China logistics deserves an official dictionary definition, meaning “to tackle an enormous logistical challenge by throwing all the resources of the universe at it”, So it was with Sunday’s Nanjing Marathon, right down to those who readied the track and cleaned up after the runners.
Peng Jianhua may have streaked to victory in the race’s sixth annual outing, in the process knocking 3 minutes off the course record, but in his wake, and those of 9,999 other participants, was a trail of devastation.
And a bunch of Nanjing car owners impatient to get back on the road.
As a result, while the athletes raced against time to return their personal bests, so an orange army of sanitation workers stood by ready to do their utmost to return a spotless city, ready for the public to use again as soon as possible.
More than a thousand sanitation personnel had been deployed Sunday, charged with cleaning each section of the marathon’s track within 15 minutes, reported the Yangtze Evening News.
After the pistol was fired for a 07:30 start from the east gate of Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre, marathon participants first turned on to Mengdu Da Jie. With the runners gone, so the cleaners moved in at 07:45; they were done by 08:05. Fengtai Nan Lu was next, where cleaners began their lightning shift at 08:00, to knock off on schedule at 08:15. And so it continued.
Assisting the orange army in their monumental task were 53 machine sweepers, 16 small-cleaning vehicles, 15 water tankers, 27 other rubbish-collection vehicles, 31 pickup trucks and 83 quick-cleaning vehicles.
All in all, a total of 1,049 sanitation workers disposed of 17.35 tons of rubbish, among which were 13 bags of discarded face masks.
Like Peng, their work had been completed in record time, but unlike the race’s victor, it had began much, much earlier than the official race start. The orange army first took to the streets between 03:30 and 04:00, being required to complete all preparatory cleaning before 06:00. Participating athletes even remarked that the track was still emitting a fresh smell.
With such a large number of sports enthusiasts running along the route, so there was also opportunity, some of it criminal. Sanitation workers were joined by law enforcing urban management, out to remove illegal advertisements, bike sharing, street stalls and other hindrances to the smooth operation of the race.
And the final part of those sanitation workers’ job description? The most important advertising of all; to carry out their tasks “showing an elegant demeanour” to the runners who came from afar.
