Profile | How Hong Kong’s ‘lazy’ marathon star made history, and what he’s aiming for next

Hong Kong runner Dennis Lui insists he is ordinary and even calls himself a “lazy person”. “My favourite hobby is sleeping and I get up at the last minute to go to work,” the 42-year-old, who works in marketing, says with a laugh. But his collection of running medals suggests he is anything but lazy – or ordinary. Lui is an exceptional runner. He is the first person from Hong Kong to have run all seven Abbott World Marathon Majors – the world’s most prestigious marathons, in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York and Sydney – in under three hours each. He achieved this incredible feat between September 2019 and April 2024 during his second round of the Marathon Majors circuit. He has already begun his third. Less than 1 per cent of the global population will ever run a marathon – a race of 42.195 km (26.2 miles) – and only around 2 to 4 per cent of those who do achieve a sub-three-hour time. Among the seven races in his second round of Marathon Majors, he completed four in less than two hours and 50 minutes. His current personal best of 2:44:30 was achieved at the 2024 London Marathon. Lui is now on a quest to finish a marathon in under two hours and 40 minutes. For context, the world record, held by the late Kenyan runner Kelvin Kiptum, is two hours and 35 seconds, which he set at the Chicago Marathon in October 2023, at the age of 23. Still, Lui sees himself as a regular Hongkonger, driven by personal accountability, the curiosity to learn what he can achieve through hard work, and the joy of connections made through running. Lui, who says he was a shy child, never had an interest in running while attending all-boys schools in Hong Kong; he preferred team sports such as football and basketball because they helped him connect with his classmates. His running journey began with a 10km race in February 2008, when he was 25. It was part of the Hong Kong Marathon and took place on the picturesque Island Eastern Corridor, which stretches from Causeway Bay to Chai Wan on Hong Kong Island. With minimal training and his trusty Casio G-Shock watch to keep pace, he finished in under 50 minutes. The experience planted a seed for future races. The next year, he ran his first Hong Kong half-marathon. He recalls feeling moved by the sight of runners being cheered on by their friends and family near the finish line. “I thought, ‘Wow, they are so lucky!’ And I had tears in my eyes,” he says. Lui ran in the half-marathon category in the Hong Kong Marathon for the next two years, but did not feel compelled to run a full marathon. That changed when he was 29. He stumbled upon a book that listed things to do before turning 30. “One of the items was to run a full marathon. The book said that once you run a full marathon, you will have a very new [out]look … I thought, ‘Oh Dennis, I think it’s time for you to try.’” His training was rudimentary. He ran alone for eight weeks, still guided by his G-Shock, with no GPS. To measure his distance, he would memorise his nighttime route and plug it into Google Maps at the office the next morning. For his first marathon, in 2012, he curated a playlist of slow Cantopop songs on an iPod Shuffle. He finished in 3:42:48. In the following years, Lui combined running with his passion for travelling and ran races in cities such as Seoul in Korea, and Osaka and Kyoto in Japan. Although his times consistently improved, he remained a casual runner who did not take training too seriously. The turning point came when he joined the Marathon Training Centre, a Hong Kong running club run by Fung Wah-tim, a respected coach better known as “Tim Sir”. The two first met at a large group dinner for runners that Lui attended with a friend. “At one point, he came over, asked about my PB [personal best] and said ‘Come run with us and you will make sub-three,’” Lui recalls. “Tim Sir soon left, but everyone at the dinner was surprised by his comment.” At the time, with a personal best of 3:22, Lui thought it was an impossible dream. “Each kilometre, I needed to run one minute faster … I never thought I could make it.” He started training under the coach’s programme in the summer of 2016 and broke the three-hour barrier at the Hong Kong Marathon in February 2017. Mental fortitude carries Lui through. “If I’m playing football and in the first half we are losing two to zero, every teammate would be frustrated,” he says. “For me, I would say, ‘Hey, we can still make it, don’t give up.’” This mentality translates directly to his racing strategy. Almost all his personal records are achieved with a “negative split” – running the second half of the race faster than the first. It is a testament to his pacing and psychological control. “Physically, I’m not very strong, I know that,” he says. “But mentally, I think I’m not too weak.” He talks to himself during tough races and tougher training sessions, especially in Hong Kong’s sweltering summer heat or during heavy rainstorms. “I need to follow my programme,” he says, adding, “I’m good at talking to myself.” If he falls behind in his goals, he will ask himself why he is off track. Lui is a man of fascinating contradictions. He says that he is deeply shy and antisocial. “I can talk a lot with someone when I feel like they can really understand me and we speak the same language, which is running,” he says. He trains obsessively yet calls himself lazy, preferring the most convenient way to get things done. He does not follow a strict diet – “I like eating fast food,” he says – but avoids soda and sugary drinks, favouring unsweetened iced lemon tea. He finds immense joy in connecting with people through running, yet since the pandemic he trains almost exclusively by himself, finding peace in the solitude. His motivation is deeply personal: “I just do it for myself,” he says. He keeps a handwritten diary to log his daily activities and mental state. “I look back and appreciate that I achieved something. I’m not trying to be famous or popular through these races. I just want to prove to myself that I can do something for myself.” His focus now is on breaking the 2:40 barrier. “I know I’m older… but I still have a hope,” he says. Whether he achieves it or not, Lui, the “lazy” runner, has already secured his place in Hong Kong’s sporting history. Like what you read? Follow SCMP Lifestyle on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also sign up for our eNewsletter here.

Profile | How Hong Kong’s ‘lazy’ marathon star made history, and what he’s aiming for next

Dennis Lui, the first Hongkonger to run all seven major world marathons in under three hours each, shares his story – and his love of sleep