The Hong Kong Marathon on Sunday brought steaming sweat and laughter but also resulted in physical challenges to some runners, as dozens of entrants were sent to the hospital after the race.
Nearly 35,000 runners took part in the 25th Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon this morning after winning the draw of the 37,000-quota allocations to the event.
A total of 31 were sent to the hospitals with health conditions like high body temperatures, dehydration, heat exhaustion, dizziness and sprains.
"The weather is extremely humid and the road is slippery, which caused a lot of difficulties for runners," said Lam Kin-kwan, the medical services chief of the event.
However, plenty of runners expressed joy during the event despite the weather conditions.
Tse ran his second Marathon of the 10-kilometer route after first participating five years ago. He said he didn't care about the result and just wanted to enjoy the process.
"There are plenty of people cheering for the runners alongside the road," he said, "the event is like Hong Kong's carnival!"
"The rain never bothered me anyway!" said a female runner Chan, "it is my first time for Marathon and I really had fun!"
"Hong Kong is back on the map for major international events and we look forward to more extravaganzas to line up!" said the city's culture secretary Kevin Yeung Yun-hung in a post on his blog.
A total of 31 were sent to the hospitals with health conditions like high body temperatures, dehydration, heat exhaustion, dizziness and sprains.
"The weather is extremely humid and the road is slippery, which caused a lot of difficulties for runners," said Lam Kin-kwan, the medical services chief of the event.
However, plenty of runners expressed joy during the event despite the weather conditions.
Tse ran his second Marathon of the 10-kilometer route after first participating five years ago. He said he didn't care about the result and just wanted to enjoy the process.
"There are plenty of people cheering for the runners alongside the road," he said, "the event is like Hong Kong's carnival!"
"The rain never bothered me anyway!" said a female runner Chan, "it is my first time for Marathon and I really had fun!"
"Hong Kong is back on the map for major international events and we look forward to more extravaganzas to line up!" said the city's culture secretary Kevin Yeung Yun-hung in a post on his blog.