Hong Kong's Christy Yiu 'runs through wall' for respectable marathon finish in world championships debut
Distance runner comes home in 32nd place in two hours 43 minutes 28 seconds
Christy Yiu Kit-ching, Hong Kong's sole representative in the world athletics championships, finished a respectable 32nd from 63 starters in the marathon in Beijing on Sunday, despite hitting the wall early in the race.
The 27-year-old part-time nurse qualified for the Beijing event with a personal best time of two hours, 38 minutes and 24 seconds in the Prague Marathon in May this year, and crossed the line in the Bird's Nest stadium in 2:43:28.
All in all I'm happy as it was my first major championship. I have no regrets
"My coach told me to stay with the pace for the first five kilometres and then to assess how I felt from then on," said Yiu, who lives in Tai Po.
"I was happy with this advice as I wanted to see how fast I could run, but I probably went out too fast.
"Coach [Shinetsu] Murao said that major championships are all about finishing positions rather than times, so I tried to maintain my place."
Yiu said she "hit the wall" at the 17km mark and had to slow down as a result. "It was a little demoralising to see athletes coming past me and I was running on my own for much of the second half of the race.
"All in all I'm happy as it was my first major championship. I have no regrets. I've now got the Rio Olympics to look forward to but before then I will concentrate on regional half-marathons and 30km events, and also the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon."
