The organisers of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon have invited two of the world’s top 100 runners and a group of North Koreans to be part of this year’s race.
Of the 26 men and 19 women included in the elite category, Kenya and Ethiopia have sent 37 athletes to compete, while there is also an Asian Games silver medallist in the mix.
The fastest man in the field is Ethiopia’s Mekuant Ayenew, who is ranked 98th in the world and has a personal best time of 2 hours, four minutes and 46 seconds. He will wear bib No 1 on Sunday.
Bahrain’s Shitaye Eshete is the quickest woman, with a fastest time of 2:20:32, which she clocked at last year’s Haspa Marathon Hamburg.
The elite list also features one man and four women from North Korea, including Asian champion and North Korea’s national record holder Han Il-ryong.
Mekuant Ayenew, who was third in Hong Kong two years ago, will wear the No 1 bib. Photo: Elson Li
Han, who drew attention at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games by winning a silver medal without using top-end carbon shoes or energy gels, ran his personal best of 2:09:42 at the 2024 Wuxi Marathon and will wear bib No 19.