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LCQ2: Hong Kong Marathon
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     Following is a question by the Hon Leung Yiu Chung and a reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (November 26):

Question:

     The yearly Hong Kong Marathon (HK Marathon) organised by the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association (HKAAA) will be held on January 25 next year. In recent years, the arrangements
for the HK Marathon have repeatedly been subject to criticisms and considered lagging far behind similar races held in places such as Europe, the United States and Japan. For example, the replenishment of supplies provided by HKAAA for participants was highly insufficient; members of the public were unable to cheer participants on both sides of the race routes of the HK Marathon as most sections of the race routes were on expressways which were not easily accessible; and the time limits for wheelchair races were too short, resulting in most of the wheelchair athletes being unable to finish their races.  Moreover, as the accounts of the HK Marathon lack transparency and HKAAA has been suspected of reaping money, some runners have called for a boycott of this year's HK Marathon to air their protest. While HKAAA has all along been organising the HK Marathon on a self-financing basis, the Government has been providing tremendous support for the event in various aspects, such as traffic diversion arrangements,
maintenance of order, and provision of ambulance services, which involves large amounts of public resources. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(1) it will consider opening up certain road sections in the city centre to allow the race routes of the HK Marathon to traverse the city centre and extending the duration of road closure to enable the community to participate in the HK Marathon and members of the public to cheer the runners, thereby enhancing their interaction;

(2) it will suggest to HKAAA extending the time limits for wheelchair races to give athletes sufficient time to finish their races; whether it will consider providing subsidies to persons with disabilities to provide them with more opportunities to participate in wheelchair races; and

(3) it will request HKAAA to make public the accounts of the HK Marathon; whether it will consider introducing competition by encouraging other local and overseas organisations to bid for the hosting of the HK Marathon; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     The Hong Kong Marathon (HK Marathon), which is listed on the calendar of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is a highly popular sports event. As the race results count towards athletes' world rankings, every year world-class runners come to compete for the championship, which helps to promote the popularity of distance-running. The Marathon has enhanced Hong Kong's status in the international sports arena.  

     Registration for entry to the HK Marathon, scheduled to be held in January 2015, took place in September 2014, and the quota of over 70 000 places was filled in just a few days.  As in the past, some sections of road will be closed on the morning of the event day to allow for the smooth running of the race. To this end, I urge people still occupying the roads and obstructing traffic to leave so that the 70 000-odd registered athletes can practice their running unhindered.

     My reply to various parts of the question is as follows:

(1) The HK Marathon is organised by the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association (HKAAA), and is recognised by the IAAF as a Silver Label Road Race. As a number of major roads will have to be closed to make way for the race, we need to secure public support and understanding and to coordinate assistance from government departments. Every year, the HKAAA consults district councils and relevant government departments on the race arrangements. Government departments provide advice on the HKAAA's proposed arrangements in relation to the race route, starting times, the number of participants, safety measures and road closure duration to help ensure safe public participation.  

     The HK Marathon is conducive to community-wide participation, in that large numbers of people can come out to cheer on the runners and share the excitement of the event.  The HKAAA regularly considers the possibility of modifying the race route, and as long as its proposals are feasible and are supported by the district councils concerned, the Government will consider allowing the use of more roads in the city to be part of the route.  

(2) The HKAAA introduced a wheelchair race for the HK Marathon in 2011. Although the race was cancelled in the first year due to insufficient registration numbers, following enhanced publicity and improved race routing arrangements, the wheelchair race has been successfully held in the past three years. Drawing on the annual experience of organising the wheelchair race, the HKAAA continues to improve the related arrangements, including extending the time limit for the 10-kilometre wheelchair race from 40 minutes to 50 minutes for the coming year, and adjusting the level of difficulty of the race by re-designing the wheelchair race route.

     According to the HKAAA, the HK Marathon attracted 421 disabled participants (including wheelchair race participants and visually or hearing impaired people) in the past three years. The number of participants is increasing each year.

     Through different organisations, including the Hong Kong Sports Institute, the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee and Sports Association for the Physically Disabled and the "national sports associations" (NSAs), the Government subsidises athletes' participation in sporting competitions at different levels, although we do not directly subsidise individuals' participation in races.

(3) The HKAAA is the NSA responsible for the development of athletics in Hong Kong. A member of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, the IAAF and the Asian Athletics Association (AAA), it has the professional qualifications and experience to host marathon races.  

     The revenue of the HKAAA, a non-profit-making organisation, can only be used for purposes specified in its Charter. The HKAAA is registered under the Companies Ordinance, and is therefore also subject to regulation and governance pursuant to the Ordinance. The Government considers that NSAs should be given the necessary room to develop as far as possible in promoting the sports events that they organise, as authorised by the IAAF or the AAA. The HKAAA organises the HK Marathon on a self-financing basis. According to the HKAAA, the greater portion of the operating revenue from the HK Marathon is used in organising the event, and the remaining portion is retained by the HKAAA for athlete development and promotion.

     Several other sports organisations also host running events of different levels in Hong Kong. In 2014, for instance, we received 52 applications sports organisations involving requests for road closure and special traffic arrangements to facilitate the organisation of sporting events, 23 of which related to running events (including three half marathon races). Of these applications, only one was turned down, as the sections of road concerned were part of the airport operations. In processing applications for the use of roads from the HKAAA and other sports organisations, the government departments concerned give advice and assistance to applicants with regard to the scale of individual races, the extent of traffic interruptions and other possible public impacts. The Government welcomes the staging of more large-scale sports events, including the HK Marathon, in Hong Kong.

     Thank you President.

Ends/Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Issued at HKT 13:22

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