[雙語] The Name is Lin, Kevin Lin. 我是林義傑.

Guest post by Luke Yen.

中文版在下面.

You’ve all heard about Jeremy Lin. Now get ready to meet Kevin Lin, Taiwan’s homegrown professional extreme ultra-marathon runner. Lin is actually the most common surname in Taiwan. But what Kevin Lin has achieved is anything but ordinary! We got to sit down with Kevin in his office in Taipei last week as he shared some of his stories with us.

For the uninitiated, the official Olympic marathon course is about 42 km. The first guy to have run that far was a Greek soldier who ran all the way from Marathon to Athens, to deliver the news of victory. Upon his arrival, the guy was so out of breath and exhausted and he said, “We’ve won.” Those were his last words — he died right there and then!

Kevin started as a marathon runner but soon became an “ultra-marathon” runner. He ran many 100-kilometer and 24-hour races all over the world. But that wasn’t enough for him. Kevin’s “Linsanity” is all about pushing the envelope.  

Kevin started entering extreme ultra-marathon races set in the hottest, driest, windiest and coldest locations on the planet, including the Amazon jungle, the North Pole, the Gobi Desert, the Sahara Desert, and the Silk Road. Chances are that if a place is not suitable for human habitation, Kevin’s been there.  

So what is it that keeps the guy going in these extreme conditions? Is it God? Is it Buddha? No, it’s Jay Chou’s music! For Kevin, Jay’s music always brings back fond memories from his youth, which is an escape from the treacherous and often tedious expedition. When you’ve been running for hundreds of kilometers and there are still hundreds more ahead of you, if you focus on the difficulties or the physical pain and discomfort, you might as well quit there and then. He lets the music guide him and allows his mind to drift into what he refers to as “a state of meditation”, where his body will just go on autopilot. According to Kevin, once you’re in that state, running 5km would just seem like a few seconds.

If a man is crazy enough to run 10,000 km from Europe to Asia on the Silk Road in 150 days, he needs such extreme willpower to conquer his body. It’s the ultimate case of mind over matter.

Kevin has been the inspiration for so many people all over the world. He is now dedicated to the promotion of sports culture in Taiwan. Kevin and his team are organizing the “SuperRace”, a marathon competition that will last for three days, covering a distance of 120 kilometers. SuperRace is scheduled to take place in Taiwan in 2014, which will attract professional ultra-marathon runners and fellow enthusiasts alike from all over the world to some of the most beautiful locations in Taiwan.

You might be thinking, “I’m not a pro like those superhuman runners. 120km is too extreme!” Don’t worry. Kevin and his team will be organizing all types of sport events, such as the “MiniRun Yangmingshan Trail Run” on Saturday, 10/25 that is suitable for all fitness levels.

As Kevin’s motto says, “Never try, never know.”

For more information, visit the SuperRace website.

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所謂林來瘋，姓林的真的比較會做出瘋狂的事嗎？大家對林書豪肯定已經不陌生。今天要來介紹台灣土生土長的極限馬拉松選手__林義傑Kevin Lin。「林」在台灣是很常見的姓氏，但是林義傑卻是個傳奇人物！我們上週跟林義傑約在他台北的辦公室聊聊屬於他的故事。

有些人可能不知道，奧運馬拉松賽事全長約為42公里，是為了紀念當年一路從「馬拉松」跑回雅典的傳令兵，據說他跑到雅典後，只剩下半條命，用最後一口氣說完「我們戰勝了」這句話後就當場葛屁了！

林義傑先是跑正規的馬拉松，接者轉換跑道來到「超級馬拉松」。他在全世界參加過許多100公里與24小時的超馬賽事，但是，這還不夠瘋狂，因為要玩就要玩更大的！

林義傑開始跑「極限馬拉松」，也就是在地球上最熱、最乾燥、風速最強、最寒冷的環境下競賽，包括亞馬遜雨林、北極、大戈壁、撒哈拉沙漠、絲路…等。反正只要不適合人類居住的地方，林義傑大概都跑過。

跑路吧林義傑！（沒路還是照樣跑） 

到底是什麼力量讓林義傑堅持下去呢？是上帝？還是阿彌陀佛？你絕對想不到，其實是周杰倫的音樂。林義傑說周杰倫總是使他想起青春往事，讓心暫時離開腳下崎嶇的漫漫長路；跑了上百公里，前面還有上百公里，心裡如果一直想著全身上下的痛楚，那麼乾脆立刻打包回家，所以林義傑的祕訣就是讓音樂帶領著思緒，進入一種「冥想」的境界，一但「入定」身體就像是進入自動導航一樣，據林義傑說，五公里真的「咻」一下就過去了。

我想如果一個人這麼想不開，想要徒步從歐洲走一萬公里的絲路到亞洲，一定必須具備鋼鐵般的意志，才能戰勝肉體，挑戰極限。

林義傑的壯舉啓發了世界上許多人，現在他更致力於推廣台灣的運動文化，林義傑的團隊明年將舉辦極限路跑，三天120公里，預計能夠吸引全世界的極限超跑選手與愛好著來臺，於2014年共襄盛舉，各路好手將在此一較高下，路途上也順便將全台灣最美麗的風景盡收眼底。

好啦，我知道你在想什麼：「我又不像那些超人的職業超馬選手，120公里太變態了啦！」別擔心，林義傑跟他的團隊會舉辦各種運動賽事, 像是上週六 10/25 的MininRun。不論你是初學者還是專業跑者都可以參加。 來試試吧，林義傑的座右銘「Never try, never know」（不試試看就不知道）

更多資訊請上SuperRace.

*Come to Taipei543 Neon Run 5K 螢光路跑