Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/05
By: Claudia Liu, Christie Chen and Lee Hsin-Yin
Taipei, Nov. 5 (CNA) Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) participated in a marathon in the
Ma Ying-jeou (front, right), photo courtesy of Lienchiang County government
outlying Matsu Islands on Saturday along with 1,500 runners, saying the race will contribute to sports development.
Also running a Facebook Live broadcast during the event, Ma said he was very happy to take part in the marathon, adding that it was not easy to hold a race like this in an offshore island that is so far away from Taiwan.
He said he believed that the 2nd Annual Matsu International Marathon, attended by runners from countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Kenya and China, could boost sports development.
The marathon includes a competitive full marathon (42 kilometers), a half marathon (21 km) and a 10-km run. Ma was not enrolled in any of them but only ran casually for a few kilometers.
The races took runners to the islands’ historic sites, such as Tunnel 88, an abandoned military tunnel that is now a wine cellar, and Beihai Tunnel, which was used by the Republic of China Army as an underground wharf for supply boats in the 1960s. [FULL STORY]
