Chapter 250

No one expected that at this moment, this girl with fair skin and a slightly thin figure wearing a red T-shirt and black tracksuit pants had the goal of breaking records.

Xiao Qi had prepared a lot for this day.

She constantly adjusted her running state every day.

She also constantly practiced the explosive power buff for sprints, and always gained new insights.

She made good use of her innate skills - the endurance of a little donkey that was most important for long-distance running. This was simple to say but difficult to do in practice.

The key was perseverance - not just the perseverance in this competition, but also the perseverance in the relentless daily training before the competition.

There was also the jumping power of a panda. Pandas may look silly in black and white, but their jumping power was actually very good. Making good use of this jumping power was also a technique to increase running speed.

The reason why blacks run so fast has to do with their innate physical advantage, and also their jumping power. Their calves are generally longer. When running, they cover more distance with every stride, which adds up over time. They have superior innate athletic ability and excellent jumping power.

Compared to them, especially among the black athletes, Xiao Qi looked exceptionally fair and thin.

She was 1.66 meters tall, not very tall. The red top was quite eye-catching.

But the black female athletes next to her had muscular arms, sturdy as if they could lift a horse. Compared to them, Xiao Qi looked even smaller and thinner.

Everyone was speaking English. Xiao Qi had very good English language sense, but she also noticed that even though it was all English, people from different regions had accents that differed greatly. Some blacks could even speak fluent Chinese, probably because they often came to Hua Country to participate in this kind of competition.

For them, it was very easy money to win prizes in competitions like these. They were also considered veterans.

In the men's group, they often monopolized the top six places. In the women's group, it was considered decent if one or two domestic athletes could squeeze into the top three.

However, last year's marathon race in Meng City was miserable. In both the men's and women's groups, the top six were almost all blacks. The only domestic female athlete got sixth place in the women's group.

It was basically like getting a complete defeat.

Anyway, for competitions like these, the organizers were very enthusiastic, often with various sponsors and the like, and it was also a citizen activity that was quite popular. But having the top six be all foreigners was still quite embarrassing.

So the bonuses for domestic participants kept getting higher and higher.

The 10 million RMB grand prize probably also came about for this reason. It was the "National Speed" athlete incentive program jointly launched by the national athletics association and sports federation. For the men's and women's marathon races, if the national record was broken, a reward of 100 million RMB would be given. Also, for every second faster than the national record, an additional 10,000 RMB would be rewarded, and so on.

It was also the biggest gimmick of this marathon.

However, according to past experience, the champion, runner-up and third place on the winner's podium would still be three black athletes.

It was embarrassing but there was no alternative.

The weather was great. There were many citizens participating just for fun. Many were elderly grandpas and grandmas, but there were also quite a few young people.

It seemed a portion of people were purely there to get a set of competition apparel, take pictures in it, and post on their friend circles. Their shoes were also not very professional - some wore casual shoes, others slippers or leather shoes.

But everyone had excited expressions. They took pictures of each other, did selfies, all sorts of things.

Somehow, Xiao Qi squeezed into a group of black athletes who were warming up. She started warming up as well. Her temporary assistant Jiajia, and Lu Chao were standing to the side. Lu Chao was carrying a large backpack containing Xiao Qi’s phone and other items, as well as Jiajia’s camera. He was also holding a tripod stand, working hard without complaint.

Jiajia already had a very professional look. She started filming as soon as Xiao Qi began warming up.

She didn’t expect that teacher could get first place or anything. But filming the entire marathon race was still very meaningful. This was her main purpose in coming in the first place. It was probably the most important reason she gave to convince her mom... Getting in the top three in final exams before summer break and the like were all trivial matters.

The race had not started yet. Although the sunshine was bright, the sea breeze was still a bit cold. Ahead, two athlete representatives lit the torch. At eight o’clock sharp, the starting pistol fired. Music sounded and tens of thousands of participants set off in an impressive stream.

Xiao Qi started running with the group of black athletes around her. They broke away from most of the pack right at the start, running at the very front with about thirty people.

Xiao Qi had carefully studied the history of marathon races before the competition, and watched videos to understand the importance of taking the lead at the start. If you don’t go fast initially, hesitate a little and get caught in the dense crowd of casual runners, your speed gets dragged down greatly. So to get a good ranking, you had to put yourself in the leading pack at the start.

So you needed a bit of speed at the beginning to pull ahead of the crowd.

The black athletes around Xiao Qi were quite surprised. They didn't expect the little girl who was warming up with them to be running alongside them. But they didn't pay too much attention either. When running, having someone to pace you can sometimes make you faster. But this was a marathon, and it tested more than just speed. There were many other factors. They figured the little girl was running this fast now, but would get tired and drop back soon.

And that was indeed what happened. At this time, Jiajia's foreign teacher Garen and Bruce were also in the leading pack.

But after running nearly 3 km, Bruce unexpectedly was the first to drop back.

Apparently not all blacks have talent for running. Although Bruce was black, he didn't have natural running talent and gradually fell behind, disappearing from the leading pack.

Old man Garen persisted and kept up for 5 km before starting to fall back.

Apparently he exercised regularly.

Xiao Qi maintained a steady speed within the leading group, neither at the very front nor the back, a medium position.

She adjusted her breathing, adapted to the current air. Her legs kept running. It actually felt more relaxed than usual, probably thanks to these shoes that suited her very well. She felt the wind at her feet, and really wanted to run faster, faster. But the full marathon course was very long. They were still only at the starting point. Going too fast now and consuming too much stamina too early was not wise. Xiao Qi maintained a steady speed, keeping her body in optimal condition as she continued running.

The sea breeze, palm trees, seagulls, dense towers... Lines of spectators along the street. Running, it felt so free.