HONG KONG - The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, which had been suspended due to the pandemic, is set to resume on October 24, 2021.

It will be the first major mass participatory sporting event in Hong Kong since the start of the pandemic, the organizers said on Wednesday.

According to the organizers, there will be a total enrollment quota of 18,500 for this year's event, allocated to the marathon, half-marathon and 10km race. At least half of the quotas for the three respective categories have already been reserved for runners who had successfully enrolled for last year's canceled race.

In order to ensure the safety of the race, the organizers have adopted several kinds of measures, including all runners in the physical run being required to have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine recognized by the HKSAR government on or before 10 October 2021.

To encourage more runners to participate in this annual long-distance running event, the marathon, half marathon, and 10km races will also be held in a virtual format from October 24 to November 14, 2021.