Taiwanese runner takes gold at IAU 24 Hour Asia/Oceania Championships

台灣賽跑者在IAU 24小時亞洲暨大洋洲標賽上奪金

Lin did her first ultramarathon event in 2015


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese runner Lin Kuan-ju (林冠汝) took gold in the women's race at the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) 24H Asia and Oceania Championships on Sunday (July 3).

The ultra distance race took place on a 400m synthetic track in Bengaluru, India. The event saw nearly 40 participants from several countries, including Taiwan, Australia, Poland, Lebanon, Mongolia, the UK, and India.

Lin finished 537 laps in 24 hours, covering 214.8 kilometers, which was also her personal best, CNA reported. She was four laps ahead of women's silver medalist Cassie Cohen of Australia and placed fifth overall.

Lin, a sports coach, said that she began to take part in road races in 2012, and in 2015 she participated in an ultramarathon event for the first time, adding that she “didn’t expect to put in such a great performance” at the ultra running event in India.

To train for the event, Lin began to gradually increase her training load from running about 400 km in April to running about 600 km in May.

The IAU 24H Asia and Oceania Championships is a biannual event, but it was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. Taiwan hosted the previous edition of the event in 2018, per CNA.