures with friends which made the event more fun for them.

Finally we counted down the seconds and at 6am sharp we were off. The head winds were bearing down on us and I was so glad I had a jacket on. Like last year people constantly passed me and I decided to just keep pace; though I tried to keep pace with people in front of me and they either went faster or I passed them. As a result it was kind of hard to know who to follow.

Last year there was a sign indicating 1km but this year there wasn't and I was wondering how far we'd gone when the 2km sign was on my right. We headed east past North Point, Quarry Bay, and in front of me a sea of black heads bobbing up and down towards Shau Kei Wan.

At the start, checking out construction nearby

We passed the Hong Kong Film Archives building several hundred metres before we made a sharp U-turn onto the stretch of highway heading towards Causeway Bay. There wasn't much cheering at the water stations, oh well, perhaps the residents in the area complained... but it's only for one morning!

Nevertheless we were buoyed by university students who cheered us on from the overpass. On the whole everyone was quiet, focusing on their runs or already walking. At the halfway point I took off my jacket and wrapped it around my waist. At 6km I was still feeling good, although I was already breathing heavily. I tried not to push myself too much on the inclines and then take advantage of the downhill areas.

On the way back the sky got lighter and lighter and soon we were at 7km and then the 8km point. The run was almost over already! Another water station and I tried to run and drink at the same time which is a really bad idea and spilled water onto my shoe which soaked into my sock...

All this time more people are passing me and I'm wondering what's going on because last year those who had passed me were lagging behind and I passed them. But then I remembered that I was in the first heat where runners had to finish the race in 1:10 -- they were around the same ability as me or much better.

The last stretch is a sharp turn onto the on ramp which has a pretty steep incline so there wasn't much point in trying to accelerate here, but when I go to the top and started heading down towards Victoria Park it was time to kick in and use up the rest of the reserve energy I had left.

I didn't pass many more people but ran as fast as my legs could carry me to the finish!

It was a good run for me, feeling more confident having done it before and the training paid off in terms of being used to the long distance.

I just checked the website and my official time is 1:06:38, net time 1:05:57, so I shaved just under a minute from last year's time. Whoo hoo!

Not Quite Prepared...

The race is next Sunday! Are you ready? Seems like most HK people are not!

Next weekend is the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2014 and it was shocking to read that one-third of the people surveyed who ran the 10K last year risked they health because didn't even train for it, according to a university study.

Another one-third trained for it, but only once a week, said the Baptist University study, which indicates how many people in Hong Kong are unaware of how much training they need to do and the health risks involved in not preparing for the race.

Dr Lobo Louie Hung-take who lead the study, said 10K participants should be training three times a week -- 40km to 48km of running -- in order to reduce injury risks, even though they were not running competitively.

But the study found people only ran 9.7km per week throughout the year before the race.

The university questioned 1,146 runners who took part in last year's Standard Chartered Marathon events, with about 25 percent who ran the 10K, 50 percent in the half marathon, and the rest in the full marathon.

It was shocking for Louie and his team to discover 32 percent of half marathoners just trained twice a week and one-third of marathoners less than three times a week.

"Generally speaking, half and full-marathon runners should train about five to six days a week with at least one day of rest," he said, adding that training should be "tapered" down 10 days or so before the race, in other words, now.

It was found the average half-marathoner ran 20km per week and marathon runners 43km. However Louie's team recommended 48-64km and 48-80km respectively.

He warned that insufficient training could lead to injury and even death. Some runners can experience serious cramps or push themselves too hard after "hitting the wall" -- when the body is depleted of glycogen and stalls due to a shortage of energy.

"It's like a car that's being pushed to keep going even when the fuel tank is at empty," Louie said. "In some serious cases, runners can collapse, be in a state of shock, start hallucinating or fall into a coma."

Last year 37 runners ended up in hospital due to injuries compared to 38 in 2012.

Louie does a lot of research on physical education, but one has to question his warnings that are meant to shock people. From my experience most Hong Kong people are not physically fit and once they have cramps they usually stop running, basically giving up because they don't know how to continue running with the pain.

When I ran the 10K last year I was shocked to see so many people walking the route instead of running it, because in my heat we were expected to finish the race between 1:10 and 1:20.

Walkers would have taken at least two hours to finish, so what are they doing in this race? They took spots that should have been for those eager to run but were unable to sign up online due to space limitations.

While I agree with Louie's suggestions on how much training people should do for the half and full marathons, he recommendation for those running the 10K to run at least 40-48km a week seems excessive.

The timing of the study's release is also pointless now, less than 10 days before the race. Louie should have done this soon after people completed their online registration so that participants would have enough time to prepare and do more research on how to train for the race.

Nevertheless the professor should continue his research this year to gauge how much training people did for the February 16 race as well as survey participants about their eating and lifestyle habits. There's a captive audience right at the finish line. As Nike says, Just Do It.