Running into dream role

Part-time athlete to tackle marathon route at Olympics in event inspired by history

Chen Zhigang, an enterprise trainer from Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, will see his dream come true by participating in the first sporting event open to the general public in the history of the Olympic Games.

On the evening of Aug 10, more than 40,000 amateur runners will embark on the same course as the Olympic marathoners in a mass race, the route of which is identical to that of the Olympic Marathon, which is highly symbolic.