From 4 hours 39 minutes to 2 hours 59 minutes, from a mountain village in western China to a university podium—it took me six years to run two different marathons. One was on the road, fighting cramps, exhaustion, and limits with every step, gradually shortening the finish time. The other was in life, running from textbooks under a kerosene lamp to the podium of the academic hall, inch by inch expanding the boundaries of life. This ever-flowing river of history records not just the improvement in pace and the changes in courses, but also how an ordinary person, through the simplest persistence, completed a dual transcendence of self through running and seeking. When you open these words years from now, may they not only bring you the warmth of the marathon course, but also give you the courage to keep running forward—whether on the course or in life. Because true victory is never about defeating others, but about constantly surpassing the person you were yesterday. — Text & Images: Xiao Haijun
I. Starting Point: A First Marathon of Stumbling and Crawling
November 29, 2020, Chengdu Marathon. In my sixth year of fitness, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try more diverse forms of exercise.
Running, due to its lack of venue restrictions, naturally became my first choice. At first I only ran 2 to 5 kilometers, occasionally trying 10K. It wasn't until ten days before my first marathon that I truly began to接触 "long distance" training. At the time, my monthly mileage was less than 60 kilometers, and I naively thought that 42.195 kilometers was just two half marathons added together. The result: at 18K in the Chengdu Marathon, both legs cramped, and I struggled the whole way. 4:39:59—like dragging half a corpse across the finish line. Completing safely after only ten days of preparation was already not easy. My kneecap hurt for a month. I swore: "I'll never run a full marathon again."
II. The Spark: A Flame of Dissatisfaction
The oath was quickly replaced by a flame of dissatisfaction in my heart.
The 2021 Chengdu Marathon lottery win was canceled due to COVID-19; in 2022, the city lockdown almost stopped my running completely... But the desire to run never went out.
In 2023, after two months of hasty preparation, I once again stood on the Chengdu Marathon course in October, finishing in 4:15. Although I still cramped, a thought quietly sprouted at this moment: "I want to run marathons in other cities, to travel across the great rivers and mountains of my motherland through marathons."
III. Breakthrough: The First Ray of Light
At the 2023 Shenzhen Marathon, I prepared seriously for one month, and my mileage first exceeded 253 kilometers. When I crossed the finish line, the time stopped at 3:40—no cramps throughout, a 35-minute PB. Only at that moment did I truly believe: I can run farther, faster.
IV. The Journey: Measuring China with Footsteps
In 2024, I embarked on a "National Marathon Tour": Lanzhou, Yinchuan, Liupanshui, Taiyuan, Xi'an, Nanning, Kunming... At the Xi'an Marathon, 3:20:27, a PB of nearly 20 minutes.
My dream began to burn: I want to break 3:10 and touch the threshold of "mass elite."
V. Advancement: The Prelude to Breaking Three Hours
In 2025, the running footsteps never stopped. Nine full marathons + five half marathons for the year. More importantly, starting from July, every weekend at 4 a.m., without fail, I would drive 10 kilometers to the Qinglong Lake Wetland Park for morning training.
Monthly mileage stabilized above 300 kilometers, laying a solid foundation for the body. This year, my results settled amid fluctuations. At my second Xi'an Marathon, 3:07:14—the 3:10 goal achieved! And the breakthrough in the half marathon was like a ray of dawn: from 1:29 at Changjiahui in early November, to 1:26 at Meishan Dongpo, to 1:24 at Ya'an by year-end... I knew the timing for a sub-3 was drawing near.
VI. Fulfilling the Dream: Calmly Reaching the Mountain and Sea
January 2026, Xiamen Marathon.
I had imagined the scene of breaking three hours countless times: perhaps I would burst into tears, perhaps I would shout, perhaps I would kneel down and kiss the timing mat. But when I truly crossed the finish line and saw the number "2:59:45" on the arch timer, my heart was exceptionally calm.
Turns out the most turbulent waves had already silently washed over the riverbed of life during those six years of running.
The Other Course · From Poverty-Stricken Mountain Village to University Podium
Before running, I had already won another, much longer marathon.
I come from a poor mountain village so obscure it's hard to find on a map—Lingtai, Gansu. The clearest memories of my childhood are the rugged mountain roads and my parents' sighs as they worried about tuition fees.
Studying was the only visible way out. Relying on my parents' scraping together and my persistence under the kerosene lamp late into the night, I step by step "ran" from the village primary school to the county middle school, and then "ran" to the halls of a 985 university.
Six years for a Ph.D., the days and nights spent in the lab, stacks of X-ray films, papers that were overturned and rewritten—that was a lonely endurance race with no audience and no applause.
When I finally stood on the podium of the 985 university, looking at the young eyes below, I knew—the true marathon of life has never been limited to the course.
VII. The Finish Line? A New Starting Point
From the first marathon of cramping and struggling, to the journey across the nation; from the oath of "never running again" to the courage of "let me try." From a child in a poor mountain village to a teacher on the university podium; these two seemingly parallel courses ultimately converged at the same finish line: persistence is the only shortcut; breakthrough is the only answer. Six years, not just a sub-3, but a reconciliation with oneself, a moment of growth.
Gratitude to all the companions along this road. There is so much to be thankful for: thank you to that never-give-up self who won't stop until it's done; thank you to the brothers of the Sichuan University Panda Running Club, who took me through one grueling intensity training after another; thank you to the comrades of the Love Elite Sub-3 Running Club from all corners of the country, for the endless encouragement sent from afar; thank you to the partners of the Qinglong Lake Wild Wolf Running Club, for the warm companionship in the morning light through all four seasons. It is you who made this lonely expedition full of warmth and strength.
What the marathon has taught me has never been how to run faster, but how to move forward more resolutely—even if you fall, you must get up toward the light. If there is a dream worth chasing with years, it must be constantly surpassing the person you were yesterday.
Breaking three hours is a milestone, not a finish line. The mountains are high and the seas are wide—see you on the road.