TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese runner Lin Kuan-ju (林冠汝) took gold in the women's race at the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) 24H Asia and Oceania Championships on Sunday (July 3).

The ultra distance race took place on a 400-meter synthetic track in Bengaluru, India. The event saw nearly 40 participants from countries including Taiwan, Australia, Poland, Lebanon, Mongolia, the U.K., and India.

Lin finished 537 laps in 24 hours, covering 214.8 kilometers, which was a personal best, CNA reported. She was four laps ahead of women's silver medalist Cassie Cohen of Australia and placed fifth overall.

Lin, a sports coach, said that she started to take part in road races in 2012, and in 2015 she participated in an ultramarathon event for the first time. She added that she “didn’t expect to put in such a great performance” at the ultra running event in India.

To train for the event, Lin began to gradually increase her training load from running about 400 km in April to running about 600 km in May.

The IAU 24H Asia and Oceania Championships is a biannual event, but it was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. Taiwan hosted the previous edition of the event in 2018, per CNA.

Lin Kuan-ju leads the pack. (CNA photo)