The 41st Macau International Marathon will be run on the streets of Macau this Sunday under pandemic restrictions that have turned the event into an almost exclusively local affair.
Speaking on the sidelines of the final press conference before the event takes place, the Chief of the Department of the Grand Prix and Major Sports Events, Lei Si Leng said that this year the organizing committee has only invited six athletes to compete in the marathon event: three from the male section and another three from female. Lei was expanding on previous comments from the president of Sports Bureau (ID), Pun Weng Kun to the effect that no foreign athletes were participating from the event this year.
Questioned on the current status of the event considering the few Covid-19 cases found in Macau over the past few days, Lei said that the ID is in constant communication with health authorities.
According to the latest updates, she said, the event will proceed on Sunday as planned. However, athletes and organizers will be subject to various health measures, including the requirement for a negative nucleic acid test (NAT) valid for 24 hours taken before the event and also a negative Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) taken on the day of the event.
According to the organizers, a total of 12,000 participants are expected to run in the event on Sunday at 6 a.m. running in three different categories (mini, half, and full marathon).
Of these, Lei added that around 3,000 are runners that come from the mainland, while the other 9,000 are mostly runners from Macau. A few athletes from the neighboring region of Hong Kong are also listed to join the event. However, organizers hinted that most of these Hong-Kongers are already working or studying in Macau and are not people that have travelled from HK specially to participate in the event.
In the press conference held yesterday afternoon, Pun said that the marathon is “one of the most representative sporting events in the city,” adding, “we hope that holding different types of major sporting events will promote positive cross-sector dynamics between sports, culture, and tourism, boosting economic recovery.”
Speaking on behalf of the title sponsor, Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG), the senior vice president of the corporate office, Buddy Lam, noted the 19-year relationship between the GEG and the event. He highlighted the discount vouchers provided to those participating in the marathon for accommodation and food and beverages in GEG establishments.
The public is also reminded that traffic control and traffic detours will be implemented during the event as usual, with some roads closed to traffic from 4:45 a.m. on Sunday (December 4) until around 9:30 a.m. on the same day.
As the event uses both the Governador Nobre de Carvalho Bridge and the Sai Van Bridge, passengers wishing to take public transport during those hours should note the changes announced by the operators.
