Team spirit fuels CityU runners in Hong Kong marathon

Kenix Wong

18 Feb 2019

Professor Kuo joins SCHKM for the 11th year. — President Kuo joins SCHKM for the 11th year.

A team of 1,100 CityU runners were joined by Mr Lester G. Huang, Council Chairman of City University of Hong Kong (CityU), and Professor Way Kuo, CityU President, in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon (SCHKM) 2019 on 17 February.

Teachers and students from four special schools ran alongside the CityU team as a way to promote greater social integration.

Mr Huang ran the 1.8K Leaders Cup event for the first time and Professor Kuo ran the 10K race, for the 11th consecutive year, together with 486 CityU runners. In addition, 320 members of the team took part in the full marathon and 273 in the half marathon.

Mr Huang joins the event this year in his role as the CityU Council Chairman for the first time.

The enthusiastic support of staff, students and alumni kept team spirit alive for the athletes throughout the event, enabling CityU to take 6th place in the race’s Most Supportive Group Award.

Around 40 teachers and students from four special school joined with CityU runners in the 10K event. The schools were Mary Rose School; Hong Kong Red Cross Margaret Trench School; Society of Boys’ Centres Chak Yan Centre School; and the CCC Kei Shun Special School.

CityU staff and students coached participants from these four schools in the weeks leading up to the marathon. The aim was to encourage healthy activities, enhance concentration and promote social inclusion.

The support team formed by a large group of about 140 students cheered on CityU athletes and boosted their spirit.

Excellent results were achieved by our runners, with Ms Lui Wai-man winning second runner- up in the 10-kilometre Woman’s Overall Challenge by a finishing time of 37 minutes 52 seconds.