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Richard Castka

Christy Yiu Kit-ching will turn up the heat on her marathon career at the world championships in Beijing in August after running almost four minutes inside the Olympic qualifying time in the Volkswagen Prague Marathon.
Yiu overcame a leg injury to finish 11th - behind 10 African runners - on Sunday and opened up a whole new world for the 27-year-old, who has the potential to run much faster, according to coaching guru Shinetsu Murao.
Yiu ran a personal best time of two hours, 38 minutes and 24 seconds in the Czech capital, which qualified her for next year's Rio Olympics and the world championships in Beijing.

At least the pressure is off now that I've run the qualifying time, so, hopefully, I will be able to enjoy my races and I will simply try to keep running faster
Christy Yiu
"Coach Murao now wants me to concentrate on the big events where I will gain a lot of experience," Yiu said. "It will be hot in Beijing in August, but he says that this will be good preparation for Rio, as it will be very hot there.
"At least the pressure is off now that I've run the qualifying time, so, hopefully, I will be able to enjoy my races and I will simply try to keep running faster."
Murao and Hong Kong Sports Institute head coach Anthony Giorgi are now planning a race schedule for Yiu.
"I'll wait to see what they [my coaches] advise me to do, but I plan to run the Hong Kong marathon again next year - I think it's important to support my home event," she said.
Three months ago, Yiu gave up her full-time job as a nurse to devote time to train for the marathon distance, a decision that paid quick dividends in Prague.

"My overall performance in the marathon was amazing as I was having ITB [iliotibial band] pains before the race," Yiu said, referring to a common knee injury associated with running and cycling. "The injury happened suddenly just one week before the race.
To take the next step and run in the low 2:30s, Christy needs to improve her overall speed. She's very capable, but right now she's inexperienced
HKSI head coach Anthony Giorgi
"Coach Murao predicted I could, and I must, run under 2:40 so I was confident of achieving the qualifying time if the injury could be fixed in time.
"The first two training sessions were simply walking after I arrived in Prague. I jogged in the final sessions to find out if the leg had improved and, fortunately, I could jog for more than 40 minutes without stopping."
Murao, the renowned Japanese distance running coach, has been mentoring the recently married Yiu for the past year.
"People shouldn't be surprised about this. This is a reasonable time and Christy can run much faster," he said.
Giorgi said the next stage would be the 5,000m and the 10,000m in the Asian Championships in Wuhan in June.
"To take the next step and run in the low 2:30s Christy needs to improve her overall speed," said Giorgi. "She's very capable, but right now she's inexperienced.
"Having run the qualifying time for both the world championships and the Olympic Games, she's got that monkey off her back, so she can now concentrate on getting her times down even further,
"By competing in Beijing she won't be going into Rio blind - she'll be running against the same girls and better prepared."


She's already qualified for the Olympics, but Hong Kong marathon runner Christy Yiu aims to get even faster

Christy Yiu with 10km and women's overall trophies from the Hong Kong Marathon last year. Photo: David Wong

Christy Yiu with 10km and women's overall trophies from the Hong Kong Marathon last year.. Photo: SCMP

Christy Yiu wins the half-marathon at the Hong Kong Marathon in 2013. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Christy Yiu wins the half-marathon at the Hong Kong Marathon in 2013. Photo: SCMP

Christy Yiu Kit-ching breaks her own course record in the 14th Chung Hing Cup in Tsuen Wan. Photo: Richard Castka

Sport

Hong Kong

Hong Kong runner will target 5,000m and 10,000m at Asian Championships in Wuhan in June, before the marathon at world championships in Beijing in August


Christy Yiu Kit-ching will turn up the heat on her marathon career at the world championships in Beijing in August after running almost four minutes inside the Olympic qualifying time in the Volkswagen Prague Marathon.
