Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon 2007

This is my second year participating in the Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon. At the time of writing this, I just finished the 10KM run and took a shower at home.

What’s the same as last year:
* I didn’t feel really tired after it.
* I had zero practice in the months before.
* I joined the HKU team.
* I finished it gracefully. Runnig all the way without stopping.
* I only did the 10KM run (group 1). Don’t think I’d try half marathon unless I get serious about running.

What’s NOT the same as last year:
* I got a company, my sister Peggy.
* I felt that I ran much faster this time, the official time was 55:17 when I crossed the finish line.
* Most of the cheering groups along the course were gone, probably just 5% left. No more volunteers from the bank?
* There was no “food pack” being distributed after the race. I want my bananas/energy bar/chocolates!

The “Myth”:
* My Polar watch told me my time was 1:12, which was even slower than last year (1:06)! But the time at the finish line showed 55:17 and I did run faster. What was going on here?!!

My sister finished only 7 mins later than I did, and she also agreed that it wasn’t tough at all. I highly recommend anyone giving it a try! Meanwhile, I am really curious to find out my official result (won’t be available until 12:00 noon on March 6th). Check out the photos here.

Update on March 6th: According to the website, my official time was 1:15:19 and chip time was 1:12:36, same as that recorded by my watch. So I didn’t really achieve 55:17 and my time was even slower than last year. The only reason I could think of - I did run faster, but only after getting into the Western Harbour Tunnel. The course was completely full and I could barely “walk quickly” in the middle of the crowds before that. So even though I had the energy to run, I wasted too much time jamming in the crowds for the first 30 mins!