Run to challenge yourself

Running has become popular in China, especially in cities. It's become a habit with my friends to share their experiences and photographs of running on social networking sites. This year's Shanghai Marathon and Beijing Marathon were spectacular with thousands of people registering to take part in them.

There are many reasons why an increasing number of people, including some celebrities, are taking to running. Some people run to build their bodies while others run to challenge themselves to do something they haven't done before. But the majority of the people run to keep healthy and avoid diseases such as high blood pressure, obesity and heart attacks.

I started running because of what my PE teacher in primary school said: If you want to be smart, run; if you want to be strong, run; if you want to be healthy, run.