Chapter 1230 - Chapter 1230: Siege of 1229

Chapter 1230: Siege of 1229

Although Tan Rou had been running on the outer track, her speed was not slow at all; in fact, she was much faster than the athletes running on the inner track.

Originally, she had run one lap less than the fastest athlete, but now that the fastest athlete had been eliminated, Tan Rou sped up, making her the person who had run the most distance.

Many people gathered around Tan Rou, some behind her, some to her left, all of them slower than Tan Rou. However, there were also people slowing down in front of her, gradually moving ahead, effectively blocking her on three sides.

Liang Lu and the others were anxious as they watched from the sidelines. Whenever Tan Rou came close to their side, they would all shout together, “Tan Rou, watch out around you!” After repeating it three times, Tan Rou had run off again.

The person running in front of Tan Rou wasn’t fast. Instead, she was two laps behind Tan Rou and was deliberately waiting for her here.

Tan Rou realized she was surrounded. Although those behind her couldn’t catch up, the ones in front could slow down, and if they suddenly did, Tan Rou could collide with them due to momentum. And if she collided with someone, it would be difficult to maintain her advantage.

She needed to break through the encirclement quickly; otherwise, once they surrounded her, she would be at a disadvantage.

She wasn’t worried about the people behind her. Instead, she needed to be cautious of those to her left and in front of her, who were close and continuously narrowing the circle, apparently intending to eliminate Tan Rou together.

Tan Rou adjusted her breathing, then slightly slowed down, waiting for the people in front and to her left to come closer.

The approaching runners thought Tan Rou was scared, so they sped up towards her, especially the one to her left, who seemed eager to collide with her and force her out.

Many competitors gathered around Tan Rou, all of them showing a tendency to move closer to her. Anyone in the audience with eyes could see this very strange phenomenon.

Some felt amused by this phenomenon, took out their phones to film, and others started live broadcasting from their phones, showing the scene on the sports field to their viewers.

One of the streamers was a sports enthusiast. Although he missed the competition due to an injury, he watched every match. He had thought this long-distance race offered little to see, but when Tan Rou began running on the outer track, he knew it was time to start his live stream.

With a significant following online, the streamer’s broadcast drew many viewers as soon as it began. Seeing so many people running on the outer track, these fans immediately began discussing the phenomenon online.

Zhuang Liu noticed the online discussions about the race right away. Sensing an opportunity to use the power of entertainment, he had some people analyze the situation in trending search items, igniting even more public interest. The more people who paid attention, the less the organizing committee could ignore the issue; they had to make a statement explaining why some competitors were being targeted.

Tan Rou was unaware of the online discussions. Right now, all she needed to do was to shake off the people surrounding her; otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to keep running.

The six closest to her closed in, with the nearest almost in front of Tan Rou. At the right moment, as they lunged towards her, she dodged to the outside of the track and immediately accelerated, rushing forward.

Her move silenced both the spectators at the venue and the online viewers. It was the first time anyone saw someone overtaking from the outside. It wasn’t that her move abided by the rules exactly, but there was no rule against overtaking from outside the track.

The judges were baffled by her. If Tan Rou had gone through the grass inside the track, she would have clearly broken the rules. But since she was already running on the outer track, moving even farther out increased the difficulty, and even from the outside, the officials couldn’t deem her actions as a violation.

Moreover, the judges weren’t blind; they had long noticed the strange behavior of the people around Tan Rou. Had she not moved to the outside, she likely would have been impacted by them.

After breaking out of the encirclement, Tan Rou didn’t continue on the outer track. Because the few who were chasing her were now behind, they couldn’t threaten her anymore. So, after running for a bit on the fourth lane, she directly moved to the innermost circle and started running at a steady pace.

It was going to be much harder for anyone behind her to overtake her now.