Yang Mei

yangmei_szdaily@163.com

NIHAD CHERAGA, a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, who is the business development manager of Times High-Tech Park in Guangming District, swapped her formal attire for a volunteer’s white jacket yesterday morning, joining 3,358 other volunteers at the 2023 Shenzhen Marathon as the race kicked off at 7:30 a.m. at the Civic Center in Futian District.

Sporting long blonde hair, Cheraga was seen handing out water and snacks to participants at refreshment stations, enthusiastically cheering for runners and diligently cleaning up the route to ensure the streets remain pristine after the marathon.

Cheraga told Shenzhen Daily that distributing snacks to runners brought her joy and a sense of fulfillment, while collecting trash with other volunteers also made her fulfilled in contributing to a cleaner city post-race.

After Cheraga’s experience  of volunteering at the marathon, she learned how important both volunteers and runners are in the event.

“Today, I have learned a new lesson. Being a volunteer is not an easy thing. It takes major involvement as we need to give support to the runners. Being a volunteer is just as important as signing up as a marathon runner.”

Cheraga said she admires the full-marathon runners’ great passion for running and indomitable spirit, which made her realize the willpower of humans and the power of unity. “I have watched all the runners and their strong will to win, which made me remember the power of community and the spirit of humans,” she said.

This May, Cheraga came to Shenzhen and joined Times High-Tech Park, which manages Weiguang Life Science Park in Guangming. Her role involves spearheading the internationalization of Weiguang Life Science Park by establishing and cultivating strategic partnerships with startup accelerators and incubators worldwide. She is also responsible for attracting new biotech companies and startups to relocate to Guangming Science City.

In September, Cheraga became a Shenzhen Global Communication Ambassador.

According to the organizers, the 2023 Shenzhen Marathon recruited a total of 3,358 volunteers.