Chinese "Forrest Gump" to run marathon from Hohhot to Lhasa

HOHHOT, North China, May 20 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese
marathon lover decided to run from north China's Hohhot, capital of Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region, all the way to Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region this
summer.

Ren Weidong, nicknamed Chinese Forrest Gump, who
participated in all the 12 international marathons held in China last year, said
he will spend two months to run from his hometown Hohhot to Lhasa, where he will
cap his bold plan with a following plateau marathon.

The 50-year-old has made his name early this year by
running from Hohhot to Chinese capital Beijing within six days.

Ren said he is about to leave Hohhot on June 6 and
finish the run on August 15 before taking part in the Lhasa international
marathon on August 22.

The awe-inspiring run, covering 3,974 km, starts from
Inner Mongolia and go through northwest China's Shannxi, Ningxia Hui Autonomous
Region, Gansu and Qinghai, and ends in Tibet.

The marathon will definitely become a hard test while
Ren is entering Qinghai and Tibet, which form the main body of the lofty
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Ren said he has to make much prep work for this stage
where the oxygen level is only half of that on plain and the altitude is at
least 4,000 meters above sea level, some part even above 6,000 meters.

Tibet to hold 4th Int'l Halfway Marathon Tournament

BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Tibet's capital of Lhasa will hold the fourth International Halfway Marathon Challenge Tournament on Aug. 22, which is during the Shoton Festival (yogurt banquet in the Tibetan language).

Participants in the first International Halfway Marathon Challenge Tournament start to race on the square of the Potala Palace on Sep. 12, 2004. (Source: People's Daily)
Photo Gallery

Launched in 2004, the competition will be held in Lhasa, which is known to be at the highest altitude of over 3,000 m above sea level in the world. Full story

Indian man finishes 90th marathon in U.S.

NEW DELHI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- India's grand old marathon man Ashis Roy has completed his 90th marathon, finishing the Delaware Marathon in Wilmington, the United States, in a time of six hours and 32 minutes, reported the Indo-Asian News Service Monday.

The 76-year-old Roy was the oldest of 600 participants in the match. It took him nine minutes more to finish the 26-mile run Sunday than he did in the Potomac River Run Marathon in Alexandria two weeks ago, said the report. Full story