No drones for Hong Kong marathon

12 Feb, 2017 - 00:02 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

Spectators at today’s Hong Kong marathon have been urged not to put runners in danger by flying drones at one of the city’s biggest sporting events.

Three people were arrested at the Hong Kong Formula E race in October for allegedly operating drones and marathon organisers are keen to avoid a repeat.

With thousands expected to line the 42km route, bosses appealed to people not to bring drones.

“We ask people not to do it because it’s really dangerous for the runners,” said William Ko, chairman of the organising committee. “Once runners realise there’s a drone there, automatically they want to wave and slow down and then there are people from behind coming into them.”

Ko added a television helicopter would alert police to any incidents.

He also asked runners not to stop for selfies, which were blamed in 2013 for a string of accidents.

The route in the densely populated city, which has little flat land, hugs the coast and much of it follows expressways that offer little chance for spectators to gather.

The race ducks underneath the famous harbour in a road tunnel before ending on Hong Kong Island.

But Ko said the route now included more sections on city streets with pavements and said residents were embracing the marathon, now billed as the city’s largest participatory sports event.

“When we first started (20 years ago) there were a lot of complaints about road closures,” he said. “But as we continue with the race year after year, people say it’s only once a year and it’s good for Hong Kong.”

However, Ko admitted there was little chance road closures could be extended to the evening like they were in leading marathons such as London’s.

Fine weather is forecast the day and defending champion Mike Kiprotich Mutai of Kenya said he was targeting a time below two hours 10 minutes – a full two minutes faster than his 2016 time.

The women’s 2016 champion, Ethiopia’s Letbrhan Haylay Gebreslasea, who recorded a time of 2:36:51 last year, will also be defending her title. — AFP.

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