Stanley’s blogworld

Dear Reader

Last year I taught at a school in Nanning in the south of China. On one of my regular runs around Nan Hu (South Lake) I met a local fellow runner, Hu Chen (his English name is Bon), and he told me about the annually hosted Nanning halfmarathon that was due to take place in December that year
I decided to prepare for the event, and also made it my goal to finish the race in under one and a half hours. I had taken part in two other long distance races before, and had not been able to achieve this goal yet.

I had two months to prepare. My training schedule consisted of a regular run, at least three times a week, around the 8 km lake with its beautiful palm trees and gardens. I also went for a few one hour-runs with Bon and another friend, Qin Wei, around the hills of the Qin Xiu mountain park - here the terrain consisted of beautifull gardens and was excellent for hill training.

On a mild Sunday morning, 4 December 2007, my girlfriend Carrie and I got up early to meet Bon and Qin Wei in the big goverment square where we were to be set off on our 21.1 km journey through the streets of Nanning.
I ran a good race without any hitches, and with 5 km to go on the final stretch down the main road realized I was well on the way to finish within my time goal.
This period was also the hardest part of the race. I was fighting a mental battle with myself - my legs had seriously started to tire by then - I kept on telling myself to keep up the pace, or I would risk finishing outside of my goal. The ecstasy of seeing I was actually going to realize my goal helped me to fight on and ignore the fatigue and pain.

With 50 meters to go I met Carrie alongside the road and she spurred me on to the finish line. I saw the time on the finish line clock was reading 1:25 minutes and it kept ticking away. I sprinted the rest of the way to the end a little bit overcame by emotion at my personal victory.
Qin Wei finished two places before me and Bon, with a sore knee, followed shortly behind me.

At the finish line we met with other runners and more spectators. We watched the prize giving for the winners and marvelled at their fast times.
The true champ of the day though was a vibrant and cheerful 72 year old runner from Shandong Province. I asked him the secret to his youthfulness. He modestly claimed that he regularly exercised and ate honey for strength.
That day he earned great respect from everyone and he certainly was my personal hero.