Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2011 - Around and about

Some notes around SCHKM 2011.

-The start was in Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui just walking distance from the hotel that I stayed. The finishing line was in Victoria Park, Hong Kong Island. Never before I joined a full marathon with different start and end points.

-The race course was hilly and tough. The toughest full marathon course that I had run. But I must say, I had only run 5 FM so far. I may write a commentary on the race course itself later. I tried to research online about the race course before the race, but not much luck.

-For the record, there were 3 bridges, 3 tunnels, 3 flyovers, 1 underpass along the FM course.

-The temperature was about 13-14 degrees Celcius at the start. It wasn't that cold really. Of course different people felt differently. I saw not less than three FM runners without any vest or top.

-I also saw this runner below overtook me at around 12km mark. Imagine my "horror" when I overtook him later before Cheung Tsing tunnel and saw him from the front. Any appeal of red lace bra had on me suddenly dissipated into thin air.

This runner overtook me at km 12, but I overtook him later before km 24. Photo by 马飞。

-The coldest part of the run was when the runners were on the bridges. Cold wind from the sea was really chilly.

-A few runners were with shark costumes. I was not exactly sure what was the message (they were trying to relate). I guessed it was something to do with saving the sharks. I have to say the runners in shark costumes did really well. One of them was just few second behind me at the finish line.

The shark runners.

-Baggage check-in and collection was a breeze. No need to wait or queue. Check-in at Nathan Road where a standard baggage bag was used and deposited to the truck number designated for the runners.

-A very good crowd control at the start, along the route and at the finish line.

-There were 14 water stations along the FM route. On average, one water station every 3km. I considered this ratio was very good. The water and isotonic drink were enough at all water stations.

-There were sweeper buses at a few check points along the FM route. If you failed to arrive at the check points at designated time, you will be ushered to the bus. Traffic will open to public after the time.

-The supporters were GREAT! Even the volunteers at the water stations cheered the runners on with signs and vocal encouragement. There also other cheering crowds on the pedestrian bridges, the balcony of some buildings etc.

-I was prepared to run barefoot for this race if it rains at the start. I trained with barefoot but not for any run longer than 8km. It was a crazy idea at the time.

-I ran with adidas adizero Boston. A very light pair of cushioning shoes. It was the first time I ran a FM race with light-weight shoes.

-The PB I achieved was not without cost. I had a sore plantar (sole of right foot) a week before the race. I aggravated the injury in the course of the race. The last 6km really tested my mental strength, as I had to overcome the pain on the right foot as well.

-No finisher T-shirt, but all runners were given a NB SCHKM dry-fit T-shirt.

Updated 5 Mar 2011:

-They were many timing/video checkpoints for the full marathon:
10km (inside Nam Wan Tunnel)
15.1km (U-turn at Tsing Ma bridge) - Video camera installed
20.1km (U-turn at Ting Kau bridge)
21.1km (between Ting Kau bridge and Cheung Tsing Tunnel)
27.3km (U-turn for half marathon) - Video camera installed
30.0km (on the West Kowloon Highway)
41.195km (last 1km point at Causeway Bay)

-The half-way split time shown on the official results was actually the split time at 20.1km mark. Not really the half-way 21.1km. I had emailed the organiser on this matter and they asked me to call a hotline as if I was complaining.

-Since we were traveling relatively light, we managed to find out a cheaper way to travel from airport to Tsim Sha Tsui. The airport express (train) was very expensive (HKD60/person one-way just to get to Tsing Yi). The cheaper alternative was go out to the bus station and take bus number S64 to Tung Chung. It was only HKD3.50 for one way. Then in Tung Chung, we did some shopping before we took the Metro (subway) to Tsim Sha Tsui. One-way ticket per person was HKD10.50.

-Tung Chung was a nice place to shop. Got a lot of outlet shops of branded label. Even sports brand like adidas, NB, Nike, Puma, K-swiss, etc. were there too. My wife had a "harvest" here.

-Thanks to Lawrence Law who collected my race pack as I arrived only on Saturday afternoon. Not much margin for error really. It would have been a rush for us from airport to Victoria Park.

With Lawrence at the start. Congrats to him for his PB.

-Top Malaysian finishers from the results:

Shaharudin Hashim 2:37:40 (Men Invitation - 14th, Overall 32nd)
NG CHEE HONG 3:23:10 (Men Senior - 178th, Overall 380th)
OH AIK SOON BILLY 3:26:15 (Men Master II - 65th, Overall 452nd)
YENG BOON PIN 3:29:21 (Men Master I - 163rd, Overall 552nd)

-On my flight to Hong Kong, I watched "Chariots of Fire" on board. The movie, especially the opening scene when the runners run barefoot on the beach and at the end, when Eric won the 400m, really inspired me. I was dreaming of a PB before SCHKM. Now after SCHKM 2011, I can dream of Boston.

"Chariots of Fire", the movie that inspired me to a PB in SCHKM 2011.