When a mid-autumn rainfall brought more chill, Tangshan (China’s Phoenix City) saw a cleaner and clearer sky, in addition to wide enthusiasm for 2016 Tangshan International Half Marathon on Oct. 23rd. Passionate sports fans from the Institute showed up early in the sports park, waiting for the starting gun for the race.
WANG Chao, LIU Hongna and other eight staffers from the Department of Architectural Reinforcement, the Department of Planning, the Department of Environmental Engineering and the Department of Gas-Heating participated in the 5km mini-run. The race started from the sports park, passing the gate of the south lake, through the World Horticulture Expo Park and by such landmarks of Danfengchaoyan Square (The scarlet phoenix flies towards the sun)，the Grand Theater and Longquan Temple. All runners raced around the lake, successively seeing for themselves the achievements after the quake 40 years ago as well as the landscape of the city after its nirvana. The runners all reached the finish after an exhausting trial and were awarded prizes.
All participants were cheered and forgot their tiredness, saying they were happy and honored that the international event could be held in their hometown and a 5km race was a hard trial and great fulfillment to them since they could finally cover it. They also hoped that more such events could be held so they would have chances to meet challenges and show their passion and energy.