As the first runners finished the 42.2km Taipei Fubon Marathon amid rain and chilly weather yesterday morning, there was little surprise that the first man and woman across the finish line were from Kenya.
Josphat Kamzee Jepkopol successfully defended his title by completing the run in 2 hours, 14 minutes, 10 seconds, a time 4 minutes shy of the event’s all-time record of 2 hours, 10 minutes, 24 seconds, but a one-minute improvement over Jepkopol’s own record last year of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 27 seconds.
The fastest woman was Rebecca Kangogo Chesire, who finished the race in 2 hours, 33 minutes, 20 seconds, but failed to break the women’s all-time record of 2 hours, 23 minutes, 37 seconds.
Photo: CNA
Both runners were awarded a NT$1.2 million (US$40,500) prize for first place, but no winners received the NT$2 million bonus promised to anyone who broke an all-time record.
Jepkopol said he lost the bonus prize because the cold, damp weather slowed him down.
Taiwan’s top male runner was Ho Chin-ping (何盡平) — the fastest Taiwanese man last year — at 2 hours, 23 minutes, 33 seconds, while Hsu Yu-fang (許玉芳) was the first Taiwanese woman to cross the finish line at 2 hours, 48 minutes, 17 seconds.
Each local winner was awarded a prize of NT$200,000.
The annual marathon, Taiwan’s largest, also featured a half-marathon and a 9km race.
More than 46,000 people registered for the competitive events, while 24,000 people entered their names for fun runs and casual jogging events.
However, bad weather meant that turnout fell short of expectations, organizer the Chinese Taipei Road Race Association said.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
RSS