Peking University, April 9, 2018: On April 2, the PKU RUN100871 Club, which was composed of undergraduate alumni of PKU, issued the event of “restarting the long march of Southwest United University” upon the arrival of the 120th anniversary of Peking University. Alumni from RUN100871 will start from Changsha, the establishment location of the Southwest United University, and end at Kunming (present-day Yunnan Normal University) and Mengzi. It will take seven days around the anniversary day to complete a 42-kilometer marathon each day along with a unique exploration of cultural and historical scenes. The event was a tribute to the “Xiangqiandian Tour Team” 80 years ago and the 120th anniversary of PKU.
“Xiangqiandian Tour Team” was a forced evacuation to the south during the national survival crisis in 1938. Composed of more than 300 teachers and students of Southwest United University, the tour team trudged for 68 days from Changsha to Guizhou and then Kunming. This harsh journey was considered as a legend, known as “the greatest long march in the history of Chinese culture”.
The tour team on its way
Teachers of the tour team
The tour team reached Kunming
Time: April 29, 2018-May 5, 2018
Activity: 7 marathons, 7 days of humanistic visits
Schedule:
April 29 Changsha
April 30 Xinhuang & Yuping
May 1 Zhenyuan
May 2 Zhenning & Guanling
May 3 Qinglong & Shengjingguan
May 4 Kunming
May 5 Mengzi
The details of the marathon route, cultural missions of each section, name lists of players and other staff, as well as the online activities of “PKU Relay-the New Long March of Southwest United University” will be posted on the club’s Wechat official account “RUN100871”.
Background:
PKU RUN100871 Club was established in October, 2015. The initiator and head of the club is Yu Chen, a grade 1992 alumnus. There are nearly 900 members in the club, all of whom are PKU undergraduate alumni around the world. The purpose of the club is to “love Peking University, love youth, love health, love public welfare”. The club members achieve 24 hours of continuous running relay, and an accumulated running mileage of 1.2 million kilometers. The club organizes daily running training and competition activities. It has also successfully held many running charity activities centered on health and public welfare, including PKU Relay 1200, PKU Relay of Olympic half marathon, etc., and thus gradually extends its influence at home and abroad.
Written by: Pan Xuru
Edited by: Hu Rong
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
