www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
China
Home / China / Society

Running from hot to cold

By Richard Whiddington in Wuxi, Zhejiang | China Daily | Updated: 2017-01-11 07:45

 Running from hot to cold

More than 3,000 people took part in the 2017 Urumqi Silk Road Ice and Snow Marathon held on Jan 1 in the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.Liu Zhenlin / For China Daily


East African athletes are lured to far-flung areas by China's booming race scene

Migadde Calonnie had never seen snow before. Huddled in a heavy-duty winter jacket and sitting beside the Urumqi local who would act as her translator, guide, and driver for the next two days - she was certainly a long way away from her native Uganda.

"This is my first time here in China and it is a great opportunity. I pray I have the opportunity to come again," she said.

Calonnie refers to herself as a marathon runner and is one of a handful of international full-time runners who ventured to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, to compete in the 2017 Urumqi Silk Road Ice and Snow Marathon, a grueling race through the Nanshan Mountains in subzero temperatures.

The Jan 1 race attracted runners from 19 different provinces and municipalities, some as distant as Guangdong and Beijing, as well as a scattering of foreigners from seven countries including Brazil, Kenya, and Mexico. The growing popularity of marathons in China is well-documented - the country held only 22 in 2011 compared with the several hundred that will take place this year. This sharp increase, paired with the often lucrative prize money available, has attracted more and more marathoners like Calonnie.

Running from hot to cold

"There are many challenges in life, sometimes people don't have money and that is why we work and train hard to come to China," she said.

Although Calonnie says she finds something pure and fundamental in running, she is one of many middle-tier East African professional runners touring China's smaller races in the hope of providing a better life for her family. The 60,000 yuan ($8,700) prize money awarded for winning the Urumqi race is not to be shrugged at.

Her determination and individualism is admirable - she trains alone and moved to Kenya, far from her home and family, to improve her chances of success.

"I am an individual. I train by myself, rent my own house. There are many people training in Kenya and if you follow them you learn how to train, how to do intervals, how to do fartleks (a training method that blends continuous training with interval training)."

Calonnie has been running since 2011, but despite rigorous training and competing in more races than she can remember, this winter marathon in the Nanshan Mountains posed a unique set of challenges.

"Today we went for a training run and I was shivering. Yesterday we went for training and I thought to myself 'oh God, I'm going to die'. I am trying to get used to it but the cold can destroy your muscles," she said.

Calonnie shares a manager with Nigerian half-marathon specialist Hamadjarn Soudi Yaya, who traveled around China during December and January to compete. He finds that despite the hardships there are many advantages to his career as a marathon runner.

"Running lets me travel, lets me see many different places, if it wasn't for running I don't think there is a chance I would ever have come to China," he said.

There's no doubt coming to a place far away from home challenges Yaya.

He enjoys trying new foods and meeting people from different parts of the world but finds the language barrier frustrating.

He speaks candidly about the experience of coming to Urumqi and no doubt echoes the thoughts of the many other foreigners who decide to tour China to run marathons.

"Running is hard. You need to feel strong, to be strong and have courage," he said.

Even if the circumstances and talent of Calonnie and Yaya differ from the majority of those who took to the course on Jan 1, they are unified in their struggle of endeavoring to complete something unusual and exciting.

richard_w@chinadaily.com.cn

Previous Page 1 2 Next Page

Editor's picks
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
 
主站蜘蛛池模板: 一级做a爰片久久毛片潮喷 一级做a爰片久久毛片美女 | 伊人黄网| 日韩精品在线观看免费 | 国产精品久久精品视 | 国产高清美女一级a毛片久久w | 岛国午夜精品视频在线观看 | 国产成人一区免费观看 | 久久免费看 | 美欧毛片 | 国产成人免费高清视频网址 | 亚洲精品色综合色在线观看 | 国产一区二区亚洲精品天堂 | 在线播放另类 | 日韩欧美国产视频 | 亚洲波多野结衣日韩在线 | 毛片免费视频 | 欧美性色xo在线 | 午夜影院黄| 免费看成人播放毛片 | 久久综合给会久久狠狠狠 | 国产一级在线观看www色 | 久久影院国产 | 成人a站| 手机在线看片福利 | 一区二区三区在线 | 日本 | 成人欧美一区二区三区视频 | gdcm01果冻传媒 | 中文字幕亚洲一区二区v@在线 | 91情侣高清精品国产 | 国产伦码精品一区二区三区 | 亚洲自偷 | 美国一级毛片片aa久久综合 | 边接电话边做国语高清对白 | 99爱视频免费高清在线观看 | 国产一二三区在线 | 国产精品久久久久亚洲 | 日韩中文字幕视频在线 | 亚洲欧美日韩另类精品一区二区三区 | 青青操在线视频 | 亚洲另类激情综合偷自拍图 | 免费国产不卡午夜福在线观看 |