Running Hong Kong
Trip Start
Jun 03, 2006
1
127
131
Trip End
Ongoing
Hong Kong,
Hong Kong
Sunday, February 17, 2008
I was about to embark on an experience that has given me some memories and images I'll never forget, not least the sweep of runners stretching out along the West Kowloon Highway, and the buzz of excitement and shared camaraderie that swept through thousands of people as the leaders came back towards us running impossibly fast. I'll remember the surreal feeling of running through the Cross-Harbour Tunnel where the curve of the road gives you a view of every other runner within several hundred metres. To anyone who says they should remove this feature of the Hong Kong route, I say rubbish - it's part of Hong Kong's make-up, although I grant you that if you're struggling with your run when you go into the tunnel you won't enjoy it as much as I did. I'll remember the 50-something grey-haired Western lady clapping runners with great enthusiasm a kilometre from the finish. If you're tiring it's a great pick me up, and if I ever watch a race live, I'll be clapping because it makes a difference to the runners.
Before the race, I'd been wondering how fast I could go and was nervous that I might go too fast and end up in pieces. Again, there was no need to worry. Hong Kong is pretending to be a big city marathon. For all the immaculate pre and post race logistics, running seriously is almost impossible unless you force your way to the front before the start. After a first kilometre taking 7 minutes I was puzzled, after 3kms we were coming to a walk, and after 5kms I'd realised the organisers - or more pointedly local authorities - didn't care about the runners being able to run. A single lane of road made it impossible to do much more than follow the pace of the person in front, and the traffic coming towards us in the opposite direction was sprinkling us with fumes. My dreams of a fast time had disappeared long before we went through 10kms in an hour. I'd long since settled for enjoying an easy jog through one of the most spectacular cities in the world.
My message for runners is don't do Hong Kong for a time, but if you want a social training run with your mates in spectacular surroundings, then it's great. Inevitably as the field stretched out, it got easier to run but I still felt like I was going around the M25 watching carefully for the brake lights coming on in front of me. I was happy to do the second 11kms in under 58 minutes, but I'd be lying if I said that part of me that had slogged through wind and rain training in OCT or on the sea front at HongShuLin didn't resent being denied a chance to run faster. Although the organisers and friendly volunteers do a very slick job, the city and government of Hong Kong haven't committed to the event and the local people haven't taken it to heart. The small number of spectators, especially around the finish, and the amount of traffic around the runners are evidence of this.
Notwithstanding this small disappointment, I felt elated afterwards, not by my time, but by the sense of achievement at realising just how much work I'd done to find running a half-marathon easy. I'd expected to be creaking and sore afterwards, but until the adrenalin wore off, I'd have sworn I wanted to do it again straight away. My Chinese relatives and even my wife surely thought I was a bit mad to go out and train and now to spend my Sunday morning running around Hong Kong. For me, it was something I'd done by myself, for myself, and the 1h57m55s was a great experience.
It's proof that going to the pub is good for you. Cheers Tom!
