Excitement on track as Standard Chartered Marathon expo kicks off at Kai Tak

The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2025 (SCHKM) is set to take place on Sunday, with the runner's pack collecting location shifting from Victoria Park to Kai Tak Sports Park, coinciding with the four-day large-scale marathon expo.

The marathon expo that started today showcased over 40 games and activity booths. It is anticipated that around 120,000 participants will ring in the event.

A crowd was observed around 3pm, with runners dressed in sportswear to collect their runner packs and long queues formed at the popular photo spots.

Cheering stations have also been set up for visitors to record encouragements for the runners, which would be played at designated locations along the race route for motivation.

A runner with over ten years of marathon experience commented that the expo felt similar despite the change in runner pack collection location, but he was interested in the newly added running and sports seminars. 

Gu, a runner from Wong Tai Sin, stated that this was her first time visiting the Kai Tak Sports Park and highlighted the convenience of transport.

As a 10-kilometer runner last year, Gu would challenge herself to a half-marathon (21.1 km) this year, expressing no anxiety about the chilling temperatures.

Another runner, surnamed Ng, visited the sports park with his wife for the first time. He praised the flawless experience of both the runner's pack collecting and the expo, adding that there was pack collection information at the MTR exit. 

A child surnamed Cheung wrote down his best wishes for his father's results at the cheer station, believing his father would perform well.

Despite the engaging booth and photo spots, some runners found the indoor expo a bit stuffy, hoping the ventilation system will be enhanced in the future. 

The expo will be open from Wednesday (Feb 5) until Friday (Feb 7) from 3pm to 8pm and on Saturday (Feb 8) from 9am to 5pm.