i may be disqualified from hk marathon for false start

I’m not afraid to admit it, but aside from Anhui, I’ve been to every province in mainland China. However, this is my first time visiting Hong Kong. For this trip to the Hong Kong Marathon, I dug out my paper Hong Kong and Macau travel permit from five years ago, only to find it had expired. I couldn't help but sigh, as Confucius said, 'Time flows like a river, passing by without stopping.'

I have an obsessive-compulsive dream of running a marathon in every province of the country. Guided by this idea, I have signed up for many marathons in the past, knowing full well that they might be poorly organized, yet I still participated without hesitation.

By the way, to fulfill my dream, I urge Lhasa in Tibet and Xining in Qinghai to get moving. Thank you. I don't suffer from altitude sickness and can finish races below 5000 meters above sea level.

01

Half a month before the Hong Kong Marathon, I ran the Xiamen Marathon and ended up with two bloody blisters on my feet due to running in the pouring rain (details here: This is a painful Xiamen Marathon race report, don't click if you're squeamish). So for this Hong Kong Marathon, I had no performance goals; it was purely to fulfill a wish.

The Hong Kong Marathon is notoriously difficult, with many slopes and tunnels, and many roads are slanted. For someone like me with injuries, it was almost a torturous journey. If I had to set a goal, it would be EQ.

Only after running the Hong Kong Marathon did I realize that Edison Chen's running ability is indeed strong.

This is a slang term in the marathon community, derived from the Boston Marathon qualification, BQ (Boston Qualification). In 2012, Hong Kong's famous artist Edison Chen ran the Hong Kong Marathon in 3 hours and 55 minutes, which was astonishing.

So, people created a new term: Edison Qualification, abbreviated as EQ, which means 3 hours and 55 minutes.

02

With the help of my friends in Chongqing, I got my Hong Kong and Macau travel permit and exchanged for Hong Kong dollars. With the help of my friends in Shenzhen, I completed the border crossing procedures. With the guidance of my friends in Beijing, I toured some of Hong Kong's attractions.

Please forgive the urge of a first-time visitor to Hong Kong to take photos.

From this statement, you can see that I have a serious dependency issue.

So here's the problem. The Hong Kong Marathon starts in waves, with the full marathon divided into three groups: the Challenge Group at 6:10 AM, Marathon Group 1 at 6:35 AM, and Marathon Group 2 at 7:00 AM.

My bib number was A6418, which meant I started at 6:35 AM. None of my friends from Chongqing, Shenzhen, or Beijing were in the same group as me, so I had to go to the starting point alone.

The starting point was at the entrance of Kowloon Park between Jordan and Tsim Sha Tsui MTR stations. At 5:50 AM, I stored my bag and did some stretching by the roadside.

The street was already packed with people. I was standing about 100 meters from the starting line.

I had a nagging suspicion that I might be in the wrong group, so I obsessively checked the bib numbers on other runners' chests.

There were runners from the Challenge Group, Group A, and Group B.

This was my thirty-first full marathon. I thought to myself, 'Hmm, this must be the warm-up area. There must be a check-in point ahead.'

03

Around 6:00 AM, the crowd suddenly started moving forward. I followed along, thinking, 'Look at how efficient Hong Kong people are. No wonder it's an international metropolis; even lining up starts half an hour early.'

As I walked, I felt something was off. The DJ was enthusiastically hyping up the crowd. Using the Cantonese I learned from Beyond and Eason Chan, I listened carefully. Most of it was just chatter, but two words stood out: 'full marathon' and 'challenge.'

I was instantly confused. I couldn't tell if 'challenge' meant the Challenge Group was starting or if it was encouraging everyone to 'challenge themselves.' I thought, 'This is awkward.' I was already in the middle of the crowd, and it was impossible to go back to the starting point. I had even missed the green belt, so hiding there wasn't an option either.

Sure enough, the crowd started moving towards the arch. At 6:12 AM, I crossed the arch and officially started the race.

How rushed was I?

My watch needed to be set to GPS mode in advance, but I only pressed the button as I crossed the arch. It wasn't until I had run about 50 meters that my watch found the satellite signal and started working.

I didn't even have time to post my usual pre-race update on social media. It wasn't until after the race, when I saw a skeptical post from Chen Zhong, that I realized he genuinely cared about me.

I need to keep my distance from him!

04

Since the baseline for the Hong Kong Marathon is EQ, I had no intention of aiming for a good time. Plus, I was worried about the scabs on my feet reopening. So after navigating through the crowded first kilometer, I settled into a slow pace of around 5:30 per kilometer.

As I ran, I kept checking the bib numbers of the runners around me, especially during the turnaround points. Seeing the numbers on the chests of runners on the opposite side constantly reminded me of how out of place I was. So every time I passed a staff member, I made a point to show them my bib number.

Although no one stopped me to point out my violation, I ran with a constant sense of unease from start to finish. This feeling never went away.

I did encounter one or two runners with the same 6:35 AM start group bib, which gave me some comfort. At least I wasn't the only one, even though we didn't actually look out for each other.

To protect the wound on my right foot, I wore a pair of new shoes that I had broken in for 50 kilometers, abandoning my thin and hard-soled Tiger Walk shoes.

In hindsight, this decision had mixed results.

The good news was that the wound on my right foot didn't reopen. Some sections of the Hong Kong Marathon course are slanted, with the left side higher than the right. This meant that my right foot endured more impact than my left. Even on such roads, my wound remained intact, which was a small blessing.

The downside was that the laces on my left shoe kept rubbing against the top of my foot, causing excruciating pain. I had to stop four times to adjust my shoes. After the race, I found a large bruise on the top of my foot, but thankfully, the skin wasn't broken. This morning, my left foot was swollen like a bun—honestly, my foot hasn't been this plump in years.

05

The Hong Kong Marathon course is reputed to be the toughest in Asia, and after running it, I can confirm it's no exaggeration.

The first five kilometers were narrow, uneven, and dimly lit (my fault for starting 25 minutes early). I saw several runners fall. The stretch between three and five kilometers had continuous turnarounds, making it nearly impossible to speed up.

Starting from the five-kilometer mark, there was a continuous gradual uphill until we reached the Stonecutters Bridge. Fortunately, it was still early in the race, and everyone had enough energy. I didn't see any runners struggling. However, if you didn't manage your energy well at this point, the rest of the race would be tough.

After crossing the Stonecutters Bridge, we entered the Nam Wan Tunnel. The sudden change from the windy bridge to the warm tunnel made me break out in sweat instantly, dripping down my pants.

Exiting the tunnel, there was another gradual uphill to Ting Kau Bridge, then a turnaround into the Cheung Tsing Tunnel. This was the easiest part of the race for me. I maintained a 5:00 pace in the tunnel, but then karma hit.

The karma I mentioned was the next section, which had no bridges or tunnels. It was supposed to be a good stretch to improve my time, and I was ready to speed up. But then the pain in my left foot became unbearable. I had to stop at the median to deal with it, feeling utterly defeated and even considering quitting.

The most painful part was after the 35-kilometer mark in the Western Harbour Tunnel. The tunnel was stifling, and merging with the half-marathon runners created a dense crowd, making it impossible to run. After exiting the tunnel, there was a steep slope. Combined with the excruciating pain in my left foot, I had to walk and stop frequently, completely letting go of any goals.

After the tunnel, I meandered through Sheung Wan, Central, Wan Chai, and Causeway Bay, finally reaching the finish line at Victoria Park in 3 hours and 54 minutes, just one minute faster than Edison Chen.

I hope the organizers don't take back my finisher's medal...

Even at the moment I crossed the finish line, I thought I might not have an official time. And sure enough, when I checked today, I didn't have a recorded time.

Between 6417 and 6419, there was no 6418.

I don't even know if I can say I ran the Hong Kong Marathon or not. It's really embarrassing. Looks like I'll have to come back and try again...

*The copyright of this article belongs to the author. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of Codoon.