Local runner ‘nervous, fearful’ about competing blindfolded in Hong Kong Marathon

One year after he pledged to run the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon blindfolded, a “nervous and fearful” Marco Wong Sui-kam is set for his very own race in the dark on Sunday.

Wong has covered the 26.2-mile Hong Kong course in each of the past 20 years.

Shortly before last year’s race, where he ducked under three hours for the second time, Hongkonger Wong was introduced to Kim Mok Kim-wing, who in 2010 founded the Fearless Dragon Running Team for blind runners and deaf guides.

Kim suddenly lost the sight in his right eye at six. Aged 13, he suffered a retinal detachment in his left eye after bumping into a classmate. “From then on, it was as if I stumbled into a dark abyss,” Kim has said.

When Kim laid down the blindfold challenge, Wong accepted without hesitation.

“I am truly inspired by him, he faces a lot of difficulties but he doesn’t treat them that way,” said Wong, 44, a father of three and owner of AlphaMind education centre in Causeway Bay. “He has overcome so much, and brought people together.