Running: Marathon total 106 and climbing

Ching-te Huang, of Taiwan, celebrates running his 106th marathon in as many weeks at the finish...
Ching-te Huang, of Taiwan, celebrates running his 106th marathon in as many weeks at the finish line of the Dunedin Marathon in Port Chalmers yesterday. Photo by Wayne Parsons.
Taiwan's Ching-te Huang closed the door to his trading company two years ago with the goal of running 100 marathons in 100 weeks.

The Dunedin Marathon was his 106th in as many weeks.

Huang (64) completed the race in 4hr 38min, and was impressed with the scenic nature of the course.

''It's a beautiful course. But, against the wind, it's a tough job.''

In total, over 31 years, Huang has completed 366 marathons.

His quest to run 100 marathons in 100 weeks has led him to Auckland, Wellington, Buller, Christchurch and Rotorua.

A week ago, he ran the Ross Marathon in Tasmania, and next weekend he will contest the Waitakere Legends Marathon in Auckland.

Huang arrived in Dunedin late last week with a folder full of race numbers marking his ''crazy dream''.

His first goal, as is customary for him when he arrives in a new town or city, was to set about exploring Dunedin by going for a run, after scanning Google Maps.

''That way, I can get sightseeing for free,'' he joked.

On Friday, he ran from his central city hotel to Baldwin St, which he ran up three times.

''That was too tough. Then I ran to the stadium, taking a short cut through the botanical gardens.''

Huang took up running to battle the bulge.

''I was 33 years old and too fat at that time. I'm only 161cm and my weight was over 76kg. So I needed to have proper exercise to reduce my weight and get my health back and I chose running.''

Huang said that, at the time, there were only two or three marathons a year in Taiwan. Now, there were more than 70.

He began his quest of running 100 marathons in 100 weeks on September 4, 2011, in Germany, contesting the Wolfsburg Marathon.

''That's where I started my crazy dream. I needed time to spend my money.''

Huang has travelled to marathons throughout the world, mostly in Europe, North America and Australia.

He cannot single out any one marathon as being of special significance.

''Every one is memorable to me because to run a marathon every week is not that difficult for many runners. But it is, how do you connect this week and the next week?''

Huang said the travel between venues was the most difficult part of the quest. He needed to plan well ahead of time to ensure flights and accommodation were available. Keeping himself free of injury and illness was also a big focus.

 

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