Ahead of the June 2 Taiwan-Pingtan Marathon Invitational Tournament, Pingtan is in another race – the preliminary preparations.

A total of 107 volunteers will provide services during the event. and the event's Pingtan organizing committee recently held a training session to help the tournament volunteers prepare.

High temperatures are forecast for the day of the marathon and organizers decided that the race will start at 6:00 am. The organizing committee has advised participants to honestly assess their physical condition and runners must arrive one hour in advance due to the security check.

The organizing committee has arranged three types of supply stops along the course. At the 5th, 10th, and 15th kilometer marks, drinking water and sports beverages will be available. At the 20th and 25th marks, runners can choose lemons , tomatoes, bananas, salt, drinking water and sports beverages.

Those who reach the 30th kilometer mark can enjoy steamed meat dumplings, and six small water supply stations will also be established along the route, according to a worker with the committee.

Apart from the food and drink supplies, the organizing committee has also set up two cooling stations at the 17.5th and 32.5th kilometer marks to offer sponges soaked in ice water.

According to the event schedule, the marathon will start in June and last for two days. On June 1, Taiwan's participants will run in the city of Taichung. The next day, 150 of them will join hundreds of mainland runners to finish the tournament in Pingtan.

Participants began to arrive in Pingtan on May 30, the Pingtan Times reported on Thursday.

At the end of the marathon, the runners can only present their results if they also present a chip on their wrist as well as a cloth with their number.

Out of consideration for the health of amateur runners, the marathon is divided into three categories - the full-marathon (42.2 kilometers), the half-marathon (21.1 kilometers) and the mini-marathon (5 kilometers).

A deadline arrival time has been set for each group (8:00 am for the mini-marathon, 10:00 am for the half-marathon, 12:00 am for the full-marathon).

The finishing line and the awards ceremony will take place at Haiyu Square at the Longfengtou Bathing Beach.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Niva Whyman