Hong Kong Marathon 2016: Route, Course Map, Times, Event Details

The Hong Kong Marathon returns in 2016 for its 20th edition on Sunday, January 17 with around 74,000 participants set to take part as the elite runners compete for the top prize of $64,000.

$10,000 will also be awarded to every man who finishes at or under two minutes, 10 seconds and to every woman who does the same at 2:28, while a further $5,000 will be handed out to those who finish under 2:12 and 2:32, respectively.

The men's course record stands at 2:11:27 and the women's at 2:30:12, though, so the organisers are unlikely to be breaking the bank to dish out the prize money at the end.

The event also includes a half-marathon, a 10-kilometre race and two wheelchair races at 10 kilometres and 3 kilometres. To mitigate the difficult temperatures and humid conditions, the events will begin early on Sunday morning.

According to the marathon's official website, in the full marathon, runners whose personal best is under four hours flat will set off at 6:15 a.m. local time (10:15 p.m. GMT, 5:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 16), while those with a best time between four and six hours will set off half an hour later—all with a six-hour time limit.

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The full course map can be found on the marathon's official website here, with runners starting at Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui and heading down the West Kowloon Highway.

Eventually, the racers will reach the Ting Kau Bridge via the Stonecutters Bridge and then the Nam Wan Tunnel, before turning around and finishing at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay.

Per Unus Alladin of the South China Morning Post, the chairman of the marathon's organising committee, William Ko Wai-lam, said of the route:

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Our route is a very tough one involving more than 100 metres in elevation. So it’s a very tough race. For example at the top of the Tsing Ma Bridge it’s 70 metres and underneath the Western Crossing Tunnel is 30 metres so we are talking about 100 metres [in elevation]. It will be a great challenge for not only the top runners but for all the runners.

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The men's event has been dominated by runners from Kenya and Ethiopia, and in recent years the same has been true for the women with the exception of 2015's shock winner from North Korea, Kim Hye-gyong.

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Kim, along with reigning men's champion Sentayehu Merga Ejigu and 2014 winner Feyera Gemeda are among the top athletes who have been invited to compete, though as Ko concedes, the organisers often have little knowledge of who will comprise the starting lineup until the overseas runners actually reach the city.

Per Alladin, he said:

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As far as the overseas runners are concerned, it won’t be until they have physically arrived in Hong Kong that I can guarantee who will be coming. This is one of the problems we have to face. But the situation will be better this year because our marathon has been awarded Gold Label status for the first time. We have fulfilled certain IAAF [International Amateur Athletics Federation] requirements and they have awarded this to us for our 2016 marathon.

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With the level of prize money on offer, the event will likely bring back a number of familiar faces who will seek to test themselves in the notoriously difficult conditions once again.

For more details on the event including the full list of overseas athletes invited to participate, check out the official race handbook here.