The elderly resident of the city of Guiyang, Guizhou province is fishing about trying to pull out the medals he's won from running in marathons across the country and is telling the story of his 87th race he took part in, in Beijing, this Sept 20, then adds that he still wants to run.
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| Zhang Rulin proudly displaying his medals. [Photo/GYWB.cn] |
Zhang Rulin, now 79, was a special guest runner at that Beijing Marathon, after speaking about his dream on the Web, which become a hot item, and comments, "I want to run my 100th marathon before I turn 80 and the distance I have run so far is the same as 5.5 times around the earth."
That last Marathon, on a rainy day, almost had some bad results when, unfortunately, a fellow runner accidentally stumbled into him and it was suggested that he stop running, but, "Because of the netizens who support me, I had to reach the tape", which he did with pain in his legs. Zhang completed the whole thing.
He says that he loves running since he was young and back in 1958, the year he began working, he ran 300 kilometers in 36 hours to handle a private business deal in other city in the province at a time when transportation conditions were bad.
Then, in 1984, he took second place in a race and decided to take part in marathons and he's shelled out 120,000 yuan ($18,900) so far in taking part in them, which meant that he led a very modest life. And, he runs 20 km every day to be ready for his 100th marathon.
Liu Dingqin, his wife, says that she backs him emotionally and economically and, "As old he is, we expect happiness and health, even with all money spent on the marathon".
