My Fulbright Year in Taiwan

We traveled to Hualian 花蓮 this weekend for the 10th annual Taroko Gorge marathon. Ian entered into the 5k “fun run.” There were a few (thousand) other people there, too.

While Ian warmed up, an aerobics instructor warmed up the crowd. Can you imagine this working in the US? Me neither.

Finally the starting gun went off, and Ian shot to the head of the crowd. Yes, all those other people (everyone in a white t-shirt) were also runners in the race. Thousands of people!

About 20 minutes later, they were back again. Look who was in the lead!

Unfortunately, what Ian thought was the finish line wasn’t the finish line. He still had another 100 yards or so to go! We got the message to him, and he got back to his feet, and finished the race. Since he was so far ahead of everyone else, he still managed to finish third.

That last sprint really took a lot out of him, though.

He was in a cold sweat, felt dizzy and had a bad headache. We took him to the first-aid station to recuperate.

He managed to get back on his feet in time for the award ceremony.

The two guys in front of Ian felt a little bad about taking first and second place, because they knew that Ian should have taken first place. Ian didn’t resent them, though. It was a great race, and although the experience wasn’t 100% great, it was a memorable experience.