World's longest cross-sea bridge to host marathon in March

Aerial photo taken on Dec. 27, 2017 shows the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in early morning, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

A marathon will be held on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge on March 18, according to an announcement by organizers from the Zhuhai municipal committee on its official social media account.

Up to 10,000 participants can choose to run either the full 42-kilometer course or a mini 5-kilometer dash on the world's longest cross-sea bridge.

Both races will begin and end in Zhuhai, with runners on the full course making a round trip between the bridge's main section and an artificial island to its west.

A total of 1.22 million yuan (188,000 US dollars) of prize money is up for grabs for the fastest eight runners in both the men's and women's categories.

Registration for the marathon will open next week and will last for two weeks.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge stretches 55 kilometers. Its main structure consists of a 22.9km bridge and a 6.7km underground tunnel. The bridge is designed to facilitate transportation within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area by establishing an intercity 'one-hour circle'.

The bridge took eight years to build. Its main structure consumed more than 400,000 tons of steel, which would be enough to construct 60 Eiffel Towers.

China Daily reports that the bridge will open in the second quarter of this year.