2008-10-03
THE RACE THAT UNITES HONG KONG
SET FOR 8 FEBRUARY 2009

Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2009
Features New Races and Higher Prize Money

An additional race and higher prize money will bring further excitement to the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2009 which aims to once again attract the world’s best marathon runners to Hong Kong and garner widespread local community support for the city’s largest participatory sporting event.

The Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association (HKAAA) and Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon Organising Committee announced the 2009 event details at today’s Press Briefing for the 13th Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon which will be held on Sunday, 8 February 2009. While the race will be held along the popular routes used last year, the new features have been added to bring further excitement to the sporting event which attracts athletes at all skill levels.

An extra layer of challenge will be added to the half-marathon race to help elevate runners to a new level of athletic achievement. The Half Marathon Run 1 is open to people in all age groups over 16 years old to compete for the best time over 2:15:01. To appeal to the more advanced runners, the newly introduced Half Marathon Challenge, which is open to men and women in age groups of 16-19, 20-34, 35-44 and 45 and above, is now being offered for runners to compete for a time under 2:15:00.

The 2009 event has also significantly enhanced prize money, increasing monetary awards by 40%, rising from the previous year’s US$70,000 to US$100,000 in the total prize money for the full marathon race – a gesture by Standard Chartered to celebrate its milestone 150th anniversary in Hong Kong.

Benjamin Hung, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited said, "The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon is a true ‘Brand Hong Kong’ event—everyone can participate by running, cheering and supporting the Marathon, and at the same time showing the spirit, determination and will to succeed that make this city great." "We hope to see even more people come out to cheer on their friends, family and teammates in the 2009 race."

"We hope to see even more people come out to cheer on their friends, family and teammates in the 2009 race."

The participant quota for the 2009 Marathon is 55,000. The organisers have implemented special incentives and prizes for Hong Kong Permanent Residents, including an award of HK$1,000 for men who finish Full Marathon under 3:00:00 and women who finish under 3:30:00. Also, the first three runners in the Full Marathon, Half Marathon and 10km Races who are Permanent Residents will be awarded special prize money.

The Marathon will be held along the same route as last year, which proved very popular with participants. Both the Full Marathon and Half-Marathon will start at Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui and finish at Victoria Park. The 10km Race will once again utilise the Island Eastern Corridor. Entrants will start and run along North Point, Quarry Bay, Taikoo Shing and Sai Wan Ho before turning at Shau Kei Wan to return to the full field finish at Victoria Park.

This year marks the 13th consecutive year that Standard Chartered Hong Kong has served as the title sponsor for the Marathon. Mr Hung said, "In our 13 years of sponsorship, we at Standard Chartered have seen the Marathon grow into one of the premier sporting events in Asia and one of the most important marathons in the world."

Kwan Kee, Senior Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association, said, "The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon showcases Hong Kong’s advanced development and beautiful scenery, each of which have proven attractive to tourists and participants throughout the years. We hope to see even more local and international runners take part in this unique community celebration."

Aside from being Hong Kong’s premier participatory sporting event, the marathon also forms the final leg of the Greatest Race on Earth (GROE), a unique marathon relay series that turns this traditionally individual sport into a team event focused on collaboration and cooperation. The GROE race features many of the world’s fastest runners compete in teams of four and each member of the team runs one marathon either in Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai or Hong Kong to achieve the fastest cumulative time and win the biggest piece of the US$1 million prize pool—still the largest in the world of athletics.

Hong Kong will be fielding both men’s and women’s teams for the GROE 2008/09:

Runners interested in the 2009 race can start registration today. Participants who enter between now and 31 October 2008 will enjoy a special early bird entry fee of HK$270 for local runners and HK$290 for overseas runners. The entry fee for those entering from 1 November to 31 December 2008 is HK$320 and HK$340, respectively.

Entry forms are available at the HKAAA office (Room 2015, Olympic House, 1 Stadium Path, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong) and all Standard Chartered Bank branches in Hong Kong. Applicants can also register online at the official website at www.hkmarathon.com. For more information, please visit the official website or call the official hotline on 2577 0800.

Other sponsors for the 13th Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon include the Western Harbour Tunnel Company Limited, Citizen Watches (HK) Limited, Watsons Water, New Balance Athletic Shoes (Hong Kong) Limited, Crown Motors Limited, PURE Fitness, now Sports, and the Information Services Department. Supporting organisations are the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Transport Infrastructure Management Ltd. and the Leisure & Cultural Services Department.

		Kwan Kee, Senior Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association, and William Ko, Chairman of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2009 Organising Committee, announced the 2009 event details at today’s Press Briefing.
		(From the left) Choi Tat Ming and Wong Siu Ping, GROE 2008/2009 Nairobi race runners, Kwan Kee, Senior Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association, William Ko, Chairman of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2009 Organising Committee, Ng Kam Tai and Lai Ka Wai, GROE 2008/2009 Mumbai race runners, cheered for the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2009.