Xiongguan shows heroic posture, and Yanmen shares pride. On June 30, the 2024 Yanmenguan Super Trail Run kicked off in Dai County, Xinzhou City, with runners from 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country gathering, in addition to Vietnam and other countries.
The race track is located in the east of the Yanmen Pass Scenic Area along the mountainous area around the Great Wall, along the way the forest and grass are abundant, the mountain is high and the slope is steep, through the river valley, over the ridge, climbing the Great Wall, over the meadow, full of challenges, by the State General Administration of Sports as a special track. The competition consists of three categories: Elite Challenge Group (42 km), Public Experience Group (32.22 km) and Parent-Child Entertainment Group (11.49 km). The oldest contestant is 64 years old.
Trail runners rush out of the starting line
Trail running, indeed "wild"
On the day of the race, the sky was clear, and at 7:30 a.m., the starting gun sounded, and the runners rushed out of the starting line to experience the excitement and joy of cross-country racing on the track. Starting from Yanmen King Wine Castle, the runners walked through the canyon, ran through the scenic spots, climbed the Great Wall, climbed over the mountains, and the magnificent mountains and rivers of Yanmen Pass were all under their feet and had a panoramic view.
Through river valleys, over ridges, climbing the Great Wall, over meadows
After fierce competition, each group decided the final ranking. In the elite challenge group, Lin Xiao won the men's championship with a time of 4:32:38, and Zhi Yonghua won the women's championship with a time of 5:38:58. In the mass experience group, Zhang Rui won the men's championship with a time of 3:04:06, and Li Xianglan won the women's championship with a time of 4:20:17.
"I am really happy to win the first place, the scenery along the way is particularly beautiful, running in the Yanmen Pass Scenic Area is full of challenges, and the pride is also spontaneous." Lin Xiao, a Beijinger who won the first place in the men's elite challenge group, said, "The most difficult time came in the 30-kilometer climb, but fortunately, I persevered. ”
The top three men in the elite challenge group
The top three women in the public experience group
Compared with Lin Xiao, who has participated in more than 100 cross-country races, 39-year-old Li Xianglan is a novice in cross-country racing, "I am very excited to win the championship in the first cross-country race, although I usually like to run, but cross-country running and road running are two concepts, cross-country racing involves mountain climbing, which is particularly physically demanding." As a native of Dai County, Li Xianglan is looking forward to meeting more runners in Yanmen Pass.
"It's so sadistic! It's so sadistic! Wang Weiyan, a 30-year-old Taiyuan boy, sighed again and again after the game. The first Yanmen Pass cross-country run attracted many marathon road runners to participate in the experience. Wang Weiyan, who usually "wins" marathons one after another, spent twice as much time in this day's cross-country running, "Especially 11-16 kilometers, too difficult?" Someone quipped, "How did you get through it?" The young man replied very simply, "That's it!" ”
Yanmen Pass, a little "warm"
At 19:30, the end of the Yanmen Pass Super Trail Run ushered in the last finisher. At this time, 10 hours have passed since departure. The last player to come back is not alone. In addition to the finisher medal, there was also a hug from the head of the organizing committee and specially prepared flowers.
This is a special trail running event for everyone. The organizer customized the race number bib of the personal birthday number and mobile phone number for all the contestants, and gave birthday cakes to the three contestants who had birthdays on the same day, and a marriage proposal ceremony was also held on the finish sprint platform. During the whole day, the person in charge of the organizing committee greeted every runner who returned from the race at the finish line, shook hands and hugged him. Each heart-warming moment has left precious memories for the players.
Multiple supply stations provide service assurance
During the course, a number of supply stations and medical points were set up to provide timely services and guarantees for runners, and 100 volunteers provided directions and supplies to runners. At the same time, the competition also set up a wealth of cultural activities, such as traditional folk performances, local food tasting, etc., so that the contestants can have an in-depth understanding of the local culture in the competition. After the race, in the athletes' rest area, boiled fish, bowl trays, rice and other special delicacies of Daixian County, made runners from all over the world become diners in seconds.
Brand competition, but also "ring"
The 2024 Yanmen Pass Supercross Race is hosted by the Dai County People's Government and the Xinzhou Sports Bureau, undertaken by the Dai County Sports Development Center, and operated by Huajian Sports Event Development (Shanxi) Co., Ltd.
"Fall in love with a city because of a competition", nowadays, sports have been integrated into people's daily lives and have become a bright business card to promote the development of cities. Wang Lin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Huajian Sports Group, said that with the competition as the medium, the model of sports + cultural tourism can transform the "good resources" of sports events into "good value" of sports and tourism integration. Huajian Sports Group adheres to the concept of "holding a competition, bringing fire to a city", continuously improves the quality and service level of the event, and contributes to the vigorous development of the local economy and sports.
Hold a tournament and set a city on fire
"The purpose of holding this cross-country race is to make every effort to build a sports and tourism integration brand of 'travel with the event'." Xie Zhigang, member of the Standing Committee of the county party committee and deputy county magistrate, said that the purpose of this race is to show the modern county, a national historical and cultural city, to the vast number of runners across the country, to further polish the "golden" signboard of Yanmen Pass, and to transform the flow of sports events into an increase in cultural and tourism consumption.
(Source: Shanxi Daily)