Some 20,000 people participated in a 10km road run in Taipei yesterday — the first leg of the Human Race, a global running event touted as the largest of its kind in the world.
A host of professional runners, athletes from the Taiwanese Olympic team and professional basketball players joined President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and officials from the Sports Affairs Council to hit the road at 6am for the race.
The runners began at Taipei City Hall and completed the race at the Dajia Riverside Park in Dazhi District (大直).
Wu Wen-chien (吳文騫), 31, who represented Taiwan in the men’s marathon competition at the Beijing Olympics, won the men’s division in yesterday’s race by finishing with a time of 30 minutes and 35 seconds.
Hsu Yu-fang (許玉芳), 26, a marathoner who participated in the 2004 Athens Olympics, won the women’s division with a time of 36:06.
The run, sponsored by global sportswear giant Nike, will move from Taipei to Shanghai, London, Paris, New York and 20 other “race cities” around the world.
The 25 cities were selected based on the geographical locations seen as best suited to showcase some of the most famous landmarks and unique race courses in the world. The cities must also be deemed capable of hosting a large number of runners.
The other 20 cities are Austin Texas, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Chicago, Istanbul, Los Angeles, Lima, Madrid, Melbourne, Mexico City, Munich, Quito, Rome, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, Vancouver and Warsaw.
At the end of the race in Taipei, a live concert was held at the Dajia Riverside Park to fete the runners and their sport.
Meanwhile, the head office of Nike donated US$1 million to www.ninemillion.org, a UN refugee agency campaign that provides help for refugee children and other public interest organizations.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS