Religious run Beijing marathon for charity

Battling cold and rain, more than 50 nuns and seminarians joined the 2010 Beijing Marathon to raise funds for the underprivileged and to show their involvement in the community. Forty-four nuns from seven congregations, who wore a T-shirt sporting a “Sister’s Run” logo, participated in the Oct. 24 marathon along with a priest from Weixian Minor Seminary of Xingtai diocese and nine seminarians.

Most of the nuns, aged from 24-41, took part in the 10 kilometer course while five took up the challenge of the half marathon. Jilin Sister Yu Chunjin, who participated for the second time, said the nuns were more confident this year. More than 40 nuns joined the event this year compared to only ten nuns who participated in the mini marathon last year, she said. Organizers of the event, which was divided into full, half, 10 km and mini marathons, said that this year’s program attracted 30,000 participants from 42 countries.

The nuns joined in to raise fund for the needy groups served by their respective congregations, including the lone elderly, HIV/AIDS patients, people with leprosy and others. On a rainy day with temperatures below 10 degree Celsius, Sister Jian Xiufeng of Xingtai said she wanted to give up halfway. However, she motivated herself to keep going by thinking of the elderly people in their homes.

The seminarians also ran to raise funds for the seminary library as well as to repave a basketball court and to cover their living expenses. The seminarians began daily practice for the event in April. “Our best result was one and a half hour in the half marathon while our last one took two hours and 10 minutes to finish,” said Brother Pang, a seminarian who ran the 20 kilometer event. Father Joseph said the seminary aims to offer a balanced program for seminarians. “Taking part in this event enabled our seminarians to be in touch with the society,” he said.