The marathon originated in 490 BC, when an ancient Greek soldier ran all the way from the plains of Marathon to Athens to announce victory in a battle, before dying from exhaustion. Since then, this distance – 42.195km – has become the holy grail of many long-distance runners, including Ricardo Cheung of the SHKP Project Management department. Spanning around two years, he accomplished the feat of completing six World Marathon Majors.

Developing an affinity for marathons

Like many runners, Ricardo took part in 10km and half marathon (21km) races before gaining exposure to full marathons. "At first, I practised on my own without any formal training. In 2014, Mr. Wong (Executive Director Mike Wong) organized a running training class and arranged a systematic training regimen with professional coaches on the weekends. This was when I began mastering the techniques of long-distance running," Ricardo said.

During the same year, Ricardo,s friends helped him enroll in the London Marathon – his first ever marathon – when he was travelling in England. "I could only just finish the race. After all, my basic running technique was not very good and I didn't train hard enough." Nevertheless, he has since developed a huge interest in marathons.

From marathon debut to completing six World Marathon Majors

While completing the six World Marathon Majors (Boston, London, Tokyo, Berlin, Chicago, and New York) is considered a lifelong goal for many long-distance runners, it only took around two years for Ricardo to accomplish this feat. In addition to continuous training, Ricardo always has running on his mind. He said, "In order to achieve faster times, I try to do things that help improve my performance, such as losing weight, sleeping and rising early as well as eating healthy foods."

At first, Ricardo took part in competitions with his fellow colleagues, and having support and companionship along the way was a good experience for him. Although later on his colleagues were not able to compete together because of schedule differences, Ricardo persisted and ended up finishing the six Marathon Majors on his own.

Fostering a closer relationship with colleagues

Aside from the sense of satisfaction gained from running marathon races, Ricardo relishes the process of training with his colleagues. "Although we are amateurs, we' re still very serious about running and we work hard together and motivate each other to reach our common goal. This has definitely helped us foster a closer relationship," said Ricardo.