Hong Kong's road-running calendar now has a race that outranks even the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon on paper. The Bank of China (Hong Kong) Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HK Section) Half Marathon 2026 returns on Sunday 15 November 2026, run entirely on the closed Hong Kong Link Road of the bridge itself — and for the first time, it's not just a half marathon.
In This Guide
What is the HZMB Half Marathon, and why does Platinum Label matter?
The HZMB Half Marathon is staged on the Hong Kong Link Road (HKLR), the stretch of highway connecting Hong Kong to the 55km Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, closed to traffic for the day so runners can race 21.0975km with open sea on both sides. It's organised by Bank of China (Hong Kong) with government and bridge-authority support, and has grown into one of the city's most distinctive road races precisely because the course exists nowhere else on the calendar — there's no other Hong Kong race run entirely over water.
What sets the 2026 edition apart is its label. World Athletics has certified the HZMB Half Marathon as a Platinum Label Road Race — the sport's top classification, sitting above Gold, Silver and Bronze. That makes it Hong Kong's first Platinum Label road race, and puts it a rung above the long-running Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, which holds Gold Label status and is run every January through Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.
Essential info: date, distances, fees
Bank of China (Hong Kong) HZMB Half Marathon 2026
Runners gather at AsiaWorld-Expo before race day transport to the Link Road start zone; there is no direct public access to the course itself. Full logistics are issued to entrants in the official Runner's Guide closer to race day.
What's new for 2026?
The headline change is the addition of a 10km race, run alongside the established half marathon for the first time. Organisers have capped the 10km at roughly 2,000 places against 8,000 for the half marathon, bringing the total field to around 10,000 runners — a meaningful expansion that opens the unique bridge course to runners who aren't ready to tackle 21km, while keeping the half marathon as the event's flagship distance.
The other headline is the Platinum Label award itself, reported to make Hong Kong's bridge race only the fourth in the world to hold World Athletics' top classification. For elite fields, that status typically brings stronger prize money, deeper international entries and ranking points that count toward World Athletics' road race rankings — a real step up from the race's earlier Gold Label years.
Can I still enter?
No — registration for the 2026 race is closed. Priority Entry, reserved for runners who met qualifying times or ranked highly in the prior year's Half Marathon Challenge, ran from 11 to 15 June 2026. The Public Ballot, open to everyone else, followed from 18 June to 2 July 2026, with results announced on 17 July 2026. If you didn't apply in that window, there's no waitlist or late-entry path being offered for November's race; the next opportunity will be the 2027 registration cycle, which typically opens the following June.
If you're building a running calendar for the rest of the year while you wait, the city's autumn slate also includes the Hong Kong Cyclothon and the multi-discipline Oxfam Trailwalker, both of which run open or later registration windows than the HZMB race.
How do runners and spectators get there?
This is a closed-course, point-to-point race with no public transport access to the route itself. The Hong Kong Link Road is a sealed highway with no footpaths, MTR stations or bus stops anywhere along its length, so there's no way to walk, drive or ride to a vantage point on the bridge on race day — a genuinely unusual constraint compared with most city marathons.
Instead, the whole operation is funnelled through AsiaWorld-Expo, which sits at the doorstep of Hong Kong International Airport and has its own MTR stop (AsiaWorld-Expo Station, on the Tung Chung line extension). Runners must report to AsiaWorld-Expo within their assigned time slot, then board organiser-run shuttle buses out to the start zone on the Link Road; after finishing, the same shuttle system brings everyone back to AsiaWorld-Expo to collect bags and runner packs. Exact shuttle pick-up points and timings are published in the Runner's Guide closer to race day, and late arrivals are turned away, so build in a wide buffer.
For spectators, honesty is the best policy here: because the course itself has no public access, there isn't a conventional roadside crowd the way there is at, say, the Hong Kong Squash Cup or a Central street race. Family and friends are generally better off following results online or via the organiser's livestream, and meeting runners back at AsiaWorld-Expo once the shuttle buses return.
Insider tip: racing on an exposed bridge deck
Because the entire course sits on open highway over the sea, there is zero shade for 21km, and the wind off the water can swing from a helpful tailwind to a punishing crosswind within a few kilometres. November mornings in Hong Kong are markedly cooler than the summer months, but humidity off the sea still lingers — runners consistently report that the bridge feels several degrees windier and cooler at the pre-dawn start than the forecast suggests. Layer a cheap throwaway top for the assembly wait at AsiaWorld-Expo, and don't underestimate how exposed the final flat kilometres feel once fatigue sets in; there's no skyline or crowd noise to distract from the effort, just sea, sky and the bridge stretching ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hong Kong's most exclusive road race, over water
The Bank of China HZMB Half Marathon 2026 runs Sunday 15 November 2026, with entries already closed and a new 10km alongside the half marathon. Check the official race site for the Runner's Guide, and the World Athletics label races list for how the Platinum classification stacks up globally.