(Translator:Gao Jie, Proofreader: You Jianmin)
Reporter: Fu Chunmi Origin:Qinhuangdao Daily
“Release your passion in Marathon and enjoy your fantastic time in Qinhuangdao”. On May 13th, the 2018 Junlebao Qinhuangdao International Marathon &the National Marathon Championship, jointly sponsored by Athletics Association of China, Sport Administration of Hebei Province and Qinhuangdao Municipal government, was held in the Olympic Sports Center Stadium of Qinhuangdao. More than 25 thousand runners from home and abroad gathered here to enjoy happily the annual Marathon spree.
Meng Xiangwei, secretary of Qinhuangdao Municipal Committee of the CPC, Zhang Ruishu, deputy secretary and mayor of Qinhuangdao municipality, He Wenge, depupy director of Hebei Sports Administration, Tian Jinchang, Liu Chenyan, Hao Zhanmin, Li Guoyong, ChenYuguo, Feng Guolin, Feng Zhiyong, Li Chun and other officials of Qinhuangdao were present at the opening ceremony and started the competition.
At the opening ceremony, ZhangRuishu, in the name of the Municiple Committee of the CPC, the municipal government and all the citizens of Qinhuangdao, delivered a warm speech to welcome the guests, the athletes and referees presented in this Marathon as well as to express our thanks to friends from all walks of life for their concern, support and participation. He said that Qinhuangdao is not only worthy of the name “Coastal Park along the Great Wall” and “the Backyard Garden of Beijing and Tianjin”, but also is the charming “Sports Stadium” of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei. As the only prefecture-level city which has assisted in the hosting of both the Olympic Games and the Asian Games, Qinhuangdao is not only equipped with good sports infrastructure, but also immersed in an intense atmosphere of sports culture. Many international and national games have been held here respectively such as the World Women Boxing Championship, the World B-Class Bicycle Championship and Beidaihe Iron Man Triathlon, etc. This year, Qinhuangdao has been elected by the National Sports Bureau as one of the 15 cities which are to undertake the activities of “I’m going to be engaged in the Olympics.” And now Qinhuangdao is exerting itself to become a city with powerful sports culture.
ZhangRuishu pointed out that Marathon is a favourite sport of the people with a long history and worldwide popularity. Since 2014, sticking to the concept of “Release your passion in marathon and enjoy your fantastic time in Qinhuangdao”, Qinhuangdao has successfully held four Marathon competitions. Thanks to the beautiful tracks, high-qualified services and high-standard assurance, Qinhuangdao Marathon has won more and more popularity. Not only has it become one of the gold medal events in the national marathons, it has also become a stage for national fitness, a carrier for cultural communication, and a platform for opening up to the outside world. It is a beautiful business card and an important window highlighting a high-quality city image, which has effectively boosted the construction of Qinhuangdao as a strong coastal city, a beautiful port city as well as an international city.
Zhang Ruishu added that the municipal committee of the CPC and the municipal government will provide the best service for the competition and create most favourable environment in order to fully display the appealing image of Qinhuangdao as one of the national civilized cities. We will try to make this competition a civilized event, a special and wonderful event.
At 8 o'clock in the morning, the competition officially started with the shot of the starter’s gun. More than 10,000 runners from across the country and from 13 other countries and regions participated in the whole race. They competed intensely in the crowd’s cheering. In the end, Evans from Kenya, Bella from Ethiopia and Cheng Ganyu frm Qinhuangdao won the men's championship, runner-up and third place respectively. The women's top three were captured by Nancy from Kenya, Yang Fengxia and Chen Linming from China.
According to the sources, as the third stop of the National Marathon Championship, Qinhuangdao Marathon competition had two events: full marathon and mini marathon for both men and women respectively.