This global site is a place for runners     1     (share) their stories about running. Here are four runners.

Li Yue was born with asthma and he never thought he     2     (be) a runner! He only joined his local athletics club because his doctor said that in his particular case exercise could improve how his lungs work. But before he knew it, he was taking part in local races. This year he won silver in the under 18’s 10,000 metres! Sarah didn’t do any exercise — not even any jogging not so long ago. Then she discovered an app called Running Power, which lists your     3     (perform) against other runners in your social network. Now she no     4     (long) uses the app, but she has fallen in love     5     running. David is a computer engineer. The work can be quite stressful at times, though,     6     in turn makes him feel anxious. To help deal with this, he goes running as often as he     7     (possible) can. Grace entered the Great Gorilla Run in London this year. This is a programme run by The Gorilla Organization to raise money to save the world’s last remaining gorillas from     8     (die) out. Each runner     9     (receive) a gorilla suit and off they go!     10     funniest moment was when someone watching the race offered her a banana — a real treat for a running gorilla!

My dad is an enthusiastic (狂热的) runner who     1     (great) influenced me when I was young. So I was very sporty before the age of 14．However, when my family moved, my new school didn’t pay much attention     2     sports and had no after-school activities like football or running. Over the next few years. I stopped exercising apart from during Physical Education lessons at school. I looked like I was     3     (health). However, I was not.

One day, I was late for a bus, tried to run after it and in under a minute was out of breath! This made me realize how unfit I was.     4     (help) myself get in shape again. I made a (n)     5     (decide) that I would take up a kind of sport.

A friend of     6     (I) suggested a swimming pool     7     is close to my house. Now, I’m a swimming lover! I find swimming in the pool very     8     (relax).I swim for an hour three times a week. I hope that I will soon start to feel     9     benefits of regular exercise, and     10     fitter than before.

Ball games are a big source of modern amusement. But they're nothing new. For instance, consider a 4,500-year-old ball     1    (find) in a child's tomb in Egypt or 3.600-year-old rubber balls from Central America-where the competitors were asked to play the balls with their hips(臀部）.

So far, researchers     2    (make) sure of a date of the oldest sporting balls in Europe or Asia: three balls, dug up from the tombs of horsemen in the deserts of northwestern China and crafted three thousand     3    (year) ago.

＂We are quite sure they were used in some sort of bat-and-ball game."Patrick Wertmann is an expert at the University of Zurich     4     analyzed the ancient sporting equipment. The balls are about three inches in diameter and filled     5    leather hair. “And then, also,     6    (look) at the Chinese character of "ball" itself, you'll find it quite     7    (interest) because this character is made up of the ideograms(表意文字）of hair and leather.”

As for how this ancient ball-and-stick game     8     （play)? “lt could be something like polo. But it could also be something like     9     early form of golf.

Since we don't have any textural evidence and we don't have any sticks from the same period, we don't really know     10    （exact).”

Organized by Beijing Normal University, an     1    （importance） forum （论坛）on the spirit of the Chinese women’s volleyball team was held on Saturday in Beijing. Around 500 people from different fields     2    （attend） the forum.

Professors and experts gave significant speeches, sharing their     3    （opinion） on the spirit of women’s volleyball and on     4     building of sports power. Lang Ping, chief coach of women’s volleyball team, also shared her views,     5    （make） all the audience deeply impressed.

Cheng Jianping, the Party chief of Beijing Normal University, said in his speech women’s volleyball has influenced people     6    （great）, and encouraged them     7    （struggle） for their aspirations （抱负）.The spirit of women’s volleyball has not only showed patriotism （爱国主义）but also brought confidence and courage to people     8     are facing new challenges. So far, China     9    （enter） a new era （时代），and it should continue to carry forward this spirit. Meanwhile, this spirit should be closely linked     10     patriotism education, Cheng said.