The Sports Bureau head, Pun Weng Kun (center) introduces this year’s marathon
The 36th Macau Galaxy Entertainment International Marathon will be held on Sunday, December 3, the Sports Bureau announced at a press conference on Tuesday, with the maximum quota for participants this year increased from 10,000 to 12,000.
The event, which will commence at 6 a.m. on December 3, is split into three categories; a full marathon, a half-marathon and a mini-marathon competition, with the latter activity covering a distance of around 5.5 kilometers.
The mini-marathon competition will take place entirely in the Taipa and Cotai areas, while the marathon and half-marathon events will take broadly similar routes across most of the territory.
The main route starts in Cotai and heads across Sai Van Bridge to tour the areas around the Macau Tower, Barra and Nam Van Lake. It then heads back to Taipa along the Governor Nobre de Carvalho Bridge, through Taipa Village and Cotai and down into Coloane.
Some 1,600 participants will be accepted for the main marathon event, while the half-marathon and mini-
marathon will invite 4,600 and 4,800 participants respectively.
Registration for the marathon and half-marathon events will open on September 23 from 9 a.m. Meanwhile, registration for the mini-marathon event will open at the same time the following day. A representative of the Sports Bureau explained that the difference was to prevent an administrative overload on the first registration day.
At Tuesday’s press conference, the president of Sports Bureau, Pun Weng Kun, pledged to “endeavor to deliver another successful event this year.”
Ma Iao Hang, the chairman of the General Association of Athletics of Macau, a co-organizer of the event, said that his association attaches great importance to the marathon. To this end, the association will provide 1,000 people to work in various roles during and ahead of the event, and they will also organize special training courses to prepare athletes.
Ma said that he looked forward to “welcoming runners from all over the world to come to Macau.”
This year, Galaxy Entertainment Group returns as the title sponsor.
Philip Cheng, a director at the casino operator who represented the company on Tuesday, said that Macau has much to offer marathon runners, including its “beautiful scenery, famous architecture and many interesting landmarks.”
“Running a marathon requires great physical strength, stamina and perseverance,” he added. “Therefore, the runners should possess the ability to endure difficulties with determination in order to finish the competition.” DB
