時人時事：大學生長跑30小時 籌錢建橋駁通內地山區

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　■大學生義工在香港展開近30小時的馬拉松義跑活動，為內地偏遠村莊籌款建橋。資料圖片

　一群來自無止橋慈善基金的義工，憑毅力和善心在日前連續兩天以29小時52分完成120公里義跑善舉，為該基金成功籌得超過12萬港元，讓其在內地偏遠農村開展的大學生建橋活動取得更大的支持。

　此項善舉是由基金的大學生義工蘇孜穎自發性籌劃及參與。孜穎去年曾在甘肅和四川參與兩個無止橋建橋活動，並與村民共同生活，設身處地感受他們的需要和艱難。她說：「我體會到一些偏遠的村莊與外界幾乎隔絕，被外面的世界『遺忘』。他們可能連最基本的生活條件都沒有。在建橋之旅中，我親身感受到無止橋對偏遠貧困村民所帶來的希望和變化，而我亦被此震撼了。所以我決定發起這次義跑，為無止橋慈善基金籌款。」

　是次義跑行動先由大嶼山梅窩出發，完成70公里的鳳凰徑，再乘交通工具往山頂，完成50公里的香港徑。孜穎說：「在30小時完成120公里比我想像中難，最辛苦是晚上入黑那段時間。當時我實在很累，走得很慢。直至最後6公里，隊友告訴我以此速度恐怕不能按時完成時，我知道一定要加速，於是一直想着目標直跑。全賴支援隊在整個路途上不停打氣，我們最終能在30小時內完成。」

Student Volunteers Held Fund-raising Marathon for BCCF

　With great perseverance and benevolence, a group of volunteers of the Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation (BCCF) finished a two-day 120km fund-raising marathon in 29 hours and 52 minutes. They raised more than HK$120,000 for the Foundation, which rendered greater support to the bridge building projects carried out by university student volunteers in remote rural areas in mainland China.

　The charity marathon was initiated by a university student volunteer, Jayne So, who was also one of the participants. She was involved in two bridge building projects last year in Gansu and Sichuan. Then she experienced living in the villages and gained first-hand understanding of the needs and difficulties of the villagers. "I had a taste of life in remote villages almost cut off and forgotten by the outside world. Sometimes the villagers didn't have even the most basic necessities. During the bridge building projects, I saw with my own eyes how the Bridge to China Foundation had brought hope and changes to the poverty-stricken villagers in remote areas and I was deeply moved. That was why I decided to host this charity run to raise fund for the charitable foundation," she said.

　The marathon started from Mui Wo on Lantau Island and the first leg was a 70km section along the Lantau Trail. Then the group took public transport to the Peak and finished the remaining 50km along the Hong Kong Trail. Jayne recalled her experience and said, "To finish 120km in 30 hours was more difficult than I had thought. The hardest time was when it was getting dark. I was very tired and had slowed down. My teammates told me that I might not be able to finish on time if I continued at that rate because there was six more km to go. I knew I had to speed up. So I focused just on the goal and ran as fast as I could. Thanks to the continuous cheering of the support runners along the way, we successfully finished the journey in less than 30 hours." 　■Translation by開明