Spartan joy for fitness lovers

Nearly 10,000 "Spartan warriors" showed up for this year's first leg of the Spartan Race in China this past weekend in Chongli county of Zhangjiakou city in North China's Hebei province.

The three-day event began Friday and featured seven different racing types, with Spartan Sprint (5k,20 obstacles), Spartan Super (10k, 25 obstacles), Beast Half Marathon (30 obstacles), Spartan Ultra, Spartan Trail (10k/21k), Hurricane Heat (4 hour/12 hour) and a Kids Race.

The event was mouth-watering for racing-and-training-hungry enthusiasts as outdoor activities had been affected by the lockdown from the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Runners are separated to start at different times and safe social distancing is required at obstacles when runners queue to bypass them to avoid gathering.

The Spartan Race features a series of obstacles races varying from distances and difficulty with more than 200 races in more than 30 countries around the world. A runner who completes the Sprint, the Super and the Beast Half marathon in a calendar year at one of the events around the world will become a member of the Spartan Trifecta Tribe.

The Spartan Trail (10k/21k) was firstly introduced to China and Chen Penbin, China's ultra marathon runner and ambassador of the event, joined in to chart the trail.

The race landed in China in 2016 and in Chongli, one of the major competition areas of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, last year. China witnessed 36 races in 13 cities with more than 120,000 participants last year. The Sprint and Kids Races will be staged in Hangzhou as the second leg in China on Oct 17.