While in other parts of the World was still asleep sobering up the festivities of Hong Kong's longest night of 2016, it held the first race walk event of 2017, organized by the Hong Kong Race Walking Association, called precisely ”The First Walk 2017" .
Hong Kong’s oldest at athletics record has fallen at last.
At Stonecutters’ Island on January first, Ken Cheung racewalked 5:03:23 for 50 kilometres, taking down fireman So Kam Tong’s record of 5:07:54 set at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.
So was last in that Olympic race, but Cheung was on his own this year literally walking away from a field of 9 starters on a beautiful cool, sunny winter’s day.
At the same event Billie Kwok set the initial Hong Kong women’s 50K record of 6:17:04.
The 50K is a new event for women starting in 2016.
Some visitors from Singapore also turned in some excellent performances in the junior 10K race with Sia Jun Wei winning the boys’ race in 53:20.
Bill Purves with the co-operation od Echo Yeung