Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2006 Charity Programme raises almost HK$2 million

The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon Charity Programme raised over HK$1.9 million from this year’s 10th Anniversary Marathon.

The funds will be used to support the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee & Sports Association for the Physically Disabled (HKPC&SAPD) and Standard Chartered’s “Seeing is Believing” charity campaign, which aims to treat curable blindness and restore sight to one million people.

The money raised from the 2006 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon will go to two beneficiaries including the HKPC&SAPD and Standard Chartered’s “Seeing is Believing” charity programme. With the aim of supporting athletic opportunities and self confidence for disabled athletes, the charity programme has raised HK$1.5 million to HKPC&SAPD in 2006.

Standard Chartered Hong Kong expanded this year’s charity program by encouraging the public and participating runners to make donations to another group in need: visually-impaired people in the developing world. With the aim of providing medical facilities to restore sight to one million visually-impaired persons globally, HK$460,000 has been raised through the charity program and donated to ORBIS, the Bank’s partner in treating curable blindness in China.

A total of 163 corporate teams participated in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2006, while over 1,900 Standard Chartered staff runners took part in the Marathon this year.

The Standard Chartered Marathon is Hong Kong’s largest participatory sporting competition. This year the Marathon set a new participation record with nearly 40,000 registered runners. Kenyan runner Simon Bor won the Men’s Open marathon, while Dire Tune of Ethiopia captured the women’s marathon title.

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