TAINAN, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The first Asian universities’ half marathon relay will be held Oct. 30 at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in southern Taiwan with 56 students from 14 universities in Taiwan, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore participating.
In the early morning of that day, four students -- two males and two females -- from each university will run in the 21.2km race, part of the activities in celebration of the NCKU’s 80th anniversary. The six best teams will win trophies, medals and commemorative T-shirts for their schools.
Nearly all runners have impressive records in various track and field competitions in their countries. For example, De-Yang Shen from National Cheng Kung University has won two medals in the 2011 National Intercollegiate Athletic Games for men’s 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter tracks.
His teammate Pei-Lin Chao was the champion in the 2011 3K Run in Campus and was placed the 4th in the 2011 National Intercollegiate Athletic Games for women’s 10,000-meter track.
Runners Qiang Wang, Ran Zhao, Shu-Yun Xu and Xiao-Ping Cao from Peking University, mainland China, have won championships in athletic meets for 1,500- meter, 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter tracks.
“Running is one of my biggest interests. My biggest achievement so far is coming in 4th for National Under-19 for 5,000-meter in 2008,” said Eugene See, one of the athletes from National University of Singapore.
Xinqi Look, another athlete from National University of Singapore, is also a strong competitor. She was placed second individually and first as a team in the Singapore University games Cross Country Competition 2011 and was a gold medalist in National Track and Field Championships 2010 individual events of 800-meter and 1,500-meter races.
In addition, the runners from Japan’s Chiba University are constant winners of long-distance competitions. Yoshino Hayashi joined track and field club since she was a high school student and has participated in 1,500-meter, 3,000-meter, 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter races.
Her friend Onodera Michiaki was the Miyagi prefecture champion of a 3,000- meter race.
“A live and healthy environment is a key element to achieve academic excellence. I’m convinced that the relay race will lead to further international sports activities and help cultivate a young generation with enthusiasm and vitality,” said Hwung-Hweng Hwung, president of National Cheng Kung University.
Tainan City Government is throwing support behind National Cheng Kung University in organizing the event by planning to temporarily block Sheng-Li Road, Xiao-Dong Road and University Road, which surround the university, during the relay race.
The 14 participating universities are National Cheng Kung University, National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University, National Chiao Tung University, National Central University, National Sun Yat-Sen University, National Chung Cheng University, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Peking University, Tsinghua University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Osaka University, Chiba University and National University of Singapore.