The first marathon (马拉松) of the modern Olympic Games took place in 1896. Now marathon is a popular sport across China. On April 26, more than 300,000 runners took part in 26 marathon events nationwide, reported China Daily.
Teenagers have also taken part in marathons actively. Xu Qian, a 15-year-old boy from Suqian, Jiangsu, loves running. He took first place in the 5-kilometer Happy Run of the Jingdong Suqian Marathon on April 2. For Xu, the race meant months of training and preparation. He ran about 30 to 40 kilometers each week ahead of the run. "The 800-meter run at school is more about speed while a marathon tests a runner's endurance and psychological quality (心理素质)", he said. When he felt tired during the race, he told himself to fight on.
As well as one's fighting spirit, kindness from the people also plays a part in helping runners get to the finish line. Li Zhouzi from Shanxi took part in a 3-kilometer Kid Run of the Berlin Marathon in Germany in 2019 when she was 10. The support from the people cheering along the course (跑道) really encouraged her. "When things were hard, they cheered me on. The simple words ‘keep it up' meant a lot to me and I was encouraged to keep going to the end," Li said.
