7:26 a.m.
The sign-in point in front of Ping County Peopleās Park had already gathered thousands of people.
The participants, dressed in their colorful sportswear, looked like a sea of colors.
"Our great Ping County has made it! We finally got the health run application approved, itās so exciting!"
"Where thereās a first, thereās a second. Hope we can have it again next year!"
"Itād be great if we could host a half marathon or a full marathon someday!"
"This place is still a bit too small. For a full marathon, youād have to run into the lower townships, and the route is hard to manage, itās not realistic."
"Itās the first time running a race at my doorstep, Iām so excited!"
"If I could get a ranking and stand on the podium, thatād be great!"
"I think thatās unlikely! Look at that person being livestreamed over there, yes, that one, theyāre a famous running circle figure from our Shishi Region."
"Wow! Itās Fang Yunpeng! Whatās he doing here? Then no chance, even our director canāt outpace him!"
"Forget about being the champion, if our running club can produce a top ten finisher, thatās enough to brag about."
"Ah! The first Health Run is a great chance to get famous here in Ping County, but unfortunately, we donāt have the skills!"
At the sign-in site, those who had signed in gathered in groups of three or five, chatting animatedly.
The first Health Run in Ping County was of great significance.
Many of the local running enthusiasts from Ping County were also participating in such a grand event with thousands of people for the first time.
Everyone was very excited.
Running by yourself or with the club usually feels quite different from running with thousands!
"Hey guys, weāve already signed in. In 30 minutes, the race will start."
"The weather today is cloudy, and the temperature is about 19 degrees, very comfortable."
"The weather is perfect for running a race today, Iāll be live streaming the entire race to show everyone Ping County."
Fang Yunpeng was holding a gimbal for his live stream and had already started streaming on his phone.
"Go Brother Peng! Ping County will be easily conquered!"
"I feel like we can already lock in first place!"
"There isnāt a single black athlete on site, it seems there are no foreign contestants, so the competition shouldnāt be too intense."
"Brother Peng, Iām on site too, Iāve already seen you! Go for it, you can definitely get first place!"
"If you can run first while holding a gimbal, that would be incredible!"
Fans in the livestream chat were discussing fervently, having more confidence in Fang Yunpengās race than he himself did.
Under a plane tree no more than 50 meters away from Fang Yunpeng.
Huo Chenyang and Peng Xiaotong had already spotted Fang Yunpeng and Jia Feng, the mentor and disciple duo.
But neither of them went up to greet Fang Yunpeng; instead, they watched his stream on their phones.
"Heh, let him bask in his glory for a while longer. Heāll have his tears later, running first with a gimbal, as if."
Huo Chenyang casually closed the live stream on his phone, chuckling lightly.
"We are fortunate to have President Jiang to save the day for us this time; otherwise, the limelight would indeed have been stolen by that mentor-disciple duo."
After personally witnessing Jiang Taoās performance, Peng Xiaotong felt much more relaxed.
Fang Yunpeng is skilled, but heās definitely no match for Jiang Tao.
The odds of Jiang Tao winning the championship this time are over 98%!
Unless he gets injured during the run, or burns out his energy.
Of course, for a skilled runner, that chance is extremely small.
But it canāt be said to absolutely never happen.
Even world-class athletes like Kipchoge have days when they falter due to poor condition.
"President Jiang and Sister Bai havenāt arrived yet..."
Peng Xiaotong searched eagerly among the crowd for signs of Jiang Tao and Bai Yulan.
But in a gathering of several thousand people, finding someone wasnāt easy.
Luckily, they had agreed on a meeting spot, which was under the conspicuous plane tree near her and Huo Chenyang.
The flag of the Ping County running group hanging in the tree was still very eye-catching.
"Here they are! President Jiang and Sister Bai are coming over!"
Peng Xiaotongās eyes suddenly brightened as she spotted two familiar figures making their way through the crowd towards their location.
"President Jiang, Sister Bai, weāre here~"
Having seen the two, Peng Xiaotong quickly jumped up and waved to them, yelling.
Soon, Jiang Tao, Bai Yulan, along with Xu Li and Xu Sha, joined Peng Xiaotong and Huo Chenyang.
"President Jiang, Sister Bai, youāre here!"
"President Jiang, Sister Bai."
"Hello, President Jiang, hello Sister Bai~"
"Good morning~"
Huo Chenyang and Peng Xiaotong greeted them with great respect.
A few core members of the Ping County running group respectfully greeted them as well.
The respect for Jiang Tao stemmed from his exceptional running skills, respect for the strong.
The respect for Bai Yulan was more for her identity and influential background.
After the greetings, everyoneās gaze naturally shifted to Xu Li and Xu Sha, the sister duo who came with Jiang Tao.
The sisters were both dressed in Adidas sportswear today.
Xu Li wore white, with a fresh and elegant aura like a snow lotus blooming on a glacier.
Standing at 1.7 meters with a well-proportioned figure and delicate features.
Even in ordinary sportswear, she exuded a captivating beauty.
Xu Sha was dressed in black, not that she particularly loved black.
Itās just that her figure isnāt as good as her sisterās, and she couldnāt pull off white. Black is slimming.
"Good morning, everyone, Director Huo, Director Peng, let me introduce you."
"This is my wife Xu Li and my sister-in-law Xu Sha."
"They are my dedicated photographers today."