At the upcoming April 12 Xinjiang Turpan Jiaohe Half Marathon, we'll see a head-to-head showdown between two of the country's top mass runners: Zhang Shuihua and Zhu Qing.
Even before the starting gun, the rivalry had already spread across social media. Zhang Shuihua, as a specially invited athlete for this Xinjiang Turpan Jiaohe Half Marathon, has added extra intrigue to the event. Zhu Qing, the country's top mass runner, joked on social media that she 'just wanted to go grab some lamb skewers' and was 'completely unaware' of Zhang Shuihua's invited status.
Earlier this year, both runners kicked off their seasons before the Spring Festival, and these two outstanding women not only followed highly similar competition schedules but also recorded impressive results on their respective courses.
The younger Zhu Qing (born 1996) and Zhang Shuihua (born 1991), nicknamed 'the fastest nurse' in her first race after resigning, both opened their 2024 seasons at the Chongqing Marathon on January 18.
At the Chongqing Marathon, Zhu Qing ran a new PB of 2:28:53, claimed first place among domestic women and finished third overall in the women's race, reaching the podium. Zhang Shuihua ran 2:30:54 in the same race to finish fourth among domestic women and sixth among women overall — it was also her second-best performance.
After that, the two went their separate ways on the racing calendar. On March 22 at the Wuhan Marathon, Zhu Qing won the domestic women's title in 2:28:45, broke the Wuhan Marathon women's course record and again lowered her personal best. On the same day, Zhang Shuihua also took the crown at the Lishui Marathon.
On March 29, Zhu Qing won the women's half marathon title at the Shijiazhuang Marathon in 1:11:53. Zhang Shuihua also recorded a 2:36:23 win at the Liuzhou Marathon the same day, securing back-to-back victories.
With both of these top female mass runners posting such similar race rhythms and fast times, they have independently turned their attention to the Xinjiang Turpan Jiahe Half Marathon on April 12. What kind of fireworks will this race produce?
