Feature: Young Chinese runners embrace "marathon life"

BEIJING, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- On the avenue between the "Bird's Nest" stadium and the "Water Cube" at the Beijing Olympic Park, Gong Zizhuo, a chemistry senior at Peking University, tried to beat the clock amid cheers from the crowd at the Beijing Marathon on Sunday.

"I was staring at the timer in the final stretch of the race. My goal is to complete a marathon in three hours, and I made it in Beijing," Gong received a text message from the organizers indicating his finish time of 2 hours, 56 minutes and 43 seconds.

According to a report on 2023 China's high-quality development and research on road running events, though runners aged from 40 to 55 accounted for the majority, young runners have emerged strongly in recent years.

Since the start of his college life three years ago, Gong noticed the fervor of running on campus. Initially, he just took exercises on the track and field, but he once followed other students to run 53 laps, which was equivalent to the distance of a half-marathon, marking the beginning of his marathon endeavor.

"Running makes me relaxed and helps to relieve pressure, during which I can put aside those troubles and feel purified," said Gong, who participated in three half-marathon events before. "As more people turn to keeping healthy nowadays, an increasing number of youngsters go outdoors to taste a marathon life."

Also within three hours, doctoral student Cao Jiaxin from Tsinghua University had his mark at the Beijing Marathon. "I prepared myself on campus and made a step forward at the Beijing Marathon, which is another achievement for me besides my daily research," said the 25-year-old history major.

Similar to the research, the marathon is also a long lonely journey. There have been plans in advance, but also new challenges during the process.

"In my academic life, my teachers and friends encouraged me when I was down. The crowd and volunteers also cheered for us during the marathon. But in any case, I have to rely on myself to cope with difficulties in research and finish 42.195 kilometers step by step to accumulate experience," Cao noted.

As a football lover with great physical fitness, Cao started middle and long-distance running regularly in 2022 and took part in marathon events in China's Nanjing, Guangzhou and Wuxi. He could regularly be found on the track or in the gym on campus.

To prepare for the Beijing Marathon, Cao trained three or four times each week and once ran 30 kilometers to adapt to the distance of the marathon. "I had four years of undergraduate study at Lanzhou University, where has an altitude of more than 1,500 meters in northwest China. If I take training well, I may run even faster," Cao said with confidence.

The route of the Beijing Marathon, which spans from Tiananmen Square to the Beijing Olympic Park, remains a favorite for runners worldwide. Despite a cap of 30,000 participants, a record 182,949 runners from 43 countries and regions had applied within the first three days of registration last month, including lots of college students from other cities in China.

Geng Tao, a graduate student from Chongqing University who clocked 2:30:27 at the race, said, "I wanted to hit two hours and 30 minutes, but just missed it. I will go back to train with my friends and further improve myself."

"More and more schools organized sport activities frequently, encouraging the students to have a healthy life both mentally and physically," said Zhao Fuming, director of the Beijing Marathon Association. "College students tend to achieve good results in running, which works well for both the events and the youngsters in the long run."