January date change for 2015 Hong Kong Marathon 'will make it harder'
Jane Richards says shift may see freezing temperatures, which is undesirable for her, but Stefano Passarello welcomes the switch
A move to stage the 2015 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon in January was "undesirable", the reigning women's half-marathon champion Jane Richards said yesterday.
Organisers yesterday revealed the event will be staged on January 25 next year, so "runners can benefit from the generally more favourable weather conditions".
"Personally, it's undesirable. Had it been held in January this year, I would likely not have run," said Hong Kong-based Australian Richards, who claimed her first triumph in a 20-year running career when she finished first overall in this year's event on February 16.
It may not only be freezing cold earlier in the year, but this move forward will mean I will have to train during [Christmas]
"It may not only be freezing cold earlier in the year, but this move forward will mean I will have to train during the holiday period [Christmas] and that makes for miserable training," Richards said.
"I would prefer to take a break over the holidays and then ramp up my training again and race in February."
Michelle Lowry, the fastest local woman in the marathon this year, said: "I think mid-February is cool enough and is possibly a better balance between the needs of the runners for cool race temperatures and cool training temperatures.
"An ideal marathon time is at the end of a season, and I don't consider the end of January the end of the training season in Hong Kong."
The race has been held in February in the past three years.
