Injury-plagued athletes claimed the victors' spoils in both the men's and women's races at the Tolo Harbour 10Km Race near Sha Tin on Sunday.
Clinton Mackevicius clocked 32 minutes 21 seconds to win the men's event by all of three minutes over fireman Li Wang-chun, while veteran athlete Angelina Kong took the women's title by a lesser margin, recording 41:48 for victory over Lam Ka-yan, who finished second in 42:01.
Some 1,800 runners competed in the main event, while another 200 juniors took part in a 4km "beat drugs" fun run.
No less than four ambulances were needed to deal with distressed runners after the race, as the temperature reached an unexpected 28 degrees Celsius by 10am.
I tore a calf muscle while running a month ago and then I injured my back two weeks later while cycling. A friend told me to have acupuncture on the calf, and I'm pleased to say the treatment has worked really well
"I've not been running all that much due to injury," said Australian athlete Mackevicius, who claimed the men's title for the first time, and set the second fastest time for the men's race since the popular event started eight years ago. "I tore a calf muscle while running a month ago and then I injured my back two weeks later while cycling," Mackevicius said. "A friend told me to have acupuncture on the calf, and I'm pleased to say the treatment has worked really well."
