Feb 22, 2008, 15:17 GMT
Taipei - Taiwan's National Police Administration (NPA) on Friday set up a Police Run Club to encourage fat cops to lose weight.
NPA Deputy Director Hsieh Hsiu-neng presided over the launch of the Police Run Club. Kenyan blind marathon runner Henry Wanyoike led dozens of overweight Taiwan police officers to run around a few laps at the NPA's playground.
Wanyoike has been invited by the Standard Chartered Bank to visit Taiwan to inspire young people to take up sport.
Launching the Police Run Club is part of the NPA's lose-weight project for overweight police officers. The NPA launched the project in January as many Taiwan cops are overweight, which has caused the sudden death of several cops and affected the cops' ability to catch criminals.
Besides running, the project also includes aerobic dance and belle dance classes.
The Police Run Club has already recruited more than 100 members who will gather after work every day to exercise for an hour to lose weight and plan to join marathons in Taiwan.
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