Running against all odds
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Defying age and expectations, 49-year-old An Yaping surged across the finish line of the 6.2-mile Run Girls race. For the second year in a row, she claimed victory, completing the scenic course along Beijing’s Ming Tombs Reservoir in just 38 minutes.
The women-only event, a highlight of the Beijing Olympic City Sports and Cultural Festival, offers more than competition. In this year’s edition, held in September, professional stylists pampered participants with beauty services, while each finisher received a custom-designed medal and a fresh bouquet of flowers.
“Since all the participants are female, I feel more relaxed and find it easier to maintain my own pace. In mixed races, my rhythm often gets disrupted by male runners who overtake me, and I would feel compelled to speed up,” says An.
An’s life today seems far removed from her days as an overworked HR professional. Endless administrative tasks and complicated workplace dynamics once left her exhausted at the end of each day. To clear her mind, in 2021 she began jogging alone in the Olympic Forest Park near her home.
Not long after, her husband came across information about an upcoming 6.2-mile running race in Beijing’s Chaoyang Park and encouraged An to participate.
It was her first-ever competition, and to her surprise, she finished third.
Standing on the podium lit a spark that would change her life.
“Since taking up running as a hobby, although my schedule has become tighter, I feel happier and more relaxed,” An says.
Her dedication quickly paid off. Her personal best in the full marathon now stands at 2 hours and 52 minutes, and she is aiming to break 2 hours and 50 minutes this year. Alongside training, she actively seeks out competitions.
According to the Chinese Athletics Association, 749 road-running events were held across China in 2024, drawing a total of 7.05 million participants, an increase of 1 million from the previous year.
On the racecourse of Run Girls, another figure drew admiration: 62-year-old Xing Ruling, a retired nurse with short hair and a wide smile. Participants lined up eagerly to take photos with Xing, a frequent podium finisher in trail-running competitions both in China and abroad.
Xing’s story began in Wayao village, in the mountainous northwest of Changping district. As a child, she would often carry a sickle and roam the nearby hills with her classmates to dig up medicinal herbs, which they sold to support their families.
These days, she still carries the sickle but wears trail-running gear, using the blade to carve out new paths for her daily runs.
“I’ve run all over the mountains near where I live now,” says Xing.
Xing started running at the age of 38 due to health issues. To improve her physical fitness, she began running every day.
“I woke up at 5 every morning to run. But sometimes, emergency cases would come into the hospital, my pager would go off mid-run, and I had to turn back right away to assist with surgery,” recalls Xing, who served as head nurse at a hospital in Nankou town, Changping, at the time.
In March 2009, she spotted an advertisement in the newspaper that an outdoor endurance run event was going to be held in Changping. It was one of the very first trail-running events ever organised on the Chinese mainland.
“The starting line was just a short distance from my home, so I signed up — just to give it a try,” she says.
Her childhood familiarity with the mountains, combined with years of road running, carried her to first place in the women’s 62-mile category.
That victory launched a new chapter. Xing became a sponsored trail runner for the outdoor brand The North Face, competing in races across China and around the world.
“Although I’m getting older and my stamina isn’t what it used to be, I still want to compete with runners my age from other countries. As long as I can run, I want to keep running,” she says.
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