Hong Kong Marathon organisers hopeful after government talks

The athletic official, however, was hesitant to predict the outcome, only stressing they are running out of time because the race is less than 10 weeks away and plenty of preparation work is required to stage three events – the 10km race, half marathon and full marathon.

Because of the pandemic, organisers have already slashed the number of entries by 75 per cent to 18,500 from 74,000. They originally set an early August deadline for obtaining approval to avoid calling off the event again.

The 2020 event, scheduled for early February, was cancelled less than two weeks before it was supposed to be held when Covid-19 began to spread around the world, costing the organisers millions of dollars in losses. This year’s showpiece was slated for January but with the pandemic showing no signs of easing, it was postponed yet again until October.

Apart from cutting numbers drastically, organisers will require all participants to be fully vaccinated at least two weeks before the race. They must also arrive at the race wearing face masks but can remove them once at the start line.

The half and full marathons will accommodate 6,500 and 4,000 runners, respectively, with the route largely unchanged from previous years. However, the 10km event, which will allow 8,000 runners, will start at the Western Tunnel Toll Plaza as opposed to the previous Island Eastern Corridor start line. This is to ensure all three races share the same route to minimise the chance of Covid-19 infections.

The number of overseas runners is expected to fall because only elite runners from neighbouring low-risk countries will be invited. World governing body World Athletics said given the pandemic, there was no need to classify the event as “gold label” and therefore organisers are not required to fulfil the “top runner” threshold.