It Was Meant to Be a Fun Run. We Got Two Champions.

At four on Monday afternoon, a strange troop assembled at Qinglang Square in Fumin Park: two dozen people in identical purple polos, looking from afar like a drifting patch of lavender. The park attendant took one look and asked whether we were running a promotion. No — we were here to run: the Unibest Fumin Park Run Carnival, the whole company, nobody missing.

Before the race, Allan led an eight-to-ten-minute warm-up — which later turned out to be more entertaining than the race itself. Lunges, one-legged balances, arms raised to the sky: a row of colleagues wobbling and holding each other up, like a martial-arts convention. Balance was the biggest winner of the warm-up; department walls were the biggest loser — when you start tipping over, the hand that catches you does not check which department you are from. It only sank in afterwards: the warm-up leader had come for the crown.

The rules were almost suspiciously simple: about 800 metres per lap, six laps for roughly 4.8 km (marketed as 5 km — a rounding of pure romance). Each lap, at the Qingyuan Pavilion stamping station, a colleague pressed a Unibest logo stamp onto your forearm or the back of your hand. Collect six, and you were a finisher. Do not underestimate that job: the stamp keeper was the most powerful person in the park. However fast you ran, you had to stop in front of them and politely present your arm. Finishers left with a row of logos down the forearm — a passport page full of stamps, worth more than any Monday badge.

「The stamp keeper was the most powerful person in the park — however fast you ran, you had to stop in front of them and politely present your arm.」

The pacing notes were gentle too: keep a pace where you can hold a conversation, about 5:30–7:00 per kilometre, and no sprinting. For the first two laps everyone obeyed, chatting as they ran, like a large team-building stroll. Then things gradually got out of hand — Yung of the women's group pulled away first and never looked back. She had been a Harbin city champion back in primary school, and had said before the start with a grin: “Aren't you just forcing me to win?” After the race, the consensus was that she was merely stating facts. Allan of the men's group crossed the line soon after — the man who led the warm-up walked off with the crown too, in exactly the pose he uses when racing to a nine o'clock meeting. A fun run, promoted by two people into a championship. What if two runners cross the line together? The rulebook was ready: a 200-metre runoff on the spot. Rigour on par with a regulatory dossier.

The awards were handed out on the spot. The custom gold medals read “Unibest Fumin Park Run Carnival 5KM” and the company motto, paired with the Möbius-ring mark. Allan took the men's title, Yung the women's — one medal and a 200-yuan sports-gear voucher each. The medal handles the glory; the voucher handles a new pair of running shoes, so the champions can return next year and keep not sprinting.

Then came the lawn group photo: two dozen smiling faces under one big tree, peace signs everywhere. The first-aid kit — plasters, spray, ice packs — went home untouched; the best logistics is the logistics you never need. As people drifted off, someone asked, “When is the next one?” Everyone finished safely inside the 50-minute cut-off. Back at the office we returned to our departments; but for that one afternoon in Fumin Park, we were just runners.

「The best logistics is the logistics you never need.」