(Photo provided to Xinhua Daily)

Jiangning District (formerly Jiangning County) in Nanjing City made a history on November 24, 1957 when the first marathon in the People's Republic of China was held and Xia Qiyu, a doctor, won the race with 2 hours, 52 minutes and 40 seconds, the country's first marathon record.

On the same day 65 years later, 65 university students in Nanjing used the running tracker to create a combination of number and Chinese characters meaning 65th anniversary, to pay tribute to the historic moment.

The 65 students from Jincheng College of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) held a relay on the campus to complete the 42km distance.

The running event came after volunteers from Nanjing Xiaozhuang University and Jincheng College accompanied Xia Yuqi, 93, to visit Hengling neighborhood, where Xia won the race, on June 9.

Also related to the 65th marathon anniversary, student volunteers in Nanjing and Changshu cities helped Xia to hold a video meeting with Zhou Degui, the runner-up in the 1957 race and a native of Changshu. Zhou said he is very happy to have this first meeting in more than 60 years.