Students up and running

More than 3,000 students at Tsinghua University run its recent campus marathon. Held three times since 2015, it has seen a growing number of participants over the years.[Photo provided to China Daily]

A college jogging club is raising hopes that fitness will become a priority for more students. Guo Ying and Sun Qi report.

At 6 am every day, students gather at the Zijing sports ground of Tsinghua University in Beijing. After cheerfully greeting each other, they do warm-up exercises and then run as the sun rises.

They are members of Tsinghua's morning jogging club, founded by Yin Ximing, a PhD student from the School of Economics and Management at the university.

To stay fit and develop an early-to-rise, early-to-bed habit, Yin started jogging in the morning with some of his friends.

They met other Tsinghua students who are regular joggers and formed a loosely organized club in 2015. Gradually, the club drew more students. The club now has more than 400 members.

Despite different reasons for joining - some wanted to lose weight, some wanted to practice to pass the university's fitness tests and others ran to vent their emotions - all enjoyed running.

The club has no requirements for speed or distance, says Yin. No matter how slowly you run, other people run with you. This encourages participation.

More importantly, running brings a sense of control of their lives and bodies.

"The positive energy of sport drives study and life, and brings unexpected changes," Yin says.

Liu Bo, head of the Division of Sports Science and Physical Education at Tsinghua University, says the campus has around 40 sports clubs and associations like the morning jogging club.

Tsinghua has a long sporting tradition. More than half a century ago, it boasted the slogan "Fighting to work at least 50 years healthily for the motherland" to demonstrate its emphasis on physical fitness. The new slogan "No sports, no Tsinghua" shows sports is integrated into the university's culture.

Tsinghua has a tradition of testing students in long-distance running - 3,000 meters for males and 1,500 meters for females.

From this year, undergraduates are also required to pass a swimming test before receiving their graduation certificate.