Cancellations were also something we had become resigned to in recent months, in a city where almost every public event, including the New Year’s Eve fireworks and Clockenflap, Hong Kong’s biggest music and arts festival, had been postponed or canceled because of antigovernment protests. Coronavirus was simply the latest reason to call things off.

But I was still crushed. In the runners’ WhatsApp groups I had joined, more seasoned athletes were sanguine. “Run more races and will understand these things happen…,” one wrote. “Japanese marathons get called off four hours before the run” because of weather, consoled another. But this was my first marathon, I wanted to write back. How could you have forgotten how momentous everything feels when it’s your first marathon?

Very quickly, though, I decided I was going to run the distance anyway. I had already built up to 20 miles in training, and I wanted to know what it felt like to run the venerated 26.2. I wanted to make it worthwhile for all the friends and colleagues who had donated to my race charity.

I also determined that it was relatively safe. At the time the marathon was canceled, there were five confirmed cases and by the event’s scheduled date, there were 36. But people here are not required to be under quarantine unless they have recently visited mainland China, where many areas are under lockdown. Despite the uncertainty about how the virus spreads and the advice from Hong Kong’s Center for Health Protection to “stay at home as far as possible,” there are still a lot of people on the streets.

While all the swimming pools and public sports centers are closed, many gyms and workout spaces are open, though fewer people are showing up. Temperature checks are taken at entrances, and both hands and equipment have to be regularly sanitized. At least one yoga class has made face masks mandatory. Hiking remains a popular workout option for many people; Hong Kong, with its steep hills and network of trails, is great for that.