DPR Korea&rsquo;s diminutive Kim Hye Gyong, seventh at last year&rsquo;s Asian Games, caused a minor surprise when she won the Standard Chartered Hong Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, in 2:31:46 on Sunday (25).Although she arrived in Hong Kong with the second-fastest personal best to her name, Kim still beat the otherwise all-conquering East Africans and won the Asian Marathon Championships title.The victory puts her in line for selection for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing this summer, and she could be a dark horse as a medal tip after her eighth place two years ago in Moscow. If successful there, Kim would be the first person from her country to stand on a World Championships podium since her compatriot Jong Song-Ok won the women&rsquo;s marathon in Seville back in 1999, DPR Korea&rsquo;s only IAAF World Championships medal to date.Once the 21-year-old Kim made a break at 30km on a relatively cool &ndash; temperatures ranging between 15-18&deg;C &ndash; but windy and humid morning, it became clear that the pursuing Ethiopian and Kenyan runners were not going to catch her. She ran out an easy winner, by more than two minutes, in 2:31:46. "Winning this race will do my confidence a world of good," said Kim.Meskerem Assefa of Ethiopia was second in 2:33:57, with her compatriot Tsehay Desalegn third in 2:34:06 while 2014 champion Rehima Kedir, also Ethiopian, finished sixth in 2:34:53.In theory, the Mangyongdae Prize Marathon in Pyongyang this coming April serves as the selection race for DPR Korea's team for the IAAF World Championships, but team officials accompanying Kim in Hong Kong said that since she had won at the IAAF Label Road Race in the DPR Korean capital city last year, that &ndash; along with her proven championship record &ndash; might prove sufficient to give her a free pass to Beijing.The women&rsquo;s race could have been more interesting had Kim&rsquo;s twin sister, Kim Hye Song, been able to compete, but a left hamstring injury has prevented her from training recently. <h3>Sibling rivalry</h3> Hye Song was second in Pyongyang last year, and the pair are the leading lights in their country&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s marathon squad, along with Kim Mi Gyong (no relation), who won the national title in 2012 and 2013 before finishing third behind the twins last year. Mi Gyong also finished second in the Asian Marathon Championships on Sunday in 2:36:08. The Kim twins hail from Sariwon City, in the northern Hwanghae Province, and began running at middle school when they were 14. After showing early promise, they transferred to Pyongyang two years later, and have been part of the distance-running squad there ever since. The men&rsquo;s race followed a now conventional script, or rather it did so after 32km, when the East African pack engulfed the runaway leader, Japan&rsquo;s Shingo Igarashi. Sentayehu Merga only got the better of his fellow Ethiopian, Fikre Assefa, in the final kilometre, winning in 2:13:00 with Assefa five seconds behind."It was a good race and apart from some wind, the conditions were ideal," said Merga.Former world junior 10,000m and cross-country champion Robert Kipchumba led the chase for Igarashi but paid for his initiative into the strong wind, when he couldn&rsquo;t hold the Ethiopians in the final stages, and the Kenyan had to settle for third in 2:13:07. However, so tight was the pack until the final stages that the top 10 all finished within 50 seconds, and the leading 15 finishers were within two minutes of each other.Igarashi, who makes a habit of leading early in marathons, finished outside the top 10 but his effort was good enough to win the Asian men&rsquo;s title in 2:14:29. DPR Korea&rsquo;s Pak Song Chol was second in that event in 2:16:09.An estimated 70,000 people took part in all the races on Sunday morning, which included a half marathon and 10km.Organisers for the IAAF

DPR Korea’s diminutive Kim Hye Gyong, seventh at last year’s Asian Games, caused a minor surprise when she won the Standard Chartered Hong Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, in 2:31:46 on Sunday (25).

Kim Hye Gyong surprises with Hong Kong Marathon win

The 19th edition of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon will take place early on Sunday morning (25), with Ethiopia&rsquo;s Rehima Kedir defending the women&rsquo;s title at the IAAF Silver Label Road Race she won 12 months ago.Like last year, Kedir isn&rsquo;t the fastest woman in the field - her best is a relatively modest 2:32:11 when finishing sixth at the 2011 Daegu Marathon - but having paid her own way to Hong Kong in 2014, the astute investment paid off handsomely when she took home the first prize of US$65,000. Kedir, along with her two compatriots and training partners Selomie Getnet and Afera Godefay, as well as Kenya&rsquo;s Beatrice Toroitich, should be in the mix for the top places.There are also two good runners from DPR Korea, Kim Mi Gyong and Kim Hye Gyong, with bests of 2.26.32 and 2.27.04 respectively, which means that the course record of 2:30:12, set in 2012 by Ethiopia&rsquo;s Misiker Demissie, might be challenged. Ethiopia&rsquo;s 2014 men&rsquo;s champion Feyera Gemeda has been unable to return owing to injury but that race promises to be closely competitive, with ten sub-2.10 men on the start line.Ethiopia's Dejere Abera currently holds the Hong Kong course record with 2:11:27 and the word from the various training camps indicates that the recent Ethiopian grip on the Hong Kong men&rsquo;s title is likely to continue via Wosen Zeleke, Girma Assefa or Solomon Tsige. Assefa, in particular, is said to have made an impressive comeback in training and is reputedly back to something like his best form of three years ago, when he clocked 2.07.43 in Paris. The man for the special occasion though is Siraj Gena who, when he won the Rome Marathon in 2010, took off his shoes and padded barefoot across the line in honour of his compatriot, Abebe Bikila, who opened the African floodgates 50 years earlier, when winning the 1960 Olympic title in the Eternal City.The leading Kenyan contenders look to be Felix Keny and William Chebor. Keny
 is the fastest man in the field, with three sub-2.08 times to his 
credit, and a best of 2.07.14, from his win in the Spanish city of 
Valencia in 2013. Concurrent to the main event, is the 15th Asian Marathon Championships, which will be held in Hong Kong for the fourth time, with contestants also eligible for the open prizes. The outstanding favourite for the men's continental title is DPR Korea&rsquo;s Pak Song Chol, who has run 2.12.41, albeit in 2007.Equally, his two compatriots in the women&rsquo;s race, Kim Mi Gyong and Kim Hye Gyong, are over 10 minutes faster than any of the other contenders for the Asian title. Incidentally, despite the same family name, the two women are not related, although Kim Hye Gyong does have a running twin sister, not competing in Hong Kong, named Kim Hye Song.Overall event entries, including the half marathon, 10km race, and relays top 74,000 this year, with close to 15,000 in the marathon. This year&rsquo;s race will be beginning at 0600 local time, when the mercury is expected to be at around 15-16 degrees Centigrade, rising towards low 20s by the elite runners finish, although humidity is always a factor in Hong Kong. Organisers for the IAAF

The 19th edition of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon will take place early on Sunday morning (25), with Ethiopia’s Rehima Kedir defending the women’s title at the IAAF Silver Label Road Race she won 12 months ago.

Kedir back to defend Hong Kong title but faces strong Korean challenge

Local runners Pak Chol and Kim Hye Gyong took the honours at the Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race, winning in the DPR Korea capital Pyongyang in 2:12:26 and 2:27:05 respectively on Sunday (13).Chol took more than a minute off his previous best of 2:13:49 set when finishing fifth in the same race in 2013. He was part of a three-man leading group, which also included Rwanda’s Jean Pierre Mvuyekure and DPR Korea’s Ri Yong Ho, who went through 30km in 1:34:09.At this stage the trio were running 30 metres in front of another three man group consisting of Ukraine’s 2010 winner Ivan Babryka, Zimbabwe’s Cephas Pasipamire and local hero Pak Song-Chol, the race winner in 2007 and 2008.Ho soon started to drift backwards, eventually finishing fourth, but Chol and Mvuyekure continued to run together, passing 35km in 1:49:42.Both men visibly started to struggle in the next five kilometres but Chol gritted his teeth and built up a 31-second advantage by 40km and almost doubled the gap in the final two kilometres.Mvuyekure, third in Pyongyang 12 months ago, hung on to finish second in 2:13:20, a frustrating one second outside his best, while Babryka came through to take third place in 2:14:24.Kim Hye Gyong, eighth at the 2013 IAAF World Championships and second in this race for the past two years, was out on her own in the women’s race from just after 10km and sliced over a minute off her previous best of 2:28:32, set in the same race 12 months ago,. The 21-year-old runner won by 53 seconds from her twin sister, Kim Hye Song, who was second in 2:27:58, a personal best by over six minutes. Gyong passed 30km in 1:43:34 and had a lead of 1:25 over her sibling but Song managed to close the gap slightly over the final 10 kilometres.Defending champion Kim Mi Gyong failed in her bid to become the first runner, man or woman, to win the race in three consecutive years and had to settle for third in 2:29:51.Another former winner, 2010 champion Kim Kum Ok, was fourth in 2:32:01.Race organisers said runners from 27 countries took part in this year’s race, which was over four laps of the centre of the city, starting at Kim Il Sung Stadium and going past the Pyongyang landmarks of the Arch of Triumph, the Friendship Tower and the Kim Il Sung University area. Runners then crossed a bridge to the east side of the city and wound their way along the river bank to the stadium. A capacity crowd of 42,000 spectators in the stadium were treated to soccer games and martial arts exhibitions while they waited for the runners to return.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Local runners Pak Chol and Kim Hye Gyong took the honours at the Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race, winning in the DPR Korea capital Pyongyang in 2:12:26 and 2:27:05 respectively on Sunday (13).

Kim Hye Gyong surprises with Hong Kong Marathon win

Kedir back to defend Hong Kong title but faces strong Korean challenge

Chol and Gyong take the honours in Pyongyang