11 week 13 champions impressive my goddess teacher

From September 16, 2017, to December 17, 2017, over 11 weeks, the 28-year-oldHao Xiaofanparticipated in 16 races and won 13 road running events.

In 2017, she participated in a total of 40 races, standing on the top podium 37 times, with a winning rate of 93%.

Just when everyone thought last year was Hao Xiaofan's peak, on January 21, 2018, at the Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon, known as the 'most challenging course in Asia,' she finished the half marathon in 1 hour, 18 minutes, and 10 seconds, winning the women's half marathon championship.

Was the Hong Kong Marathon tough? Not at all.

At 5:45 in the morning, it was still dark.

'This is the earliest race I've ever participated in,' Hao Xiaofan said with a smile.

The crowd at Tsim Sha Tsui was packed, with participants from all over the world, people of different skin colors gathered at the starting line, waiting for the gunshot.

With the sound of the gunshot, Hao Xiaofan started with the crowd.

At the 9-kilometer mark, Hao Xiaofan had a slight advantage, but it was not enough to secure the victory.

By the 16-kilometer mark, Hao Xiaofan had extended her lead to nearly two minutes, making victory seem just a matter of time.

As she approached the 19-kilometer mark, Hao Xiaofan was far ahead, with her lead growing larger.

In the end, Hao Xiaofan won the championship without any suspense, finishing in 1 hour, 18 minutes, and 10 seconds.

Perhaps because Hao Xiaofan came from a professional team and often practiced running on slopes, the rumored 'most challenging' slopes and altitudes of the Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon did not bother her at all; she even found it quite easy.

Regarding the Standard Chartered Marathon, she also offered her advice: first, increase leg strength training. Perhaps because she had trained her leg strength well while training for the 1500 meters, the slopes were easy for her.

Second, pay attention to your body and strengthen communication with it.

Although she had injuries during her professional training, after retiring, she paid great attention to her physical condition.

She emphasized that when you can't hold on, you must follow your body's wishes and never force it; only by taking care of your body can you run easily. Thanks to this, she did not experience any cramps during this half marathon and ran to the finish line in one go.

When Hao Xiaofan stood on the podium, she said, 'There is no fast track to success; you reap what you sow. All success comes from tireless effort and running, from ordinary struggle and perseverance.'

15 years of youth, dedicated to one thing: running.

Hao Xiaofan was a fast runner since childhood. In 2006, she successfully entered the Yangzhou middle and long-distance running training base, under the tutelage of Li Chaolin.

Of course, she was not training for marathons; her main events were the 1500 meters and 5000 meters, which later became 5000 meters and 10000 meters. She even won the women's 5000 meters championship at the 2008 Asian Junior Athletics Championships.

She had never run a marathon before and initially wondered why anyone would like such a boring sport.

But after running one, she changed her mind.

Hao Xiaofan's first marathon took 2 hours and 48 minutes. She initially thought it would be tedious, but after running it, she didn't find it boring at all and thoroughly enjoyed it. During the marathon, she could even calm her mind to think about problems, so whenever she had worries, she would go for a run.

'The faster I run, the happier I am!'

In 2013, the National Games first introduced the marathon team event. At the same year's Liaoning National Games, Hao Xiaofan participated in the inaugural team marathon and won the gold medal with excellent results.

Until the 2017 Tianjin National Games, Hao Xiaofan stood on the National Games track for the fourth time and once again won the women's marathon team runner-up.

After the Tianjin National Games, Hao Xiaofan retired completely. At the same time, she changed her identity from an athlete to a university physical education teacher.

She aims to use her strength to lead college students to run.

'I am now an amateur running enthusiast.'

Hao Xiaofan said that although she is no longer a professional athlete, she will not stop running, which she has persisted in for 15 years.

'On the one hand, stopping suddenly after so many years of high-intensity professional training would harm my body; on the other hand, I genuinely enjoy running.'

Because of this, Hao Xiaofan tries to participate in marathon events every weekend in addition to teaching.

Hao Xiaofan said, 'Now I run very casually, I just run according to my condition.'

But even with this 'casual' running, Ms. Hao achieved amazing results in 2017—7 championships in 7 weeks in the first half of the year, and 13 championships in 11 weeks in the second half, earning her the title of marathon machine!

Hao Xiaofan also hopes to inspire and motivate students to participate in sports through her efforts. She said:

'Sports may be a national matter, a matter of the people, or a matter of athletes, but it is first and foremost a personal matter—a matter that makes oneself happy, healthy, and strong.'

It is this belief that makes her carefully teach every student, so much so that students at Yangzhou University affectionately call her:

'Goddess Teacher.'

In 2018, Hao Xiaofan plans to go abroad to challenge the London Marathon. She hopes to enjoy this overseas marathon journey and hopes to spread the energy of 'healthy running, happy running' to more people during this trip.

So, let's look forward to this 'Goddess' teacher who has been running for 15 years.

Go, Ms. Hao!