Fighting flab turns health conscious into torch bearers for an activity with massive benefits

For a mathematician, an enigmatic quantity known by the Greek letter pi - roughly 3.14159 - is second nature, like bread and butter, or rice and chopsticks. For another group, the number 42.195 will become an obsession, perhaps even a lifelong passion.

It also has strong Greek connections. Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, while 42.195 is the distance in kilometers that a messenger is said to have run between the cities of Marathon and Athens 2,500 years ago.

And just as pi is ever with us, the modern race known as the marathon has also endured. And that's what people who subject themselves to its rigors are supposed to do - endure for 42 kilometers, 195 meters.

Chinese, who enjoy a global reputation for mathematical prowess, are now taking on the world in marathon races. Some are out to win medals; others are simply in it for the exhilaration, the fun and the health benefits that preparation and participation can deliver. In either case, the desire to cover the distance and reach the finish line keeps passions and ambitions high.

For a sense of that, you need only look at Wulong, a tourism resort in Chongqing that staged a marathon a few weeks ago in which participants ran stripped down to their underwear, and the freezing conditions - -5 C - didn't deter the hundreds who took part.

Since his first marathon in 2015, Zhou Jiandong, 31, of Nanjing, says he has run in many such races.

"The first time I heard about the marathon was in 1995, on television. It was something about the Beijing Marathon, and little did I know that one day I would become hooked on it."

In high school and college Zhou played soccer and was in peak condition, but in 2010, three years after graduating from college, he was overweight, he says.

In 2015, after witnessing a marathon and sensing the enthusiasm of those involved, he decided to give it a try, and for three months got into a routine of fast walking to get to the point where he could start jogging.

In April in Nanjing he completed a half-marathon. Four months later, he finished a full marathon. Now a lot of his time is taken up swapping information and knowledge about marathon running with fellow aficionados, and in fact it has transformed his life, he says.

He once weighed 100 kilograms but now weighs 75 kg, and all-around he is much healthier, he says. Apart from once being overweight, his immunity was poor, his blood pressure and cholesterol level were high and he suffered from asthma.

"If I were to give a score to the quality of my life before I got into marathon running it would be just 3 out of 10. Now I'm happy and full of energy," he says.

Zhang Lei, of Beijing, says running marathons has greatly improved her life, too. Though she is 51, she looks as though she is in her 30s. Those youthful looks can be attributed to the sustained exercise, she says.

"Once I could barely have conceived of enjoying running, but now it's become one of the most important things in my life."

The turning point came one day in April 2014 when she realized she had outgrown dresses she once loved to wear. At a friend's recommendation she downloaded an app that promotes marathon running as a way of losing weight and staying fit.

On her first run it took her 36 minutes to cover 1.6 kilometers, she says, and at the end of it she was out of breath. At the time, the idea of running 5 kilometers was just a dream, she says. However, she increased the distances she ran gradually, and within six months she had run a half-marathon in Beijing.

Since then she has run in a dozen marathons in China and elsewhere.

"Marathon running has really changed me," she says.

She now looks like a different person, with a trim figure, and she always feels energetic. Her husband, inspired by her transformation, has also taken up long-distance running.

Encouragement

Zhang says that without the encouragement of friends and fellow marathoners she could not have summoned the courage to run in her first long race. Receiving training that is scientifically based and adopting a training regimen that helps you improve gradually have also been critical to her success, she says.

In fact, of all the marathoners she knows, no one would have been capable of going the distance when they first took it up, she says.

She reads extensively on how to run safely and does specific training activities every day. At first she ran three times a week, supplemented by other kinds of physical exercise, such as squats, to improve her muscles and become stronger.

In fact, marathoning has now turned into a new career for Zhang. She provides consulting services designing fitness programs for long-distance runners or those who want to start running.

She particularly recommends running outdoors, not in a gym. Indoors it takes more discipline to keep going whereas outdoors the constant change of scenery adds interest to the activity, she says.

Lifestyle choice

For Liu Jianfeng, an executive with an international IT company, running marathons is about lifestyle choice and perseverance.

Liu, who has long been a regular exerciser, says he used to think running was not for him simply because it seemed boring. However, when his grandmother died of cancer in 2009 he decided to do something to raise public awareness of cancer and with several friends took part in a marathon charity to raise money for cancer patients.

Even for him, a regular gym visitor, training for a marathon was difficult. It took six months to build up his stamina and strength. Eventually he and his friends completed a marathon in Macao.

Since then, Liu has taken part in a dozen marathons in China and the United States.

There are, of course, many ways to keep fit that are not as demanding on a person's time or that require less physical effort than running marathons, but aficionados say no other sporting activity can quite match it with the challenges it presents to the powers of determination and perseverance, as well as the opportunity it allows for reflection and contemplation.

Apart from that, Liu says, in China marathoning has become an activity that provides the opportunity for socializing and partying.

Zhou, the Nanjing resident, says it's great fun to run a marathon in a strange city, and since there are many cities holding marathon events in China, he hopes the organizers will become more detail-oriented to provide a better experience for runners.

liuzhihua@chinadaily.com.cn