[Standard Chartered Marathon 2026/Marathon/Scrap Horse/10 km/half horse/registration/quota]The annual running event “Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2026” will be held on January 18 next year. The number of places participating in this year remains at 74,000. After the organizers announced the results of the second round of lottery yesterday (3rd), a large number of “failed” posts appeared online, and local runners complained, dissatisfied with the lower winning rate of this year than before. Some Legislative Council members suggested that the event be held in two days, and they believe that the number of places to participate can be significantly increased.
Organizer: Nearly 120,000 people have always had the highest registration level, and the public lottery number is similar to the past
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The organizer of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon responded that the number of applicants for Scrap Horse in 2026 was close to 120,000, the highest excess level in history, reflecting that the event has been widely recognized. The number of spots drawn by the public is similar to the past.
In the relevant forums of different social platforms, the netizens are everywhere to post “no middle” and “can not draw” responses, some netizens express their disappointment, “from the first public draw to today, thinking have not thought not to draw”, urged the organizers in Hong Kong The Athletics Federation reforms the lottery system, describing “it also can not draw to participate in the marathon charity program, to serious runners insulting”, saying “Still good, do not have to practice so hard, sweep down 10k, cycling the bike.
Related news: Standard Chartered Marathon 2026｜The senior runners have priority to register for compliance with the standards, strictly pass the Boma group and require nearly an hour!
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Lottery system is accused of unfair charity quotas causing controversy
The post sparked resonance, and many netizens joined the discussion, questioning the difficulty of “in the lottery” of all the Gamma this year’s “indication” this year is more than in previous years. Many netizens commented that similar encounters, saying that they had been successful in previous years, but it was solely not “injected” this year; There are even netizens statistics, friends who “number 10” are not the winners. Some netizens questioned whether the number of charity places and increased overseas places led to a decrease in public draw places. “Will it be more than these charity places, in effect to ask people to buy a seat?” At the same time, some people suspect the organizers have allocated more places to non-Hong Kong residents, attracting foreigners;
Netizens propose to hold events on a day
Some netizens also posted a post and suggested that the conference refer to the experience of other regions to hold the 10km and half-marathon and full-marathon events for two days separately to increase the overall number of places to participate and optimize the event arrangements. They believe that if the 10km event can be held on Saturday and the half-marathon and full-marathon on Sunday, they can make full use of the existing track and human resources. Since 10 kilometers does not overlap with the half-marathon and full-marathon tracks, only Victoria Park needs one more day as the finish line and luggage storage area. Some netizens left messages in favor of this post, but they believed that half-marathon and 10 kilometers should be placed on Saturday, and the whole marathon should be exclusively occupied on Sunday to ensure smoother track arrangements. However, some netizens questioned that the track’s carrying capacity has not improved, and holding 10 kilometers separately will help increase the quota of half-marathon and full-marathon places.
Legislative Council member Lu Hanmin, who has many years of experience in participating in Zhama, said that Zhama, as an annual sports event in Hong Kong, has been popular among local and overseas runners for many years. With the global running craze, if the quota remains unchanged, the chances of winning will only become smaller and smaller. However, it is emphasized that related phenomena are not unique to Hong Kong. Many popular marathon events around the world, such as the Shanghai Marathon, have caused “a few people to join in” due to the large number of applicants, and described “the more successful and popular marathons in each city are, and the success rate of (registration) is getting lower and lower.”
The road closure time is held in two days
Luo Min-min analysis was difficult for marathons in Hong Kong to significantly increase the number of places, and the key was due to “very precious road closure.” The race needs to be closed from the morning to the afternoon from the morning, which poses an impact on other road users, such as increasing places based on current road closures, “not necessarily stand” and more non-easy to extend road closures. Other suggestions can explore the splittings for two days, such as scheduling the 10 km races on Saturday, while the Half Marathon and the All-Share race arranged on Sunday, arguing that it could increase the degree of road bearing, “like the water pipe, higher bearing and naturally increase the number of runners.”
Lu Hanmin pointed out that the organizer of the Hong Kong Track and Field Association has made new attempts this year, and held a youth event at Kai Tak Sports Park the day before the event, which can be regarded as the “preface” of the daily competition to test the feasibility of operations. However, he emphasized that increasing the road closure plan requires a consensus in society and a balance between promoting sports events and reducing the impact on citizens.
When asked whether overseas runners will grab the local places, Lu Hanmin said the specific number of places allocation is required to be answered by the Tan, but others observed that local running population continues to grow, regardless of novice or senior runners, which have enlarged the “running economy” market, the competition enlarges the “realistic coming” and expects market adjustments to “more friends can participate.”
Reporter: Li Jianwei, Cao Luyin
