Seroi pushed himself to the point he was sick once he crossed the finish line and said the Hong Kong race, with its regular climbs and descents, had been “tough”.

“First of all, I want to thank God for the win, but also Hong Kong, it’s a beautiful city,” Seroi said. “I feel really good, the course is tough but I enjoy running it.”

And, despite the pain, the 30-year-old said he was already thinking about returning next year. “I ran two hours 12 this year, so next year I’ll aim for two hours 10,” he said.

He may well need that kind of pace if he wants to defend his title, because his time on Sunday would not have got him into the top three last year. Senbeta Geza Tadease’s 2:12:00 was only good enough for third in 2023, in a race won by Seroi’s compatriot Philemon Kiptoo Kipchumba in 2:10:48.

Sunday’s event doubled up as the Asian Marathon Championships, and India’s Man Singh took gold in 2:14:19, more than a minute ahead of China’s Huang Yongzheng (2:15:24) and well clear of Kyrgyzstan’s Ilya Tiapkin, who was third in 2:18:17.

Singh said his time was not far off being a personal best and he was training to “get my time down to two hours 12”.

Mongolia’s Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh took the women’s title in 2:33:50, followed by Kyrgyzstan’s Gulshanoi Satarova in 2:36:31 and China’s Li Yingmei in 2:40:13.

With competitors racing over 10km, half-marathon and marathon distance, the day’s first winners crossed the finish line in Victoria Park as those tackling the full 26.2 miles were just getting into their stride.

China’s Chen Yufan was the first to break the tape on Sunday, finishing in 30 minutes, 58 seconds to claim the men’s 10km title, with Hong Kong pair Yu Shing-him (31:09) and Leung Tak-yeung (31:33) rounding out the podium.

“I came here to experience a race in Hong Kong and see what the city was like,” Chen said. “I feel I performed pretty well, the weather was nice and cool, which helped.”

Yu, a Hong Kong triathlete, said Chen had caught him with around 2km to go, and revealed he was thinking about making the Olympics in more than one sport.

“It’s not a good enough time for the Paris [Olympics in July], but maybe in 2028,” the 24-year-old said.

It was an all Hong Kong affair in the women’s 10km, with Candy Tsang Hiu-tung winning in 36:46, Wan Sze-wai second in 37:43, and Wong Cheuk-ning third in 38:27.

“I’ve run the [Hong Kong] 10km five times before, but I never thought I’d make it into the challenge group,” Tsang said. “I prefer running 10k to half marathons, but I will run more half and full marathons in the future.”

China’s Sun Xiaoyang took the honours in the men’s half-marathon, finishing in 1:08:05. Hong Kong’s Vincent Lam was second in 1:08:44, with Bian Bianqi third in 1:09:27.

“It felt good running in Hong Kong for the first time, my time was quicker than what I normally run in the mainland,” Sun said.“I’m really happy to be here and record a good time.”

In the women’s race, Hong Kong’s Choi Yan-yin won in 1:21:01, well ahead of compatriots Chan Man-chi (1:27:12) and Yiu Tak-yuk (1:27:28).

Like Yu, Choi’s main focus is triathlon, and the pair have the Asian Championships in April, but the Hongkonger said she would be running more half-marathons in the future.

“This is only my second time running a half and I’m quite satisfied with the time, but I think I can get it down to about one [hour] 17 or 18,” she said.

At the start of the day, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu sounded the horn as runners set off from Tsim Sha Tsui, and later said on social media he and his team would continue to “promote and organise international mega-events in the city, and solidifying Hong Kong’s position as an international metropolis”.

Back to its full pre-pandemic quota of 74,000 entrants, organisers said some 30,500 were expected in the 10km, with 21,500 in the half and 22,000 in the marathon.

Most of those taking part were amateurs, and as usual there was a healthy dose of celebrities. Cantopop star Ng Po-ki was among those tackling the 10km, and he said he hoped more people would take up the sport for the “many benefits it provides in life”.

Hongkongers Forest Ip Hoi-sing, 27, and Bell Iu Nga-Ling, 34, were all smiles as they celebrated completing the 10km race.

“After Covid, many people including my friends want to join this event, so I wanted to join too,” said Ip, who was running for the first time.

It was Iu’s third time at the event, and she said it had been “very motivating” to see an increase in runners, which “created an energy that wasn’t there last year”.