At 78, inspirational runner makes his mark

Seventy-eight-year-old Gu Dawo impressed everyone by finishing a 42-kilometer marathon in five and a half hours in Xiamen, Fujian province, recently. His enthusiasm for sports, despite the ups and downs for a man of his age has inspired many.

Gu, who hails from the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, said that when he was young there was not many entertaining things to do. He developed an interest in swimming, cycling and running, and gradually his talent emerged.

In 1997, when he was 52, Gu won a prize in a 3,000-meter run in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. It was the first time he had entered a sports competition.