Various Talents on Display
Shen Qi made thorough preparations for this half-marathon relay race around Weiming Lake.
The remaining six members of Team 1 each received a watch from Shen Qi before the start of the competition.
"Running may seem like a physical activity, but it also involves technique. Combining techniques such as pace control, breathing rhythm control, stride length and cadence adjustment, and landing cushioning can effectively improve performance."
"External factors such as wind speed and direction, friction, and the terrain features of the Weiming Lake track can also affect performance. Please trust my professional experience; I participated in professional long-distance running competitions when I was an undergraduate."
Shen Qi held up a digital watch and demonstrated, "Each of you has a multi-functional watch exactly like mine. This is standard issue for the U. S. SEAL Team, and I brought it back from the United States."
"By drawing inspiration from the working principle of a treadmill, I made some simple modifications to the watch. Just remember, if the watch doesn't light up, maintain your normal running rhythm."
"When your watch emits a blue backlight, sprint at full speed. When it emits a red backlight, stop running, walk slowly, and immediately replenish your fluids and energy at the baton exchange point." Shen Qi finished introducing the modified running aids and let everyone familiarize themselves with the equipment.
"Is this some kind of cutting-edge technology?" Cui Xiaoyi asked curiously.
Zhou Yu'an quickly figured it out. "This isn't some kind of cutting-edge technology, it's just regular technology. Any mobile running app can provide similar real-time data feedback and reminders. Boss Shen simplified the watch's reminder mechanism because we're all amateur runners and don't have the energy to pay too much attention to data feedback during a run."
"Yes, it's conventional technology, not very high-end, but it has a little bit of technological content. After all, our center is engaged in scientific research, so it has to reflect some technological content." After explaining the preparations, Shen Qi led the team to participate in the competition.
The sound of gongs and drums filled the air by Weiming Lake, a scene of joy and celebration.
The annual Yanda 5+2 Half Marathon Relay Race around Weiming Lake kicked off today.
More than 180 teams from across the university registered for the competition, representing various departments and functional units, including 130 student teams and more than 50 faculty and staff teams.
According to the running association's arrangements, this event will be held in three rounds: the first round will be for the student group, the second round for the faculty and staff group, and the third round will also be for the student group.
Many teachers and students gathered by Weiming Lake. There were more than a thousand contestants and thousands of onlookers. Party committee leaders, school leaders, labor union leaders and youth league leaders were present to cheer them on.
Bang!
The Party Committee leadership fired the first shot, and the first runners from the first group of more than sixty student teams set off.
The student athletes came from various departments, and most of them were undergraduates in their late teens or early twenties. Shen Qi observed the first two legs of the race in the student group and thought that the current undergraduates were incredibly impressive. They ran with great speed and energy, and running three kilometers was like child's play for them.
Shen Qi's competitors are not students, but faculty and staff from other departments and faculties.
With some time still remaining before the faculty and staff group fired their shots, Shen Qi patrolled the woods and open areas around Weiming Lake, gathering intelligence on the enemy's situation.
Shen Qi saw a person in an open space on the east side of the lake. This person was wearing the Physics Department's competition uniform, a mask, and three holes cut out for the eyes, mouth, and nose, looking like a terrorist.
Shen Qi immediately noticed that the mask worn by the Physics Department contestant was unusual. He walked up to the masked man and asked, "Dude, are you a student or a faculty member of the Physics Department?"
Masked man. "Oh, isn't this Professor Shen? Hello, Professor Shen. I'm an assistant researcher from the Department of Physics. I've long admired your name. You recently published in PRL..."
"Today we're all runners, let's not talk about our jobs. Hey bro, is that mask some kind of high-tech product? What's it made of?" Shen Qi reached out and touched the mask, feeling the material.
The masked man explained, "This is a composite material, mainly composed of complex oxides. I should mention your article published in PRL; the oxide phase transition mechanism and basic Mathematical Physics equations you proposed gave us some inspiration. The mask I'm wearing has undergone special treatment to efficiently convert Solar Energy for my direct use."
"The technical challenge of instantaneously converting Solar Energy into human bioenergy has been overcome by your Physics Department?" Shen Qi was astonished. If this technology were truly solved, awarding the Physics Department ten Nobel Prizes wouldn't be an exaggeration. Compared to his modified gadget watch, what the Physics Department had done was genuine cutting-edge technology. "Amazing, absolutely amazing! Because of your invention, humanity will be able to maintain its basic survival needs through photosynthesis in the future. The Nobel Prize in Physics, Chemistry Prize, Physiology and Medicine Prize, Peace Prize should all be awarded to your Physics Department!"
"Professor Shen, your leaps of thought are truly remarkable..." The masked man chuckled, saying, "After absorbing Solar Energy, this mask quickly reaches a critical state, reducing its surface drag coefficient to less than that of human skin and hair. In short, the larger the area of our face covered by the mask, the less wind resistance we experience while running. That is to say, assuming a runner's physical parameters remain constant, wearing a mask made of this special material will allow them to run faster than running without a mask."
"Your Physics Department is cheating in a running race by using national research resources!" Shen Qi looked up at the sky. "Unfortunately, it's a cloudy day today."
"..." The masked man looked up at the sky, which was covered with dark clouds. "I have a 'f***ing' thought to myself, didn't the weather forecast say it would be cloudy turning sunny?"
"But your invention is pretty impressive. We could give it to our country's track and field athletes. The IAAF only bans doping, not equipment," Shen Qi said.
Masked man. "Isn't this a test subject? This is its first appearance in this relay race, its first outdoor run."
"I wish you all the best." Shen Qi bid farewell to the researchers from the Institute of Physics who were participating in the competition, and then went into the grove to inspect the area.
In the grove, several young people dressed in the Chemistry Department competition uniforms were gathered together; they were clearly students.
A Chemistry Department student took out a small bottle, poured a few pink pills into his palm, and said to his companion, "Energy Pill. Take one before the run; it will effectively slow down the rate of lactic acid buildup during the run and can improve your final time by about 20%."
"What synthetic route?" another Chemistry Department student asked.
"An addition reaction of asymmetric dienes and asymmetric diephiles based on the Dreymanso Reaction," the Energy Pill developer said, referring to a reaction with a personal name.
"Okay, A+." The other teammates from the Chemistry Department took the Energy Pill that could slow down lactic acid buildup.
Shen Qi, who was secretly observing from behind a tree, frowned and pondered. There were too many named reactions in Organic Chemistry synthesis. Shen Qi had never heard of the Dreymanso Reaction, but he understood what slowing down lactic acid accumulation meant.
Drinking water and consuming energy- and salt-replenishing substances are permitted during long-distance running races. However, these pink pills made by the Chemistry Department students are a misrepresentation; they are not for replenishing runners' energy, but rather for inhibiting lactic acid production.
Just then, a clear whistle came from the woods, and a group of burly men jumped out and surrounded the student contestants from the Chemistry Department.
The leader of the group, a man eight feet tall and with a robust physique, wore Yanjing University Running Association uniform and held a walkie-talkie. He solemnly opened his palm and declared, "The Computer Science Department reports that your Chemistry Department team is attempting to use performance-enhancing drugs. Hand over the drugs to me. If this happens again, the entire Chemistry Department team will be disqualified and their results wiped out!"
"Brother, these are Energy Pill, the same as energy bars, and they're allowed under marathon rules!" the Chemistry Department student argued loudly, refusing to hand over the pills.
"Don't think I don't understand professional knowledge. I'm from the School of Life Sciences. These so-called Energy Pill of yours can inhibit lactic acid, which are banned substances! Confiscate them!" The eight-foot-tall man from the running association waved his hand, and the other running association staff members used force to forcibly confiscate and destroy the Energy Pill made by the students from the Chemistry Department on the spot.
Shen Qi, hidden in the bushes, smiled and then quietly left.
A running race on campus saw everyone displaying their unique abilities.
In the field of science and technology, teams with backgrounds in science and engineering have a certain advantage.
Shen Qi ventured deeper into the grove and came to a pavilion. Inside, he saw several middle-aged men holding silver needles, performing acupuncture on each other.
The middle-aged people, both men and women, were dressed in School of Medicine competition uniforms. They were performing acupuncture on several acupoints, including the inside of the knee, the ankle, and the shoulder blade, following a certain standard operating procedure.
Shen Qi's heart tightened; this was the faculty and staff of the School of Medicine.
The Chemistry Department's student team, whether or not they were using drugs, had no direct competitive relationship with Shen Qi. However, the School of Medicine's faculty and staff team were stimulating each other's acupuncture points before the competition, which attracted Shen Qi's strong attention.