Message from the Chair – Sept 2021

We finally have some positive race news! Our AVOHK Wanchai Gap 5k will take place on Sunday, 3rd October. This has been a long time in the planning and we are very excited to hold our first physical race in more than 18 months. More details here: www.avohk.org.

We had been confident of holding the race on 12th September, but last-minute notice from the Home Affairs Bureau that testing would be required for all runners caused us to reschedule to allow more time to organize this. There are now more races appearing on the race calendar and it seems that testing is becoming a standard requirement. I know that this is inconvenient for runners and may seem unnecessary but, at the moment, this is the only way that race organizers can get events approved. AVOHK is a running club and our race directors and marshals are all volunteers. We do not make a profit from our races. Most other Hong Kong races are organized by businesses. This is their livelihood and the last 2 years will undoubtedly have been challenging for them. The same goes for many of the companies which AVOHK has long-standing relationships with, timing companies, medal suppliers, etc. Many of these people have worked with the running community for years and have become friends. As running events start to come back, please consider making the extra effort to take a test and support the races, whether those are AVOHK’s or other events. If the running community can come together and show that there is a demand for these races and that they are indeed safe, we have more chance of receiving permits for more races in the coming season.

There is a comprehensive report in the newsletter on the recent Hong Kong Masters Track Meet. I would like to congratulate our Athlete of the Year, John Fowler, who won the overall title in the Men’s 80-85. John will be racing at Wanchai Gap next week.

I hope that everyone who applied was successful in securing a place in the Standard Chartered Marathon. Fifteen runners were entered through our Priority Club Enrollment and many others secured slots through elite entry, guaranteed entry and the general ballot. It will be great to see many AVOHK runners out there on the day. Good luck to all!

Happy running!

Elaine Hall