This weekend a marathon took place in Salzburg, the city where I’m living. I admired the runners who ran 42.2 kilometers if they finished the course. I’ve never run for more than half an hour, so I’m amazed that some people manage to keep going for over four!
At university I play korfball. This is a team sport with eight people on each team. The aim is to shoot the ball into the hoop(篮圈), which is like basketball hoop, only higher! All players get a chance to attack and defend during the game and it’s very fast-paced.
When I started korfball, I wasn’t very good at it. I could throw and catch but I wasn’t very fast on my feet. Shooting was also difficult for me. Moreover, you often have to shoot on the move in korfball, and I found it hard to balance and shoot straight while running backwards away from my defender!
However, I really enjoyed the sport and made friends in the club, so I attended training twice a week. Two years later I am in the first team for my university and have played in many matches. This just shows if you train hard, you can succeed.
Running is difficult because you have to make yourself willing to keep going. I used to get really out of breath while running and I didn’t feel good at all! Now I actually enjoy going for a run along the river in Salzburg, feeling my muscles(肌肉) working and breathing in the fresh air.
Challenging exercise is always rewarding. Hiking is fun because all the hard work—walking uphill—comes at the beginning of the day. Then at the top of the mountain you can enjoy the view and some well-earned chocolate! At the end of the day you feel like you’ve really achieved something.
I will never be a marathon runner, but I would like to try a 10-km run sometime, or perhaps even a half-marathon. Seeing how happy the runners were as they crossed the finishing line made me want to have that feeling—the months of training paying off as you achieve your goal.
【小题1】How did the author feel about running the marathon at first?| A．Tough. | B．Strange. |
| C．Enjoyable. | D．Exciting. |
| A．It helps him sleep well. | B．It gives him a sense of achievement. |
| C．It helps him lose weight. | D．It makes him become a marathon runner. |
| A．The meaning of keeping going. |
| B．The ways of doing sports. |
| C．The importance of regular exercise. |
| D．The benefits of running the marathon. |
