Chapter 228: The Well-deserved Champion, And The Voices Of Doubt!
The 15-kilometer health run was originally a piece of cake for Fang Yunpeng.
But to catch up to Jiang Tao, he ran over 2 kilometers with a heart rate exceeding 200.
Such a high heart rate was already far beyond his body’s load capacity.
Hence the phenomenon of running collapse.
Being outpaced at 8 kilometers was definitely a dark history that Fang Yunpeng could not easily erase from his running records.
Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat—
Jiang Tao maintained a pace of around 2:55 throughout the race, occasionally glancing at his heart rate data on his sports watch.
His heart rate remained in the third zone, between 150 and 170.
This zone is considered a high-intensity zone.
However, his breathing was smooth, his muscles showed no signs of soreness, and his physical feeling was good.
In the Olympic marathon, which runner doesn’t run with a heart rate exceeding 190?
This intensity was entirely within his tolerance range.
After outrunning Fang Yunpeng, the second-place runner, Jiang Tao continued to surge forward at his original pace, as if he had activated “constant speed cruise control.”
At the 10-kilometer mark, he had already opened up a gap of nearly 1 kilometer on the new second-place runner, Jia Feng, establishing an absolute advantage.
“Where did this master come from?”
Jia Feng, who had been chasing all the way but watched the gap widen, was also gradually despairing.
Originally, he and his master, Fang Yunpeng, both thought that Jiang Tao had started too aggressively and would surely collapse.
But…
Jiang Tao had already passed the 10-kilometer marker, and his pace remained very steady!
Clearly, running collapse was unlikely to happen to him.
Instead, he needed to worry about his own condition!
Like Fang Yunpeng, Jia Feng’s running rhythm had been completely disrupted in his attempt to catch up to Jiang Tao.
At the 10-kilometer mark, Jia Feng also experienced exhaustion and a drop in speed.
Forcing himself to speed up had also caused lactic acid to build up too quickly in his body; he could feel his muscles tearing with every step, the pain clear and intense!
At the 12-kilometer mark, Jia Feng watched helplessly as his “nemesis,” Huo Chenyang, caught up and overtook him.
To save face, he once again forced himself to speed up, trying to catch up to Huo Chenyang.
“Good boy, if I can’t beat the first place, can’t I still beat you?”
The outcome was predictable.
Having been outpaced while chasing Jiang Tao, Jia Feng was outpaced again by chasing Huo Chenyang.
At the 13-kilometer mark, he experienced “hitting the wall” and fell onto the track with his vision darkening.
Nearby medical staff quickly rushed forward, lifted him onto a stretcher, and took him to Ping County Hospital, which was cooperating with the event.
8:43 AM.
One hundred meters from the finish line, at a corner, a tall figure wearing sunglasses appeared, looking very cool.
“Husband, go!”
“Brother-in-law, go, go!”
“Handsome guy, go! You are the best! You are first place!”
“So impressive! Second place is nowhere in sight! Amazing!”
The spectators waiting at the finish line erupted in enthusiastic cheers as they saw Jiang Tao approaching with an insurmountable lead.
Feeling the passionate shouts of the crowd, Jiang Tao also felt a strong sense of accomplishment.
This feeling of defeating thousands of opponents and winning first place in a large-scale event with thousands of participants was truly amazing!
It could be said that in his thirty-one years of life, Jiang Tao was experiencing such a strong sense of accomplishment for the first time!
This feeling of immense success, of being congratulated by thousands of people simultaneously…
This feeling was simply incredible!
“Buddy, you’re awesome, truly awesome, buddy!”
Listening to the shouts and cheers around him, Jiang Tao felt an immense sense of elation within himself!
His efforts over the past forty-odd minutes had not been in vain; the hardship had been worth it!
Beep!
At 8:44 and 11 seconds, Jiang Tao crossed the finish line.
He had won the championship of the first Ping County Health Run with an absolute advantage!
“Husband! You are amazing! So incredible! I love you to death, muah, muah, muah~”
Xu Li, the champion’s wife, who was waiting at the finish line, was even more excited than Jiang Tao. She rushed forward, hugged his neck, and showered him with kisses on his face and mouth.
Click, click, click—
Reporters from various media outlets who had been waiting at the finish line also pressed their camera shutters, capturing this moment.
The young and handsome champion, his impressive result, and his wife with her stunning looks and fiery figure.
All these eye-catching elements combined.
The news about the first Ping County Health Run today was definitely going to be popular.
In fact, there was a considerable probability that it would trend on hot search!
“Congratulations, congratulations! Congratulations, handsome guy!”
“Handsome guy, please look this way at our camera for a photo.”
“Handsome guy, beautiful lady, give us a smile.”
“Mr. Jiang! Congratulations on winning the championship of our competition! You are truly amazing!”
“I believe your record will stand for a long time, with few people able to break it!”
A female staff member from the event, holding a champion’s medal, ran up to Jiang Tao with an expression of admiration in her eyes.
“Thank you.”
Jiang Tao thanked her calmly and slightly lowered his head, allowing the girl to place the champion’s medal on him.
Click, click, click—
As Jiang Tao received his medal, the sound of cameras clicking filled the venue, allowing him to experience the treatment of a star.
Indeed, this feeling of being flattered and enthusiastically praised by everyone was quite nice.
“Congratulations, Mr. Jiang! Congratulations on winning the championship of our event!”
“I am Han Mingrui, the director of the Ping County Sports Bureau. Congratulations on achieving such excellent results.”
After posing for a few photos with the official media, a middle-aged man wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and looking quite distinguished approached him to offer congratulations.
“Thank you for your well wishes, Director Han. I am also honored to participate in this competition in Ping County, and I am very fortunate to have won the championship.”
Jiang Tao politely exchanged a few pleasantries with Han Mingrui and extended his hand for a handshake.
“Are you also from Ping County, Mr. Jiang?”
Upon hearing Jiang Tao say “our Ping County,” Han Mingrui’s spirits immediately lifted!
This answer was indeed beyond his expectations!
It was naturally more impactful for publicity if a local person won the championship compared to someone from another district or county.
Jiang Tao smiled and calmly admitted, “Yes, I am a villager from Jiang Family Village.”
“Excellent, excellent! Mr. Jiang has brought glory to our Ping County this time! Wonderful, wonderful!”
Han Mingrui’s mood became even more cheerful and pleased. He asked tentatively:
“Mr. Jiang is so formidable, are you interested in joining our Ping County running group organization?”
As the leader in charge of sports, Han Mingrui naturally wouldn’t miss the opportunity to recruit excellent athletic talent like Jiang Tao.
If Ping County’s sports scene had a few more outstanding athletes like Jiang Tao.
They could be counted on to provide support at critical moments!
Just like this health run event.
Although everyone publicly said it was about participation, friendship first, and competition second.
Despite what was said, who wouldn’t want to win?
If the championship were taken by someone from another district, it would at most be met with congratulations.
Then a few photos would be taken, and an announcement of the event would be issued, and that would be the end of it.
When a local contestant wins the championship, there are many points for promotion and publicity.
After all, a local contestant can represent the local image.
They can become a window for audiences from other provinces in the country to recognize the locality.
Therefore, Jiang Tao’s victory this time was not only a good thing for himself.
It was also a cause for celebration for the Ping County Sports Bureau, and even for Ping County as a whole.
Thus, the first health run event was, overall, quite perfect!
Xu Li and Xu Sha, who were standing nearby wiping sweat and handing water to Jiang Tao, saw how polite the director was to Jiang Tao.
The sisters also felt a sense of shared honor, and the smiles on their faces became even sweeter.
Jiang Tao, while enjoying Xu Li’s service of wiping his sweat, smiled and said:
“Director Han, I am already a member of our Ping County running group.”
“You are a member of the Ping County running group?”
“Mr. Jiang is truly too low-key! I am also a member of the group.”
“I didn’t expect our group to be full of hidden talents, with a master like Mr. Jiang!”
Upon hearing that Jiang Tao was already a member of the running group, Han Mingrui’s smile widened even further!
This was another point that could be extensively written about, generating more news and giving the Ping County running group some exposure.
Beep!
As Han Mingrui and Jiang Tao were chatting, the second-place runner also crossed the finish line.
Seeing that the runner crossing the line was an acquaintance, Han Mingrui’s eyes lit up again!
As the director of the Sports Bureau, he naturally recognized Huo Chenyang, the leader of the running group.
Although the Ping County running group was a civilian organization, it was registered with and recognized by the Sports Bureau.
In fact, the Sports Bureau was the superior unit of the Ping County running group.
The first Ping County Health Run event saw the local running group achieve the fruitful results of first and second place.
What did this indicate?
The individual efforts of the running group members were one part.
The meticulous guidance and full support from the Sports Bureau also played a significant role!
“Little Huo! Congratulations, congratulations! Well done, our running group performed exceptionally well this time!”
After greeting Jiang Tao, Huo Chenyang walked towards Huo Chenyang, who had just crossed the finish line, and congratulated him with a smile.
“Thank you, thank you, Director Han, for your support and encouragement, thank you…”
The runner-up, Huo Chenyang, was not as relaxed and effortless as Jiang Tao.
When Han Mingrui approached him to speak, he was bending over with his hands on his knees, gasping for breath, and his legs were trembling.
Beep!
Another whistle sound.
At 8:54:39, the third-place finisher crossed the line a full 10 minutes after Jiang Tao, the champion!
The performance gap between the top three runners was also quite substantial.
Jiang Tao’s championship was well-deserved and held considerable weight!
9:00 AM.
After an hour, the hundreds of runners in the leading group had basically all finished.
The organizers, represented by Han Mingrui, held a grand award ceremony for Jiang Tao and the others.
Jiang Tao, participating in a competition for the first time, stood at the highest point of the podium, wearing the champion’s medal around his neck and holding the champion’s trophy and a large placard with his prize money.
The prize money for this health run was 5,000 yuan cash for the champion, 3,000 for the runner-up, and 2,000 for third place.
However, these prize amounts were before tax, with a 20% personal income tax to be paid.
Of course, the contestants didn’t have to worry about paying taxes.
The organizers would deposit the net prize money into the contestants’ reserved bank accounts within 7 working days after the competition ended.
Click, click, click—
The cameras of dozens of media outlets at the scene clicked and flashed, recording this moment.
Simultaneously, a video of Jiang Tao running, filmed by a passerby and posted on Kuaidou, was gradually showing signs of going viral.
The video’s playback count had already reached over 90,000.
The number of comments and likes was also growing rapidly.
“Too awesome! At this speed, I feel like it’s under 3 minutes per kilometer!”
“Bow down in reverence! My 1000-meter physical test wasn’t as fast as his pace for 15 kilometers!”
“Impressive, this pace has reached the top national level!”
“The most aggressive forefoot running style, so shocking, so cool!”
“So running can be this cool! Starting tomorrow, I’m going to start practicing running!”
“This physique, this appearance, it looks impressive! Winning the championship is well-deserved!”
“15 kilometers in 44 minutes! My goodness, a truly world-class master! Even the black athletes would have to kneel!”
“Even the national marathon record holder would be outpaced! This pace is incredible, and the running form is so stylish!”
“A champion of a small competition dares to challenge the king of domestic marathons, that’s a bit much!”
“People from small towns, who have a narrow perspective, are too numerous. His level isn’t considered top-tier in China.”
“Achieving this result in reality is quite good, but on Kuaidou, he still needs to practice!”
“This guy is so fierce, he outpaced Brother Peng at 8 kilometers. Could he have taken drugs?”
“Don’t make baseless guesses without evidence! All contestants who place will be tested after the race!”
“If you’re not good enough, practice more. If you can’t handle losing, don’t play. I think that Brother Peng’s level is also quite average, just so-so!”
“Brother Peng is the undisputed king of the running circle around Shi City. Today’s championship result in Ping County is too suspicious!”
“That’s right! If he had this performance, he would have become famous long ago and wouldn’t be unknown like this now!”
“I suspect he took drugs! He must have colluded with the organizers!”
“Suggest taking more blood samples from him and checking thoroughly! It is indeed very suspicious!”
“I calculated it. This guy maintained a pace of 2:55 throughout, which is more aggressive than Captain Wu of the national team! Too exaggerated!”
“It is indeed somewhat unbelievable! If this pace were maintained for 1-2 kilometers, it would be understandable, but to maintain this pace for the entire 15 kilometers on constant speed cruise control, who would believe this? This is a done deal!”
The internet has all sorts of characters, some praise, some worship, but more are questioning Jiang Tao’s results.
As an “amateur” with no reputation whatsoever in the domestic running circle.
Jiang Tao’s performance today was indeed too exaggerated, too unrealistic.
Even if the national marathon team were here, he could outpace them!
Of course, Jiang Tao would not resort to underhanded tactics to win; taking drugs was absolutely out of the question.
At most, he had only used a slight cheat.
【 Cool Sunglasses 】 have a 10% acceleration effect.
He was afraid of attracting too much attention, so he intentionally “controlled his score” and casually ran a 44-minute time.
If he were to go all out and sprint without any reservations.
Breaking 40 minutes for 15 kilometers would not be difficult for him.
But it would easily invite trouble.
