Dimitri Kyriakides reports from Zheng Kai Marathon:

March 28, 2010 – Zheng Kai, China

“I was the guest of honor in the Zheng Kai marathon, representing the Mayor and the city of Marathon Greece. This is the second year we are attending.

20,000 runners took part in the 3 races, full marathon, half marathon, and 5 km (2500 the marathon, 2500 the half and the rest the 5 km). There were about 3,000 volunteers and 15 Kenyans took part in the race. There were runners from 16 countries.

The Zheng Kai marathon is run on an almost straight road that connects the historic cities of Zheng Zhou and Kaifeng.
The cities have a history of more than 8,000 years and Kaifeng was the capital of China for 1700 years under 9 dynasties.
The course although it looks flat it is difficult according to the Kenyan runners, and it is run in the country side with always a strong wind against the runners so it is very tiring for them.

The organizers had our logo in the streets as we gave it to them and adapted it to Chinese for the final official dinner (see photos)

The flame was lit at the start. I gave two speeches, at the closing ceremony and the official dinner and spoke about the 2,500 anniversary and its significance.

The race was attended by the Vice Minister of the Chinese State General Administration of sports and President of the Chinese Athletic association Mr Duan Shijie, the Deputy director of the Chinese Athletic federation Mr Wang, next to Mr Duan, the Mayor of Kaifeng of Zhengzhou, and the party secretary of the Province Henan, all in the same photo.

The population of Hunan is 100,000,000 people.

The race is sponsored by many big companies and is getting bigger and bigger every year.

I gave interviews in the local TV and newspapers and today the papers are full of the story for the 2,500 years.”

Regards
Dimitri Kyriakides, M.Sc.
Marine Enginner and Naval Architect

Director
MARINE CONSULT INTERNATIONAL LTD

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