On April 18, at half past seven o’clock, with a gunshot, the Eleventh Half Marathon Race 2021 sponsored by Suzhou Bank kicked off beside Jinji Lake, and twenty thousand runners took part in it. The race was divided into two categories: half marathon（21.0975 kilometers）and mini marathon (about 4.5 kilometers), and nearly one hundred thousand enthusiasts came to site to watch the game and cheer for the participants.

The annual race hosted by SIP can date back to the year 2010 when it is the first time that the race was organized in SIP. All the past ten times achieved success. With the continuous increase in race scale and its influence, the organizing committee was upsized with more personnel recruited and more work carried out to make the race better organized. Half Marathon Race circling around Jinji Lake has become the most influential long-distance track event not only in Suzhou but also in the Yangtze River Delta. In 2013, Jinji Lake Half Marathon was officially listed as a sport event of national level. In 2014, it was accredited as “copper medal sport event” by Athletics Association of China, and one year later, the copper medal was changed into silver medal. For years in a row since 2016, the race has been crowned as “gold medal sport event” by Athletics Association of China, the top level marathon race in China. This year, Jinji Lake Half Marathon has ascended to a new level as it has been accredited as world-class track event.   

The competitors ran along the designated route of the race circling around Jinji Lake, a national 5A scenic area, and passed such iconic landmarks as Suzhou Culture and Arts Center, Suzhou International Expo, Jinji Lake CBD, Ligongdi Causeway, Oriental Gate, Suzhou Center. The runners can enjoy ancient charm and present grace on the way because the route provides breathtaking views of Jinji Lake in sharp contrast with the skyscrapers in modern city. When the athletes are running along the way, the audiences might feel as if they were running in a beautiful picture!

After fierce competitions, Zhu Baojun, from Soochow University, stood out from men’s team as the champion, whose result was 01：09：50, followed by Mou Zhenhua and Sun Mingtao as the second-place winner and third-place winner respectively; Liu Meng, from Yangzhou University, stood out from women’s team as the champion, whose result was 01：18：04, and she was followed by Hao Xiaofan and Ni Zhiyan as the second-place winner and third-place winner respectively.

In order to make the race go on smoothly, the organizing committee put all divided work concerning the race under the charge of different personnel ranging from services for individual runners, orderliness and safety maintenance on site, medical treatment, rescue, energy and nutrient replenishment for sportspersons on the way, instructing the runners to take necessary exercises and muscle stretch after race for rehabilitation, to volunteers management and training. These tasks respectively happened before, during or after the match covering the whole process and all aspects. Nearly 1500 security personnel from SIP police station were deployed along the route. Quite a number of medical personnel were busy with their work on site to ensure every participant could successfully complete the whole distance. Besides the runners, all administrative, supportive, security and medical personnel including volunteers were also the highlights of this race.  

Source: Jinji Lake in Bloom

Translated by: 邵轶群(Shao Yiqun)