'There are many ways to live,

But I don't want to lie down. '

This is a marathon through a runner’s eyes.

The marathon spirit of never giving up

Let us firmly believe,

It is impossible for everyone to become an Olympic champion;

But you can dream of running a marathon!

In 2018, the Hengqin Marathon (hereinafter referred to as 'Hengma') was born. When the sun rises slowly in winter, dispelling the cold, tens of thousands of people sing the national anthem together, and countless people with wet eyes run from darkness to light.

In 2023, Hengma has been running for five years with his dream in mind. Along the way, many figures of hard work and many silent efforts were recorded, witnessing the great changes in Hengqin and demonstrating the cultural and sports integration characteristics of Qin and Macao. The scenes of the residents of Qin and Macao running in harmony also left a warm mark in everyone's hearts. .

The more you look at it, the better it gets·Hengqin is like a big garden

Hengqin Marathon Macau Participant: Guan Chujiu, corporate executive, financial practitioner

In his first appearance, Hengma was not dazzling.

'It's like running a marathon on a construction site.' The first-ever Hengma contestants 'ruthlessly' complained about their first impression of Hengqin Island. At that time, construction on the island was in full swing and the roads were not yet perfect, so the turning points of the competition route were complicated, and even the referee had to watch it several times before he could remember it.

Guan Chujiu, who has participated in three consecutive cross-horse races, is a native of Macau. When he was a child, he looked at Hengqin from Macau, and there were almost no buildings in his field of vision except for the mountains. Looking over the past few years, the island is full of high-rise buildings, especially the lights at night are very beautiful.

'Hengma's round-the-island route not only has a flat road surface, but also has a good environment. It passes through wetlands, coasts, flower sea corridors, and stylish buildings. It is very comfortable to run.' Hengqin Island is like a big garden, with The island-circling circuit, which is rarely seen in China, is one of the reasons why Guan Chujiu fell in love with Hengma. He and his fellow runners 'watched' these buildings rise from the ground and witnessed the city's evolution.

In the past two years, Hengqin's living facilities have become more and more complete. Guan Chujiu has several friends who come to Hengqin to live and work. During holidays, he often takes his family to Hengqin to visit and meet friends, and discovers many delicious and fun places.

He highly recommended: 'Chimelong, Chuangxinfang, and Xingledu Camping Town are all good choices. Some are suitable for parent-child travel, and some are suitable for a group of friends, community or company team building.'

More and more efforts are made to provide convenience for Macau runners

Hengqin Marathon Organizing Committee-Huafa Sports: Huang Lehe

He started up with his head held high, but stumbled.

When taking over the preparation task of the Hengma, Huang Lehe of Huafa Sports and his colleagues went to the Guangzhou Marathon to 'learn experience'. I thought everything was ready, but an unexpected surprise happened. At that time, Hengqin had a permanent population of more than 20,000 people, but during the two hours from 5 to 7 o'clock on the day of the event, 10,000 people poured in. The shuttle bus was not running smoothly, causing some players to be unable to arrive at the venue on time. It took some Macau runners more than two hours to walk out of their homes and arrive at the starting point of the race... Public opinion fermented in a short period of time, and was resolved through multi-party coordination by the organizer.

After this battle, Huang Lehe and his team were shocked into a 'cold sweat'. They fully realized that safety and order were the foundation of the event, and fully considered coordinating traffic dispatch and setting up multiple shuttle buses. In order to facilitate Macau players, starting from 2020, the organizing committee has set up a distribution area for items in Macau before the competition, and Macau players can receive items directly there. On the day of the competition, the organizing committee also provided shuttle bus service for Macau players. For example, in Guan Chujiu, it only takes 10 minutes to walk from home to the bus stop. After passing customs, it goes straight to the starting point, and the whole journey takes 45 minutes.

Running a marathon takes a lot of time, energy and resources. From bidding, organization to follow-up clean-up work, manpower and material resources need to be invested in every link to ensure the smooth progress of the competition. The strategy of Huang Lehe and his team is to maintain close contact with loyal runners, including complainants, government units and running groups. He said: 'Every year we learn from many opinions to make the competition better. I hope that with everyone's supervision and participation, we can make this event better and better.'

Getting warmer, many parties work together to protect white dolphins

Huafa Charity Foundation: Lin Hongmin

Among the vast team, there is a group of 'little dolphins'.

In every Hengma, the finale is a charity running group composed of 200 people. Wearing cultural shirts with the theme of 'Protect the Chinese White Dolphin', they set up environmental check-in points for marine knowledge on site, exhibited environmental posters, conducted popular science on garbage classification, and popularized first aid skills. This group of volunteers is affectionately called 'little dolphins'.

Regarding the origin of 'Little Dolphin', Lin Hongmin, deputy secretary-general of Huafa Charity Foundation, said that the foundation officially started operations in 2018. At that time, they paid attention to the very rare 'sea giant panda' - Chinese white dolphin living in the Pearl River Estuary waters. The Pearl River Estuary Chinese White Dolphin National Nature Reserve Management Bureau is located on Qi'ao Island, but Zhuhai citizens rarely see it. learn. Soon, the two organizations began to cooperate, and it happened that they learned that the first Hengma would be held, which was very suitable for carrying out science and education work on protecting the Chinese white dolphin. The two themes of 'sports + environmental protection' hit it off. Adhering to the belief that 'protecting the Chinese white dolphin is a marathon', the three parties have worked together for five years. 'Little Dolphin' has made more and more people understand the knowledge of protecting the Chinese white dolphin, and also given a warm color to the event.

In addition to the 'little dolphins' running on the track, more volunteers, traffic police, medical care, security, and cleaning staff worked silently to achieve a perfect marathon. With a sense of mission and responsibility, we are more proactive in taking on the responsibilities and obligations brought about by the competition in various directions, and playing games with conscience is our original intention that has always remained unchanged.

The more you run, the more integrated you become. Use racing as a medium to promote exchanges.

Deputy General Manager of Nam Kwong (Group) Co., Ltd.: Song Xiaodong

Macau elements are present throughout Hengma.

There are 841 Macau runners and 309 Hong Kong runners participating in the 2023 Hengqin Marathon. Hong Kong and Macao runners are becoming more and more enthusiastic about participating. 'Different from other marathon events, the special thing about the Hengma is that it has the concept of 'Macao and Qin fusion'.' Song Xiaodong, a marathon runner, was deeply touched by this. His Nam Kwong Group is the co-organizer of many Hengmai or organizer.

He spoke enthusiastically about the 'Macao piano fusion' element in the competition. The most important feature of Hengqin is its development positioning as a Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone. This should not only be reflected in cross-domain collaborative governance between governments, but also at the social and corporate levels, including exchanges and integration among citizens. The Hengqin Marathon is one of the iconic projects of in-depth cooperation between Guangdong and Macao. The event is jointly participated by Nam Kwong Group, a state-owned enterprise based in Macao, and Huafa Group, a local state-owned enterprise in Zhuhai. It is equivalent to being co-sponsored by enterprises from Zhuhai and Macao. There are also many Macao companies and Macao-funded enterprises in Hengqin involved in event-related services. . At the same time, more and more Macau long-distance running enthusiasts are participating in the Hengma, which has greatly promoted personnel exchanges and cultural exchanges between Macau and Qinzhou.

The more you run, the more international it becomes. It is expected to be held across domains in the future.

Director of the People’s Livelihood Affairs Bureau of the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone: Huang Yujie

After five years, the composition of runners announced by the organizing committee shows that Zhuhai locals account for about 50%, and runners from other places and overseas account for about 50%. In each session, runners from 15-17 countries and regions participate.

Any city marathon is not only a competition opportunity for local runners, but also a trip to the city for out-of-town runners. By extension, it is open to the world, attracts runners from all over the world, and appreciates Hengqin’s international leisure activities. A great opportunity to travel to the island.

Huang Yujie, director of the People’s Livelihood Affairs Bureau of the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone, said, “In the future, we will promote various sports events and activities in Hengqin, inject vitality into the national fitness movement in the Greater Bay Area, and help Qinzhou-Macao sports integration and high-quality sports industry Development allows sports-loving friends from all over the world to come to the cooperation zone to compete on the same stage.'

For an ambitious marathon, five years is just the beginning. Huang Yujie expects: “In the future, Hengma is expected to be held cross-border in Macao and Qinzhou and become an international marathon carnival, becoming an important platform to promote the development of the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. .”