Offering kids mountains of ambition

Running to recharge

Taking the time to train with the children between the two ultra-distance races, Yao found that it helped her unwind.

“Running with the kids was more like a moment of recharging for me,” Yao recalled.

“I deliberately slowed down my pace during the race. I stopped to take in the surroundings, enjoy the scenery along the way and watch the running form of the kids.”

On May 22, Yao traveled to a primary school in Yunnan’s Ninglang county, where she ran and played games with nearly 1,800 girls participating in the campus running challenge. She also shared her own life story and trail running experiences with them.

“Children in remote mountainous areas have very few opportunities to play sports, and the options are extremely limited,” said Yao.

“I think introducing trail running, or even just running, to them is a brand-new experience, even if it only plants a small seed in their hearts, or makes them more curious to see the world beyond their mountains.

“Everyone is curious about the future and about new environments, but they’re also quite shy and hesitant to express themselves,” Yao noted.

“They don’t know that they can do sports, and they don’t know what kind of different life they could have. And running — so simple, so healthy — is exactly the kind of sport we can bring to more of them.”

Wang Yinqin, a 16-year-old participant who frequently wins school running competitions, was inspired by Yao.

“Seeing Yao, I realized that running can make a person shine so brightly and be so impressive,” she said. “I want to see if I can follow the path of becoming a trail runner too.”

Growing up in a mountain village in Liupanshui, Guizhou province, as the youngest of six children, Yao saw much of her younger self in the girls.

Yao grew up carrying a bamboo basket into the hills, digging for potatoes and foraging for food to feed her family. Back then, she wanted nothing more than to escape.

Today, the mountains she once fled have become her stage. She is now widely recognized as one of the most influential female athletes in the trail running world.

“I share a similar background with these children. In fact, my situation was probably even worse than theirs,” Yao said. “But I made it out. I believe they can have more confidence in themselves, too.”

She also expressed her gratitude to her middle school PE teacher.

“He was the one who gave me the chance to start running, and he’s the reason I’ve come this far.”

Yunxing, whose previous dream was to become a doctor, found a new aspiration after hearing Yao’s story of how running changed her life.

“I want to be a PE teacher now,” Yunxing said.

For now, though, there are still buffaloes to be herded, steep hills to climb and miles to cover before the sun goes down.

But, these days, when she runs, she understands it’s much more than just chores.