With a net time of 7 hours, 59 minutes and 48 seconds, "Saucony Victory Team 1" successfully won the championship of the 2024 Zhangjiakou China Race of the Mountain to Sea People's Car Relay. This result is nearly 20 minutes faster than the second place, which can be called a crushing strength all the way.
The members of this championship team are all familiar old faces - Yang Dinghong, Yin Shunjin, Cen Wanjiang, Wang Tao...... They have already teamed up to top of the podium last year. And when they decided to regroup and set out to Chongli again with the original team, everyone had already assumed that "defending the title" would be a high probability event.
Yang Dinghong, who served as the captain again, recalled that except for the teenager Ma Rui who could not return to the team due to schedule conflicts, everyone in the team responded positively to the proposal to participate again, and he successfully gathered everyone.
Replacing Ma Rui is the equally powerful Liao Shunhu, who also has many experiences in crossing mountains and seas, and of course, most importantly, he is an old friend of the players. Returning to the familiar track with old friends and relaying the challenge of racing together is one of the key factors that attracts these strong players to the sea.
The five members of Saucony Victory Team 1 may have different moods, but everyone has already reached a consensus on the goal of "defending the title". To this end, they have also made certain adjustments to the battle plan and stick arrangement, such as letting Yang Dinghong, who has outstanding running speed, run the first base, such as Liao Shunhu will take on the heavy responsibility of starting 4 stages this time, etc.
Captain Yang Dinghong was unsurprising and took the lead in the first stage. In the face of the challenge launched by the young players, Yang Dinghong appeared very calm and calmly seized the opportunity to open up the gap with his opponents. In the first stick, Yang Dinghong ran a pace of 3 minutes 05 seconds, which was the best.
Subsequently, Liao Shunhu set off in the instructions of his teammates to "steadily hand over". Despite the rain in the middle of the game, his pace did not slow down, and he continued to extend his advantage in this baton.
When Wang Tao successfully completed the third baton he was most familiar with, there was no other team that could pose a threat to Saucony Victory 1. The next 100 kilometers of the long stage turned into a competition between the whole team and themselves.
For the two most difficult and interesting stages of "Poe King (10th)" and "Poe Queen" (11th), "Saucony Victory Team 1" has adjusted the baseball this year. Yang Dinghong, who has been running for three consecutive years, also wants to challenge another difficulty this year, while Cen Wanjiang, who has been changed to the 11th baton, can give full play to his climbing strength.
When the competition entered these two consecutive difficult stages, the two players showed their "macho true colors" and showed their superhuman hard power. Especially Cen Wanjiang, who had a slight retention in the previous stick, showed a very stable state in the undulating track.
This year's new Shanhai Speed Stage (13th) is relatively gentle, which is especially suitable for exerting speed ability. Wang Tao ran a bit "top" in the first two bars, but he still gave his all in this stage and finally ran a super-fast pace of 3:04. He gave himself a "90" after the game for the performance he gave it his all.
Yoon Soon-Kim continued to play a mainstay role, maintaining a high degree of self-discipline for a long time, allowing him to run with ease on the longest "1,000 miles a day" stage.
In the last stage, Cen Wanjiang took on the heavy responsibility of closing. When the finish line was in sight, his four teammates had been waiting for a long time. After crossing the line, everyone high-fived together to celebrate and enjoy the joy of successfully defending the title.
Liao Shunhu finally fulfilled his dream of winning the championship for the first time after running N times across the mountains to the sea, and he also laughed after the game that he "hugged his thigh" this time. He also said that because his teammates had built up enough advantages in the early stages, he ran with ease, and although he ran a total of 4 strokes, he didn't feel too tired.
Yoon Soon-Kim said in the post-race interview that he enjoyed the process of competing with himself in the long-distance run. Fight with yourself, it's fun.
Yang Dinghong, who has participated in many competitions, has seen the positive changes of the event side, and he can experience the update and optimization of the event every year, plus the weather is good this year, and he feels that the experience is very good after the whole competition.
Before you know it, it has become a custom to reunite with old friends every summer across the mountains and to the sea. Not only these elite runners, but more and more runners have added "over the mountains to the sea" to the list of must-run races every year, and added an emphasis mark. Runners from all over the world, calling friends and friends to gather in Chongli, are crazy about the mountains and seas.
This year, the popularity of crossing the mountains to the sea is more than in the past, and there is a trend of "breaking the circle". The well-known host Bai Yansong participated in the competition for the first time this year, and his 4 teammates are also from a lot of backgrounds. Wang Junxia, Wang Liping and Chen Ding are all Olympic champions, while Zhang Peimeng is also a famous sprinter. Five public figures formed a "five-star one-heart" team to "play" the game smoothly, and each team member enjoyed it.
We were also pleasantly surprised to see former men's basketball player Zhang Zhaoxu in the game, who also teamed up with his teammates in Tianjin this time. The average height of the team is more than 2.13 meters. Their stride on the track is also a very unique sight.
It can be seen that "running to the mountains and seas" is no longer an exclusive running circle, and sports enthusiasts from other sports and circles have also heard the wind and participated in it.
They will be attracted by the competitive and fun format of the competition, and will be tempted by the new challenges of "Night Walker" and the human-car relay. The verdant scenery of the mountains of Chongli in the middle of summer, the fantastic experiences unlocked in the track, and the service provided by the race will be a reason to immerse themselves in the competition.
No matter what kind of expectations you have when you come to the mountains and the sea, you will eventually return with a full load. And once they run together, a special connection called "we" is generated.
Perhaps it is precisely because of this that the Saucony Mountain to Sea People-Car Relay Race is slowly becoming a "once-in-a-lifetime race" in the hearts of countless people.
The formation of an IP event is indispensable for support from all sides. Among them are gold partners like Saucony, who have been running with the event for several years.
"Supporting each other and achieving each other" is a true description of the teams in the competition, and it is also an accurate expression of the two-way relationship between Saucony and the mountains to the sea. With strength and love, Saucony blesses the mountains and the sea, helping runners write stories about "us" with every step of the way.
The successful conclusion of this year's Zhangjiakou event still shows Saucony's unsparing all-round support.
The sports equipment that Saucony has provided to runners in previous years has become one of the most talked topics. This year is no exception. In particular, the brand specially launched the Saucony Endorphin Pro Brown Peng 4 Extreme Lightning Color for this event, which is both powerful and beautiful.
Since its launch, Endorphin Pro 4 has shown its extraordinary strength in countless trials.
The midsole is layered with top-of-the-line materials to bring the rebound of the foot to the next level, bringing more significant energy return to the feet. Flagship technologies such as the S-shaped full-palm shovel carbon plate and SPEEDROLL are still solid and reliable, and they are all effective when the soles of the feet are pushed forward during the run and the front and rear soles are excessive.
The design of the shoe shape that fits the foot and the use of softer fabrics also make the Endorphin Pro 4 comfortable enough to wear, making the overall acceleration experience of the shoe easy and pleasant.
In addition to the support of professional equipment, a variety of booth services throughout the competition are also provided by Saucony.
In previous years, the highly praised personalized hair braiding, massage relaxation, check-in shooting, food supplies and other services are still readily available this year. Saucony unveiled the suspense of Saucony's next new product launch in the Race from Mountain to Sea for runners, the official debut of the 22nd generation of the TRIUMPH Victory Series.
The new Triumph 22 has been fully upgraded, with a more delicate foot feel and stronger rebound, which has made a new definition of the comfort standard of "runner's first class". At the same time, the booth also showcased Saucony's 22-year exploration of "victory" through the elaboration of the design story.
It's this persistent pursuit of "victory" that gives Saucony the confidence to keep moving forward, allowing the brand to do things that it can be proud of in its own way – for example, working together to create a high-level, high-experience event IP like Crossing Mountains and Seas.
A unique party is coming to an end, and the laughter and laughter of the runners still echo in the mountains of Chongli. Once again, we carnivaled with the mountains and seas, leaving countless memories to remember. At the next stop, there are new "victories" and more unknowable surprises waiting ahead, and we are looking forward to more and more of us starting again and going to the mountains and seas.