今天在办公室里偶然又看到下面这封差不多三个星期前收到的邮件，想起为什么跑步这件事情，想没准儿你也有兴趣看看。

差不多10个月前，一 群来自汇丰香港的同事号召大陆的同事一起参加上海马拉松的半程比赛，而我们部门的大老板也经常跑步，所以就一起组织这件事情。一开始我们只是想比比到底香 港和大陆谁跑得更快，但是到后来我们决定通过我们的跑步，向一个慈善机构筹集善款，从而帮助四川地震过后的孤儿们。我们为自己设定了7万5千美金的目标， 因为这个数目可以支持一个儿童关爱中心一年的运营费用。对于我们中的很多人来说，半程马拉松都是个极具挑战的项目，我们的举动既有挑战又很有意义。

我 们最终组成了上海、香港和台北三个团队，一共25个运动员。这25个运动员的国籍超过10个，因此我们给自己起名叫Global Runners，还从香港订制了比赛服。这25个运动员里，有连续20年跑步锻炼的老手，也有已经多年没有穿过跑鞋的新手，有台湾和大陆地区的CEO，还 有汇丰等级制度下最junior的行政雇员，而几乎所有人都是第一次参加这个距离的比赛（半程马拉松近13英里）。而11月30日那天，所有人都完成了这 13英里的距离，无论快慢。而到捐款截止日期，我们通过同事和亲友的捐款也达到了52.773.33美元，捐款者的数目超过400人，更是来自几十个国家。

慈善跑结束了，但是Global Runners才刚刚开始，我们中的很多人仍然继续坚持跑步。在香港，一小撮运动员每个周末的清晨还会聚集在太平山顶，完成5-6公里的晨跑；我们的一些 Global Runners因为工作的原因调离到汇丰其他国家，至今也竟在越南、马来西亚、日本组织了自己的Global Runners团队。其实去年的台北team只有台湾地区的CEO一人，但是今天他们也已经有超过10个运动员的团队。在过去的6个月里，Global Runners还参加了珠海、东京、伦敦的马拉松比赛，还有一个Global Runner以Team Beijing的名义参加了上周在十三陵水库的The North Face耐力跑

今年4月份，Ricky作为Global Runners的代表，参观了用我们筹集的善款支持的那个儿童关爱中心，下面的邮件，就是描述他在那里的经历。Ricky也是我在香港工作期间的老板。

Well, 这个差不多就是为什么会有跑步这件事的原因，我之前也从来没有完成过1500米以上的距离，只是发现跑步其实可以得到更多也可以给予更多。这个网站就是我 们当时筹集善款的用的：http://www.firstgiving.com/globalrunners

By the way, 我每天的工作很大一部分就是阅读如下“又臭又长”的邮件，然后向世界各个角落回复这些“又臭又长”的邮件，或者在这些“又臭又长”的原文基础上加上“更臭更长”的文字转发出去，就像我现在在做的这样，哈哈！

希望你们的云南之行有新的进展。Hope to see you soon.

Cheers,
刘畅


> Subject: Fw: [Global Runners] Visit to Big Top No1 supported by you.
> To: wishbone4u
> From: nickliu
> Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:58:44 +0800
>
> ----- Forwarded by Nick C LIU/GL BKG QDO/HBCN/HSBC on 27/04/2009 06:58 PM
> -----
>
> Ricky K M LAI/GL
> BKG ASP/HBAP/HSBC
> 06 Apr 2009 09:16
> Mail Size: 99381 A
> cc
>
> Subject
> [Global Runners] Visit to Big Top
> No1 supported by you.
>
>
> Dear Global Runners,
>
>
> Some of us will take holidays and celebrate this week, I would like to
> share the following account of my visit to the Big Top No 1 children centre
> supported by Global Runners, something we shall all celebrate, as the
> centre is made happened because of your fund raising effort and donation. I
> tried to broadcast this messages to the 400+ donors via our webpage and
> left their contacts and I received about 390 bounced back email from the
> almighty HSBC email firewall, please share with your friends and family who
> supported you.
>
> Best regards,
> Ricky
>
> **********
>
>
> The Global Runners Shanghai Half Marathon fund raising seems to be far away
> but I finally made my way to Big Top No 1 (BT1) the children centre we
> sponsored. BT1 was set up in one of the temporary settlement, which housed
> more than 20,000 families. In the area, there were a couple similar
> settlements and Half the Sky managed six Big Top centres providing day-care
> for over 100 pre-school children and a larger number of children for
> weekend interest classes.
>
> BT1 was the first facility setup when the settlement was established in Sep
> 2008, four months after the earthquake. It’s a big tent with different
> activities corners under one roof. There is a library, an AV corner and
> corners for different age groups. Other than one project director who has
> been sent into Sichuan, all teachers are recruited locally. I saw the BT1’s
> normal morning activities. It’s actually not much different from what I had
> seen of my children’s normal routine in Hong Kong’s nursery, the children
> sing, dance and sit on a circle to listen stories and to learn. Except BT1
> is a tent and on the day I visited it was raining and temperature inside
> the tent must be less than 6 degree Celsius. The children were all wearing
> multi-layer of overcoats and looked they don’t feel the chill at all. The
> teachers told me temperate in summer could be closed to 40 degree Celsius.
> It’s already spring when I visited and the harsh winter had been passed.
> BT1 actually has equipped its own heating which is uncommon in the
> settlement and it made itself a cozy shelter during the freezing months.
>
> International pre-school learning approach is used in BTs, learning is with
> games and fun. I was surprised to learn that every children has a their
> personal journal which record not only their learning progress but emotion
> observation and development which is done by the teachersand it’s a lot of
> work! I read a couple journals and some accounts about the children when
> they first arrived the BT1 not too long after the earthquake are heavy.
> It’s a relief when I could see them all learning and playing happily almost
> a year after the disaster. Without doubt the Big Top has been a shelter to
> the children.
>
> Thank you for all Global Runners who had reached out to your friends and
> family. Thank you for our 400+ donors from around the world who generously
> supported the Global Runners and our project in Sichuan. The teacher
> repeatedly reminded me to thank everyone who supported the Big Top located
> in a far away town undergoing a long recovery from the earthquake. As an
> email I received from the BT1’s teacher followed my visit, it signed off
> with “God bless you, Gob bless all kind-hearted person”.
>
> See more pictures of Big Top No1 at
> http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=86924&id=584096267&l=35615975d3
>
> Regards,
>
> Global Runners, Team Hong Kong, Shanghai & Taipei
> www.firstgiving.com/globalrunners
> Faccebook.com search: "Global Runners"