Beijing International Marathon Tournament, the highest-level marathon tournament in China was held on Oct. 17, 2004 . 6447 Tsinghua students joined the tournament this year, of which 770 for marathon, and about 3500 for half marathon.

The tournament began at 8: 31 a .m. , starting from Tiananmen Square , passing Xicheng, Haidian and Chaoyang district, ending at the Olympic Sports Centre. Standing in the forefront phalanx, Tsinghua students formed a group full of youthful spirit . Many of them have attended the race more than once, and it's common that those who joined in the 10-km race and mini marathon last year signed up for half marathon this time because they considered it a good chance to challenge oneself and train one's stamina, both in body and mind.

A staging post at the 30-km point was set up by the University to provide the University's athletes with chocolate pies, chocolates, bananas and water, etc., as well as warm encouragement.

As amateur marathon athletes, the students' main aim is to get special experience and to show their love for sport rather than to gain good scores merely. As a famous catchword in Tsinghua says, “take exercise and try to work for the motherland for 50 years”, participating various exercise has become a tradition and habit of Tsinghua students. There is a marathon club in Tsinghua and before the race the club members have organized some students to have systemic training for the race.

Beijing International Marathon Tournament was first held in 1981 and every year since then, the tour has developed into a traditional international tournament with great influence. Every year the students in Tsinghua join in the match actively, making up the main force of amateur marathon athletes.

Reported by Jiao Huiru

Photoed by Guo Haijun, Jiang Sheng, and Xiong Kangqi