A Race Like No Other 挑战极限－－世界四大极地超级马拉松赛

Kevin Lin knows a thing or two about running. He is Taiwan's first ultramarathon1 runner and has faced some of the world's most intense courses ever. In 2006, Lin won Racing the Planet's 4 Deserts championship2. Having bragging3 rights after this race is definitely impressive. Racing the Planet started in Hong Kong in 2002. The idea was to blend a challenging footrace4 with an unforgettable international experience. The first race was the Gobi March in China with 43 runners competing. Since then, all the runs have been based on that first event. A Racing the Planet race takes seven days and is 250 kilometers long. In addition, runners must carry their own supplies as they compete. What they gain is a cultural experience like no other. The 4 Deserts championship is a series of races across the world's four largest deserts—the Atacama, Gobi, Sahara, and Antarctica. The series in progress now started in March 2011 and will end in November 2012. The Atacama Desert is in Chile. It is a 1,000-kilometer strip5 of land that gets absolutely no rain and is regarded as the driest place on Earth. Its high elevation6 and average daytime temperature of 40 degrees Celsius7 make it one of the most difficult races in the series. The fastest anyone has completed the Atacama Crossing was just slightly less than 24 hours.

说到跑步这件事，林义杰懂得还真不少。他是台湾首位超级马拉松赛的跑者，而且还挑战过一些全世界最严峻的赛道。在2006年，林义杰赢得了Racing the Planet机构所举办的世界四大极地超级马拉松赛的冠军。有资格夸耀自己完成这项赛事确实是很了不起的事。Racing the Planet在2002年成立於香港。背後的发想是要结合一场极富挑战性的赛跑与一次难忘的国际体验。第一场赛事就是有四十三名跑者参赛的中国戈壁超级马拉松赛。自当时起，所有的赛事都是以这场首届的比赛为范本。 一场Racing the Planet的极地超级马拉松赛为期七天，赛程长达两百五十公里。此外，选手竞赛时都必须撼负自身所需的各种补给品。他们所得到的是一种独一无二的文化体验。四大极地超级马拉松是一系列的赛事，这些比赛横跨世界的四大沙漠－－阿他加马寒漠、戈壁大沙漠、撒哈拉沙漠以及南极洲。目前正在进行的这一系列赛事於2011年三月开始，并且将於2012年十一月结束。 阿他加马寒漠地处智利。这块一千公里长的狭长地带完全不会降下任何雨水，因此被认为是全球最乾燥的区域。此处的高海拔以及摄氏四十度的白昼均温使其成为此系列比赛中最困难的赛事之一。最快完成阿他加马寒漠超级马拉松赛的跑者也要耗时将近二十四小时。

intensea. 激烈的；剧烈的 No one could get near the burning house because of the intense heat. 由於四周剧烈的高温，没有人能接近那栋失火的房子。 impressivea. 令人印象深刻的 Ricky's impressive audition got him a major part in the movie. 瑞奇在试镜会上令人惊艳的表现替他在电影里挣得一个重要角色。 blendvt. 融合，混合 This exciting novel blends fact and fiction perfectly. 这本精采的小说完美地揉合了史实与虚构故事。 competevi. 竞争 A total of eight players competed in the final round of the tournament. 共有八位选手在锦标赛的最後一回合一较高下。 slightlyadv. 稍微地，有点，有些 Only Greg noticed that Sandy's hairstyle was slightly different today. 只有葛瑞注意到珊蒂今天的发型略有不同。

know a thing or two about...对……有一定程度的了解　熟稔 Tim knows a thing or two about marketing because he has been working in the field for 10 years. 提姆对行销了若指掌，因为他在这行已经工作十年了。 in progress进行中 Repair work on this part of the highway is in progress and will continue until the end of the month. 高速公路的这个路段正在进行整修，并且会持续到本月底。 regard A as B认为 A 是 B，把 A 看作 B I regard Monica as my best friend because we share everything with each other. 我把莫妮卡看作是我最好的朋友，因为我们什麽事都会互相分享。

1. ultra-prefix 超，极；外  marathonn. 马拉松赛跑 2. championshipn. 冠军地位　称号 3. bragvi. 吹嘘（本文中以现在分词作形容词用） 4. footracen. 赛跑；竞走 5. stripn. 狭长的一块土地；条状物 6. elevationn. 海拔高度 7. Celsiusn. 摄氏温度