Newsletter No. 380

No. 380, 19.6.2011 5 I n his book What I talk about When I talk about Running , Murakami Haruki proposes as his epitaph, ‘Writer (and Runner). At least he never walked.’ To him, the runner identity is one that can define the value or meaning of life. Yiu Kit-ching Christy, Year four student of nursing, probably shares Murakami’s view. Once a Runner Christy is a Hong Kong record holder in the 4 x 800m relay, and was honoured by the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association with ‘Athlete of the Year’ in 2009. She overtook her competitors in the 800m, 1,500m, 10,000m and 10km in Hong Kong last year. Recently she won the women’s half marathon in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2011 in a time of 1:20:22, or 15.7km per hour, about the speed of an ordinary cyclist. Christy began sprinting when she was in primary three or four, and became a middle and long distance runner after entering secondary school. In university, with the pressure of public examinations behind her, her training intensified in terms of time and volume. And her performance improved a lot over the last few years. She attributes her achievements to perseverance. ‘Many friends of mine also had pretty good results after years of training. But they gave it up for all kinds of reasons.’ She also experienced a similar struggle. While in secondary school, she was faced with the pressure of public examinations and felt it was difficult to juggle studying with running. But she says, ‘I didn’t want to give up. I wanted to make something of myself in this sport. So, I cut down on shopping, watching TV and surfing the Internet, and devoted all my time to studying and running.’ Yet despite her perseverance, she does from time to time have the urge to ‘go ashore’, the runners’ term for stopping down in training or races. To force herself to finish the run, she would hum a little tune and look around the scenery, or think about the goal she wants to achieve to chase away the idea of ‘going ashore’. Now, in order to achieve better results, she has been training hard. She runs four days a week, covering 70 to 80km in total. In order to preserve energy for training, she normally goes shopping only once a month. ‘Other people don’t understand why we devote so much time and energy to running. We runners are motivated by a goal we set out to accomplish.’ To some, running is a lonely sport. But Christy says that it has enabled her to make many friends. It is little wonder that her most memorable race is not the half marathon she has won recently, but the 2009 East Asian Games, in which she took part together with many of Hong Kong’s elite athletes. She said she did not have so many teammates before. Although she only clinched two bronze medals in that event, she was very happy. In the past, she was bent on winning titles. Now she sees time as her opponent. ‘It doesn’t really matter whether I win or not. My major goal is to beat the time I hope for and to push the envelope.’ Nurse on the Run As a sports lover, Christy chose to study nursing instead of sports-related subjects because of the influence by her cousin, who is a doctor. Christy wants to help patients to recover. The physiology and nutrition courses she has taken also help her in running. ‘Runners sweat profusely. Knowledge about how to replace sweat electrolyte losses is very helpful to me.’ Christy is going to graduate from the University and begin a career as a nurse. She has already experienced the heavy workload and the pressure of staff shortage from clinical placements in hospitals. Because of the workload and lack of sleep resulting from the short breaks between shifts, sometimes she just did not feel like running. But discipline prevailed at last. Her idol Haile Gebrselassie, marathon world record holder, says in a recent interview: ‘You need three things to win: discipline, hard work and, before everything maybe, commitment. No one will make it without those three. Sport teaches you that.’ As a runner, Christy certainly also knows that very well. It seems that nurses and runners share one quality— perseverance. Christy has already planned to change her running regimen to accommodate her job. ‘Nurses have to work shifts. I won’t have as much time for training as now. And my job requires me to stand for a long time, which will tire my leg muscles. So, I’m going to run longer distance—the full marathon.’ She explained that shorter distance requires explosive muscle power, which is a luxury she might not enjoy in the future. By comparison, running a full marathon, she can take lighter steps and run at a slower tempo. That makes the muscles relax. As for her career, Christy plans to do midwifery training, hoping that she can achieve something in her career as a nurse as she did on the running track. Somebody said that the life of a runner is measured by the soles of the running shoes he or she has worn out. If that’s the case, Christy’s life should be measured by the soles of both her running shoes and her nurse’s orthopaedic flats. 校 園 消 息 CAMPUS NEWS 任志剛談中國貨幣政策 • Joseph Yam on China’s Monetary Policies 全 球經濟及金融研究所在5月24日舉辦成立後首場大 型公開講座，由該所傑出研究員任志剛教授主講， 題為「中國的貨幣及匯率政策」。講座全場滿座，吸引了超 過四百名聽眾參加。 任教授是香港金融管理局前總裁，現為工商管理學院榮譽 教授兼中國金融學會執行副會長。他在講座中探討了人民 幣政策此國際熱門課題，以深入淺出的方法，介紹中國貨 幣政策的目標及配合政策的工具，以及人民幣匯率的形成 機制，剖析中國貨幣及匯率政策對全球經濟的影響。 T he Institute of Global Economics and Finance held the first public lecture since its inception on 24 May. Entitled ‘China’s Monetary and Exchange Rate Policies’, the lecture was delivered by Prof. Yam Chi-kwong Joseph, distinguished research fellow of the institute. The lecture was a full house with more than 400 attendees. Professor Yam is the former chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, honorary professor of the CUHK Faculty of Business Administration, and executive vice president of the China Society for Finance and Banking. In his lecture, he analysed the objectives and tools of China’s monetary policy, the Renminbi exchange rate regime, and the influence of China’s monetary and exchange rate policies on world economy. 奪冠 The champion