Her husband, Hong Kong marathon team member Chan Ka-ho, finished third in the men’s race in 1:12:16.

The fastest couple in Hong Kong shared an emotional embrace at the finish line.

“It’s been a long road to not just recovery physically, but to find the time to train while raising a baby,” said Yiu, who finished 39th in the women’s marathon at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

“It’s hard to get enough sleep when you’re up late at night feeding all the time. But people are telling me I look much slimmer than before, and I’m getting closer to my top form.”

Yiu’s sights are now set on qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. She needs a time of 2:35:00 to qualify. Her current personal best (and the Hong Kong national record), which she ran in Rio, is 2:36:11.

In other words, she needs to set a new personal best, at 30 years of age, after having a baby.

“I know it’s going to be extremely difficult, but all I know is I’m going to give it everything I have,” said Yiu, who has Chan serve as her husband, coach, and training partner. “The result today is very encouraging and a big confidence boost.”

She said she got an especially big burst of motivation when crossing the Western Harbour Tunnel – where she saw a massive poster with her face on it.

“It’s quite funny and I feel a bit narcissistic for saying this, but seeing that picture of myself really motivated me,” Yiu said. “It reminded me of how much this city has supported me.”

Her husband echoed those sentiments.

“Of course, seeing a big poster of my wife pushed me to run even faster,” said Chan, who was suffering from a severe fever a few days before the race.

The couplesaid it was especially difficult keeping distance from each other in the days leading up to the race, as they wanted to avoid Yiu getting sick as well.

Considering all of the obstacles they had to overcome, Chan is very happy with his wife’s result, and his own.

“I’m happy [to finish third] because I’m older now, I’ve been getting injured more frequently and been focusing on my family,” said Chan, who runs one of Hong Kong’s biggest running clubs – the Love and Care Running Association.

“Now my sights are set on helping [Yiu] qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and after seeing how she ran today, I believe she can do it.”

Chan finished behind China cross-country specialist Jia Erenjia (1:10:05) and his countryman Qi Bian. Jia was the second best Chinese finisher in the Guangzhou Marathon in December when he clocked an outstanding 2:18:32. He is the first amateur runner in China to eclipse two hours and 20 minutes in a full marathon.

In the men’s 10k, Hong Kong friends Shuen Chun-kit and Wong Tsz-to both finished in 33 minutes exactly.

They were forced to wait while organisers reviewed the finish to determine the winner, with Shuen getting the nod.

“I was not very nervous [waiting for the result],” Shuen said. “It’s not important because we are friends, so it is OK.”

The pair used to train together in triathlons before making the switch to dedicated running.

“We were together all the way,” Shuen said. “We first tried to drop everyone else, then make space between each other.”

Hilda Choi Yan-yin repeated her success from last year when winning the women’s 10km in 37:44.

“At 3km there is an incline, a really steep climb,” she said. “I thought I still had something in the legs, let’s see if I can drop them.”

The triathlete believes her training camps in France and Australia helped with the climb. But the occasion of the Hong Kong Marathon made her nervous.

“It’s just once a year, but I really enjoy running with pure runners,” she said. “Their stamina is so strong, I am inspired by them.”

Additional reporting Mark Agnew