The “2015 Macau Galaxy Entertainment International Marathon” kicked off at 6 am on December 6 at the Stadium of the Olympic Sports Centre last year. Ukraine athletes Vitaliy Shafar and Olena Shurkhno, who joined the run for the first time, beat top players from Ethiopia and Kenyan, which are traditionally known for their distance runners, to sweep the titles in the male and female categories.

        Dr. Alexis Tam Chon Weng Presided over the Launching Ceremony

        This year's event was set to take place at six in the morning. The marathon started officially with Dr. Alexis Tam Chon Weng, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture firing the pistol together with Jose Tavares, the then President of Macao Sport Development Board, Ma Iao Hang, Chairman of the Association of Athletics of Macau, Lai Ieng Kit, the Chief of Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture and Francis Lui, Vice Chairman of Galaxy Entertainment Group among others at the starting point. A total of 8000 participants of the Marathon, Half Marathon and Mini Marathon made their best efforts to run that day.

        Ukraine Runners Sparkle

        The routes of the Marathon and Half Marathon held in 2015 passed along the Barra Square and the University of Macau's Hengqin Campus for the first time, making them more challenging while giving participants a brand new running experience. Ukraine's racers sparkle hours into the endurance run. In the male category, Vitaliy Shafar got the 1st runner-up with a time of 2:14:44 hours and Kenya's Dominic Kangor Kimwetich came in second place in the time of 2:15:45 hours. Olena Shurkhno from Ukraine won the gold medal in the female category having completed the race in 2:33:24 hours, defeating Ruth Wanjiru Kuria from Kenya who finished in 2:36:13 hours.

          Female Athlete Hoi Long Scales New Heights

        As for Macao athlete group, spirited local female runner Hoi Long achieved new heights, crossing the finishing line in 3:00:36 hours to break Macao's record (3:02:21 hours). Kwok Chi Wai, another invited runner from Macao, refreshed his personal best record, running in less than 2 hours and 40 minutes for the first time to finish in 2:37:49 hours. They triumphed in the male and female groups respectively.

         Iao Kuan Un & Wu Yangyang Defend Their Titles In Half Marathon

        In the Half Marathon, Iao Kuan Un and Wu Yangyang claimed their titles in the Macao group two years in a row. The winners ended their races in 1:14:11 hours and 1:33:19 hours in the male and female's categories respectively. Kenya's Joseph Ngare (1:05:19 hours) were the overall champion in the male category and Carla Gabriela de Jesus Martinho (1:18:56 hours) from Portugal won in the female category.

        Ho Ka Seng & Chio Kuan I Win Mini Marathon

        In the 4.2-kilometer Mini Marathon, Ho Ka Seng in Male Group B passed the finishing line in the shortest time of 14:09 minutes and Chio Kuan I was the fastest racer in Female Group B, finishing the event in 18:16 minutes.