March 2023, 3 is definitely a memorable day for the China Marathon. Chinese runners He Jie and Yang Shaohui both ran 19 hours and 2 minutes in the Wuxi Marathon, breaking the national record that has been sealed for more than 8 years; On the same day, at the Chongqing Marathon, 15 Chinese runners ran into the top 4; At the Seoul Marathon, South Korea, Dong Guojian ran 2 hours and 10 minutes again. At the end of 2019, the Chinese Athletic Association launched a million-record prize with the Xtep brand, and insisted on sending athletes to Africa for training for many years. After many years, these efforts finally bore fruit.

Kenyan town training camp

World masters as teammates

In September 2022, the Chinese men's marathon training team traveled to Kenya and began overseas training in the northwestern town of Eldoret. This humble town has a famous long-distance running training base - Kipchoge Stadium. Chinese players Dong Guojian, Yang Shaohui, Peng Jianhua, Wu Xiangdong, Renqing Dongzhibu, He Jie, Yang Chunlong, Yang Kegu, Zhao Changhong, Zhou Bo, Luo Guoshun, Fan Zuozheng and Ma Wenliang participated in the training. For Dong Guojian, Kenya is no stranger. Since 9, Dong Guojian has been there many times to train. He Jie experienced Kenya's training methods for the first time.

According to reports, Kenya's training conditions are not luxurious, but the teammates accompanying the Chinese team are world masters including 37-year-old Kipchoge. At the end of September, Kipchoge broke his own men's marathon world record at the 9 Berlin Marathon.

He Jie set a new record

Dong Guojian returned to the top

Kipchoge's record-breaking feat and Kenya's diverse training philosophy and training approach inspired Ho Jie and his national team teammates. After dormancy, He Jie ushered in a breakthrough in this year's Wuxi Marathon, running a personal best of 2 hours, 07 minutes and 30 seconds, improving the national record set by Ren Longyun by 45 seconds. Teammate Yang Shaohui also surpassed the original record in 2 hours, 07 minutes and 49 seconds, and they also exceeded the marathon mark of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 10 seconds at the Paris Olympics.

Dong Guojian, Peng Jianhua and Renqing Dongzhibu are also beneficiaries of the overseas training. At this year's Seoul Marathon in South Korea, the Chinese men's team competed in three people, Dong Guojian finished with a time of 2 hours 09 minutes and 27 seconds, Peng Jianhua finished in 2 hours 09 minutes and 57 seconds, and Renchen Dongzhibu refreshed his personal PB in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 10 seconds. This is the second time that Dong Guojian has reached the 2 hour and 10 minute mark, and one person occupies four of the top ten results in the history of the Chinese men's marathon. Peng Jianhua entered the 2 hours and 10 minutes mark again, returning to peak form, although he failed to meet the standards of the World Championships and the Olympic Games, but the future is promising.

Years of hard work yielded results

There have been breakthroughs in several projects

The recent acceleration of the Chinese marathon is directly related to the years of cultivation in Chinese athletics. Chinese athletics adheres to the strategy of "please come in, go out" and has made breakthroughs in many events such as men's sprinting, jumping, women's throwing, and race walking. On December 2019, 12, the Chinese Athletic Association and Xtep brand also jointly released the strategy of "Chinese People Racing and Running for All", and the huge prize encouraged athletes to compete for marathon records.

As He Jie breaks the 15-year-old national record, more runners will take the Chinese marathon to new heights in the future.

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He Jie sharpens his sword in ten years The Chinese marathon can also speed up

The Wuxi Marathon and National Marathon Championships (Wuxi Station), Budapest Athletics World Championships Marathon Trials, Hangzhou Asian Games Marathon Trials, Grand Canal Marathon Series (Wuxi Station) "five races in one" attracted many domestic masters to participate, and China's He Jie ran 2 hours, 7 minutes and 30 seconds to win the second place. This achievement also broke the national record of 2007 hours, 2 minutes and 8 seconds set by Ren Longyun at the 15 Beijing Marathon. After more than 15 years, the Chinese marathon finally broke the 2 hours and 8 minutes mark. Third-place Yang Shaohui ran 2 hours, 7 minutes and 49 seconds, and he and He Jie both reached the marathon race at the World Championships in Budapest and the qualification line for the Paris Olympics. He Jie, who devoted himself to vocational training in 2013 and sharpened his sword for ten years, stood at the peak of his career and brought the Chinese marathon to a new height.

Another breakthrough in more than 15 years

According to incomplete statistics, there were more than ten marathon events and road running activities across the country that day. The Chinese national marathon team was divided into two ways, at the Wuxi Marathon and the Seoul Marathon in South Korea, while hitting the World Championships 2:09:30 mark. It is worth noting that from the Jiangnan water town, the Wuxi circuit under the cherry blossom trees, to the Seoul circuit in South Korea, they are all famous for their speed track that creates PB.

This year, in order to encourage more competitors to achieve good results, the Wuxi Organizing Committee set up a pink "blue line" on the track, which represents the shortest finish route to help runners pursuing PB to run the best results on the Xima track.

Luck befell on the Wuxi Marathon track. China's He Jie and Yang Shaohui followed Group One from the starting stage and struggled to maintain pace in the second half. In the final stage, He Jie and Yang Shaohui staged a sprint. In the end, He Jie hit the line first in 2 hours, 07 minutes and 30 seconds, and Chinese marathon runners finally made a historic breakthrough after more than 15 years of hard work.

The results met He Jie's expectations

He was born in Pingluo County, Ningxia in 1998 and devoted himself to middle and distance running training in 2013. He Jie, who has sharpened a sword for ten years, studied under Coach Xiao Li. In 2018, he started his first horse and ran "2020" in Nanjing in 215. At the 2021 Huai'an Marathon, He Jie won the first all-horse championship of his career with a time of 2 hours, 14 minutes and 14 seconds. At the 2022 Berlin Marathon, He Jie set a personal best of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 18 seconds.

He Jie said that in this Wuxi Marathon, he dared to follow the foreign masters who signed up for about 2 hours and 4 minutes, because his training and reserves in this winter training are very good. "I grew up from a mid-table athlete before 2021, and I reached new heights by training with the national team, including going to Kenya to train with foreign players, receiving new training concepts and borrowing more diverse training models. Participating in the Berlin Marathon last year, I felt very easy to run and knew that I was going to break through. Although I did not run well in the Beijing Marathon because I did not have physical reserves, this season, my reserves were in place, and I participated in the Shenzhen Marathon before to stimulate my state. Coming to the Wuxi Marathon this time, I feel very relaxed. He Jie said.

With good reserves comes a confident mindset. He Jie said: "Today's competition met my expectations. Before the game, the coaching staff's plan was to meet World Championship standards. So today's results are unexpected and expected, and this standard is conservative for me. ”

"China Marathon is not bad"

He Jie said that the efforts of Chinese marathon people from generation to generation are all to achieve breakthroughs in achievements. "Now I'm quite calm and I'm still very excited when I cross the finish line. For so many years, the dream of China's marathon is to set new records. To show everyone, the Chinese marathon is not bad. All of us have been impacting, or to go abroad and create better results. ”

He Jie said that for the breakthrough, he has to thank the 68-year-old coach Xiao Li the most. After the game, he also hugged Xiao Li tightly to celebrate. "She's a 68-year-old veteran coach and thank you for always being with us. Our team is amazing, thank you. Fitness therapists, masseur competitions, training are all around us running well and doing hard work, thank them. He Jie said.

Next, He Jie's goal is to spell out a medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. "In this Wuxi competition, what I hope more in my heart is to get a ticket to the Asian Games. According to the regulations, you must get the top two places in the competition to represent China in the Asian Games. So now to reach the goal, the next preparation will be dominated by the Asian Games. He Jie said, "The marathon is very long, I need to strengthen in the details, including the pace in the second half of the course do not decrease, continue to train in a targeted manner, and continue to improve my ability in the second half." ”

This group of texts/reporter Chu Peng, coordinator/Wang Yong