From May 2nd to May 4th, 2025, the 14th Business School Desert Challenge (referred to as "Desert Challenge 14") was grandly held in the Tengger Desert of Inner Mongolia. The competition drew over 4,000 participants from more than 110 well-known business schools, both domestic and international, along with nearly 200 deans, party secretaries, directors, and teachers who also attended in the Tengger Desert. Over the three days of intense competition, Team Ultra A completed a 99-kilometer challenge, Team AB finished 70 kilometers, and Team C completed a 33-kilometer desert crossing. Each team participated in a challenging test of endurance and willpower amidst the vast expanse of the desert.
The East China Normal University team demonstrated exceptional perseverance and teamwork, earning the highest honor, the "Golden Sand Gull Award," marking a new milestone in the university's history of participation in the desert race. Students from the Shanghai International Chief Technology Officer College's MEM program bravely participated, developing and refining the qualities essential for success in scientific and entrepreneurial endeavors, reflecting the college's educational goal of fostering both a "scientific spirit" and an "entrepreneurial spirit."
Meng Wei, a student from the MEM program at Shanghai International Chief Technology Officer College of East China Normal University (2024 Elite CTO Class), was a key member of Team A throughout the competition. His outstanding performance, earning him 214th place overall in the men's standings, significantly contributed to the team's victory in the "Golden Sand Gull Award."
Miao Lin, a student from the MEM program at Shanghai International Chief Technology Officer Institute of East China Normal University (Class of 2024 Intelligent Innovation Engineering), was a member of Team B and achieved an admirable 19th place in the women's overall standings. This accomplishment highlights not only her resilience and perseverance in challenging conditions but also the success of the East China Normal University MEM program in cultivating students' comprehensive skills and teamwork abilities.
The 14th Business School Desert Challenge was a test of the participants' physical fitness, willpower, team spirit, and leadership abilities. The MEM program students from Shanghai International Chief Technology Officer Institute of East China Normal University demonstrated extraordinary courage and tenacity. Their outstanding performance not only brought honor to the university but also set an inspiring example for other students. We hope more MEM students will actively participate in such events in the future. We are confident that future challenges will bring even greater achievements! We eagerly anticipate the next competition, and we will continue to strive together towards ever-higher goals!
Student Gains
Side by Side: Youth Shines in Collaboration
The first race, the first desert hiking, fortunately, in this competition we feel both the individual speed of the struggle, but also appreciate the support of small groups, large groups of collaborative encouragement. In the gusty wind, we help each other, figure in the sand dunes connected to a long line of hope; sandy eyes, several times lost camera, glasses, also miraculously lost and found, seems to be this desert to the courage of the gentle gift.
I feel fortunate to have participated in the sand race at this point in my life.This courage has enabled us to meet a lot of like-minded partners in the desert -- the silent companion of the sand friends, side by side with the teammates ...... The open communication and honest reflections after each race were the most rewarding aspect of the experience. The shared exhaustion and passion under the starry sky, and the warmth and encouragement exchanged around the campfire, have forever bound us together as a community.” In the past, I always thought that self-breakthrough was a matter for one person, but Sha14 made me realize that the appearance of a group of people running towards the same light is the most moving scenery.”
--Miao Lin, Team B
Carve the depth of life with perseverance as the blade
Enrollment Initials: Waiting for the Cocooning Moment in Precipitation
When I first encountered the race, the seed was planted in my heart - knowing that I was not strong enough to match the challenge, I anchored my goal at Sand 15 and spent five months of rigorous training to polish my wings. The winter training was particularly memorable: every time I took a hot shower after a run, my body felt as if I had been stabbed by fine needles, which was the mark of my transformation. However, when I saw the steady improvement of my running performance, I was sure that I was heading in the right direction, and the only thing I could do was to grit my teeth and move forward: in January, I had a 10-minute PB in the “Steamy” half-marathon, which was just as expected; and in March, I had a 20-minute PB in the Nanjing half-marathon, which was the first time that I had exceeded the 2-hour mark. The Jing'an Half-Marathon and Yangzhou Half-Marathon set new records one after another. Putting aside the differences in the track, I realized the leap in ability, and it was this visible growth that made me join the Sha14 team after the Nanjing half-marathon.
Desert Trials: Survival Wisdom for Dancing with Nature
The desert never treats those who treat it lightly. When I tried the sand before the race, the moment I stepped into the soft sand, I panicked: the sand was too soft to run. On the first day of the race, I started like a puppy struggling on a waxed floor, with half of my strength swallowed up by the desert at every step. In the crisis, I quickly came to my senses: the only way to break through is to take the initiative to adapt. So in the groping to build exclusive rhythm: for example, soft sand footprints, hard sand does not step on footprints, corrugated sand is harder, walking uphill, steep slope with hands to climb, downhill run up ...... When I feel breathing difficulties, tinnitus deficiency, appropriate deceleration to adjust, when I feel very comfortable, whip yourself: I am here to the race, run up!
The Gift of Life: The Spiritual Imprint of a 70-kilometer Sand Sea
This journey is the ultimate test of the body, but also the quenching and refining of the will and adaptability. When I went there, I was an ordinary MEM student of HNU; when I returned, I was still an ordinary MEM student of HNU, with a darker face, but something invisible but tough grew quietly in my heart.
The three days we spent together under the scorching sun in the sandy sea and the 70 kilometers we traveled together have long been turned into the scale of life. Whenever doubt creeps in, memories from the barren desert return. Our footsteps wrote persistence in the sands. That experience is more valuable than any medal; it is a lesson etched in our souls.
--Meng Wei, Team A