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Gym coach Lee wins marathon race in Ilan County

A local gym coach won the women’s Freeway No. 5 Marathon held in Ilan County yesterday.

Lee Hsiao-yu captured the women’s title with a time of 3 hours, 18 minutes, 56.8 seconds. Describing the race as “full of variables,” she said she was glad to have won the title, even though her time was not a personal best.

Wu Yung-fa won the men’s title held on the freeway connecting Taipei and Ilan in 2:43:09 and attributed his failure to break his own record to the strong headwind that was blowing throughout the race.

Chiang Chieh-wen took home the men’s championship in the 21km half marathon with a time of 1:10:58, while Chen Chih-hui bagged the women’s title in 1:29:39.

Former deputy Taipei mayor King Pu-tsung (金浦聰) and Health Minister Yeh Chin-chuan (葉金川) also took part in the half marathon.

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), an enthusiastic runner, kicked off the event, which also featured a 10km race and a 5km fun run, finishing the 5km run in 27 minutes.

Among some 5,000 runners who gathered at the start of the races at the Ilan Sports Park was a couple of newlyweds who ran the 5km fun run in tux, wedding gown and sneakers.

One man, a 54-year-old bank employee from Taipei identified as Chen Hsi-chin, collapsed just 50m short of the finish in the 10km race and died later in hospital.
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