EMBA President Cup Marathon Relay of NTU EMBA in Storm-brewed Morale

Contest in Rain

The EMBA President Cup Marathon Relay of NTU EMBA began boisterously in the afternoon on Apr. 10 at the athletic field. This Marathon, at its fifth year, had 66 teams, including 38 student teams, 2 faculty teams, 16 Alumni teams, and 10 guest teams, totaling near-600 contestants. Thanks to generous sponsors, prizes for the winners and lucky draw this year were highly desirable; the number one prize was an Apple Watch. The rules of the race were: 7 runners per each team, the first runner is to run around the field and then around the campus at total distance of 3.4 KM, where each the remaining runners is to run around the campus for 3 KM. In addition to team contest, individual times were ranked this year.

Warming Up with You-Kai Dance, Led by Gobi-11 Members

Before the Marathon began, the EMBA Gobi Challenge 11’s members led the contestants to warn up with Yo-Kai Dance. The Gobi 11 marched in in unified pace with a battle cry of “Start together, finish together!” The vibrant beats of Yo-Kai Dance ignited the ambience; faculty on the grand stand also danced to the beat. Xie Ming-Hui, CEO, NTU EMBA, shouted along with the crowd: “20th anniversary of EMBA; run for the future!”

The first runners started together and raced for the finish line.

What matters is start running, not the finish line.

According to Rao Rui-Ying , of Class 2014 and the President of the EMBA Students Association in charge of this year’s President Cup, “what matters is start running, not the finish line.” Last year President Rao finished her first 3-KM run in torrential rain as the last runner in her team, accompanied by more than 20 fellow students, feeding her with tips about keeping pace and rhythm, until she crossed the finish line. President Rao shared her touching experience and emphasized that the Marathon Relay is a heritage of EMBA and an important milestone of unity.

According to Jian Kun-Zhong, founder of EMBA Marathon Relay and fitness instructor of EMNA, EMBA is designed for top managers, who self-evidently should be able to manage themselves before they could manage a team with unity. The correct ideas about preparing for and the race itself are also applicable for and greatly help corporates and the society. Unity is the core spirit. The national EMBA Marathon Relay is also founded by NTU, and this year will be the 3rd year and the Chengchi University will take over.

Spirit of Geese of Mutual Coverage

Organizing a race event is like managing an enterprise. According to He Ron, of Class 2014 and CEO of the EMBA Students Association, all plans are subject to contingency that demand detail handling. Scheduling among an executive team consisting of top managers is never easy, but we are determined to make progress from the previous year, and we eventually conquered all sorts of problems. As you know, this is a mission of a team. We learn from the flying formation of geese, as an important index for Class 2014, that to get the job done, we each must constantly swap positions to cover our teammates and take care of each other.

Running like comrades; younger mentally and physically

Class 2014 completed the mission efficiently. At the same time, the teams aggressively trained themselves. According to Guo Jing-Zhong, of Class 2014 and Secretary-general of the EMBA Students Association, long & distant (LDS) of about 10-KM training was adopted 3 or 4 times per week to train for cardiopulmonary endurance, with intermittent dashes to train for speed. Even the day before the race a training on the race route was taken. As this annual race progresses each year, it gathers more enthusiasts. Running is not just for competition; it is a part of life for everyone. Even in Lunar New Year Holiday we had Marathon buddies to train by the Bitan Lake, and Dear Guo Ruei-Xiang was with us to finish the 21-KM Marathon. Running can make you younger both physically and mentally.

According to Huang Mei-Yun, a contestant with 20 years of running experience, running has been a way of releasing pressure for her already before she became an EMBA student; it is a sport free of limits of time and place and requires very little cost. However, she didn’t have the know-how until she had learned the right ways and ideas about running from her fellow EMBA students. “In individual race, you fight for your own, but in Marathon Relay, all you’d think about is ‘don’t let my teammates down!’, and you will fight even harder for the team than yourself. I have met here a bunch of great friends who share the similar ideas and values, and we run like comrades,” said Huang. The 5th Marathon Relay is an athletic event as well as a ritual; it means personal stamina and endurance and team spirit. Keep the relay going into the future.

Group photo of 66 contestants and faculty members