你今年想跑幾個馬拉松?

昨日在中二高馬賽才知施兄是永和的總幹事，真是失敬，回想去年金山初馬，剛好與施兄一起跑一段距離，多謝施兄的鼓勵，如今事隔一年，施兄又進帳不少，小弟目標為年底達10馬，施兄目標為30真令人欽佩。另外感謝永和馬拉松普查，昨天剛賽完，今日已將成績紀錄更新，真是效率驚人。

You are very fortunate to run marathon in Taiwan. It's very expensive in USA - every marathons costs at least US$60, plus travelling expenses. So far I have finished only 4. Money is mostly my concern. I've taken some family time for training and racing, so it's awkward to tell my wife that I'm going to run another marathon. Two marathons a year is what I can do at most:(

But I think I can do three this year, two in USA and one in Taiwan, which is the Tarooko marathon on 11/23. This is very exciting!

Thanks for your translation. I can read Chinese, but I have not figure out how to type it my computer environment.

I admit the living standard here is better. Given the registration fee for running is much higher (US$60 vs NT$600), I think one good thing about the races in USA is the better quality. I read posts about cheating and other hassles happening in LiSan Marathon.
I can not believe these could happen on running. For all (40) races I have run, I could feel everyone simply go out for running. Some enjoyed it and had fun. Some (like me) worked hard to beat the PR. All volunteers were so enthusiatic and showed much respect to every slow or fast runners.

Still running is the cheapest and most feasible exercise.

Agree. Training may be free except when you need to purchase some drink during and after it. But a race demands a lot of resources which might not be noticed. Try to think about the preparation, marketing, organization of a race, time and effort of volunteers, impact of traffic control, the cleanup after the race, T-shirts and supplies for runners and volunteers. These can not be free.

But there are some worthless things in a race that you can not obtain from the training such as experience, thrill, accomplishment, etc. (should i say medal is the last one?) So It's good to pay for the race, and this is the easy way to support it. Indeed, we require the quality worthy for our money.

Btw, part of the registration fee in races in USA usually go to charities, which can be deductible for personal income tax. Not sure if this is the case in Taiwan.