ate a big bun turned into a swan and soared

Sanmenxia City, ancient capital: Shanyang City. Located at the junction of Henan, Shaanxi, and Shanxi, it has unlocked a new place thanks to the marathon. The profoundness of Chinese culture is vast, and the road ahead is long; I will seek it through running.

Unexpectedly selected as an official pacer for the first Sanmenxia International Marathon in 2018, still in the closing group.Coinciding with the May Day holiday, I should have been diligently working at my job, but instead, I contributed my overtime pay to the airline. A slight critique of the Sanmenxia organizing committee: the official pacer notification was too late, too late, too late. No surprises, no harm; growing up has made me not believe in tears. Let's go, let's go, happily heading to my 47th marathon.

Itinerary: Shenzhen-Zhengzhou-Sanmenxia South.

For the first time in my life, I landed in the central plains of Zhengzhou. There's a folk song by Li Zhi called 'Memories of Zhengzhou,' and I once met a running friend from Zhengzhou at the Angkor Wat Marathon.

"Back then, I was young and didn't know the population of Henan. A group of running friends were chatting, and she introduced herself as just having finished the college entrance exam, complaining that her results were not ideal, just barely making it into the top 100 in the province."

With 'Memories of Zhengzhou' on loop in my headphones, I kept thinking of stewed noodles, stewed noodles, and more stewed noodles.

Speaking of which, the city light rail from Zhengzhou Xinzheng Airport is very convenient, taking just over ten minutes to reach Zhengzhou East Station. From Zhengzhou East Station to Sanmenxia South, it's about an hour and a half by train. After getting off, I took a taxi directly to the Sanmenxia Cultural Expo Center to pick up my race packet. The taxi driver didn't use the meter and charged me 15 yuan. I thought, 'The prices here are quite low, haha.' Later, I checked the estimated price on the Didi Chuxing app (this is not an ad), and it was 6.8 yuan.

At every marathon packet pickup location, there's always a large-scale meetup for online friends, sponsored by advertisers. High-end, grand, and classy, yet low-key and luxurious with depth! Brothers and sisters, let's take a photo quickly, haha~

The hospitable Henan running friends insisted on treating me to lunch. I'm not very particular, especially when it comes to food. I've always been like this:

"Come, come, make way for the legs, egg instant noodles with sausage."

Henan running friend Zhu Xingxing: "Adao, have a steamed bun, it's really good! You're used to eating rice, right? Try this."

Me: Okay, okay, okay.

Half an hour later...

Shaanxi running friend Hou XX: Adao, "Why aren't you eating? The hot dishes haven't been served yet, why did you stop eating?"

Me (swallowing hard): "I... after eating this steamed bun, what else can I eat..."

The steamed bun was as hard as iron. I'm really curious how you usually eat it... At this moment, Henan running friend Zhu Xingxingvery considerately brought me a bowl of soy sauce"Here, dip it in this. Or do you want a bottle of beer?"

So I stood up and forced myself to finish the steamed bun...

Sanmenxia is also known as the Swan City. It's said that every year, swans fly from Siberia to the banks of the Yellow River here, and after eating their fill, they become too fat to fly back. I believe this because I saw swans floating on the racecourse, indeed plump and white, just as cute as you all.

The organizing committee was very thoughtful, removing the bunny ears and giving the pacers, oh no, the swan pacers, little wings. Here is the fixed makeup photo. Considering the first marathon, the number of participants, the abilities of the runners, and the weather conditions, the organizing committee set our pacing target between 6 hours and 15 minutes and the closing time. This means we only need to follow behind the last runner, which could be 6 hours, or maybe 5 hours. Anyway, it won't be 2 hours. (This setup is well-considered and worth referencing for cities hosting their first marathon.)

Alright, now let me tell you an embarrassing story.Unexpectedly received a bib number 'S8'...

So I sought help from running friends on WeChat, Weibo, and Codoon on how to resolve the embarrassment...

#Blocked friends#

#Good teachers and helpful friends among the young pioneers#

#Confident soul artist Dao#

Forget it, forget it. The race manual says: Do not alter the bib number. Just place the bib on the back (a self-consolation from the soul artist Dao). This matter is over.

On the way, I ran into Mr. Huang Kaijun, the king of the Shenzhen running circle. This was his 142nd full marathon, and it was our 7th time running together on the course.

There weren't many participants in the full marathon, but there was one domestic runner, Li Zicheng, and the African team.

At the one-kilometer mark, there were two vertical 2km uphill sections. Most of the Buddhist runners had already slowed down to a walk.

Having participated in so many races, this was the first time at the 3km mark that I found. No! One! Left! Am I at a marathon site? I was running alone at the back of the pack, starting to hum a song, 'I have a pair of invisible wings, I believe I can fly, see me fly.' (Lost in the joy of soaring)

Jogging along the Yellow River, this should be the third city by the Yellow River I've run in, after Lanzhou and Wuzhong. The Yellow River water here is green.

The sponge shapes here are swans.

I also ran into the image ambassador of this Sanmenxia Marathon, known as the 'Gao Yuanyuan' of the running circle.

The course here makes you think:

1. What am I thinking when I run?

2. What are you thinking when I run?

3. What am I thinking when you run?

4. What are you thinking when you run?

5. What are you thinking when we run together?

6. What am I thinking when we run together?

7. When they are running...

Loneliness needs to be cured by running, and the one who unties the bell must be the one who tied it.Can you really understand the meaning of life I pondered for 6 hours and 15 minutes?

The road is underfoot, and time is on the road.

I am neither fast nor slow, neither humble nor arrogant, neither happy nor angry. I have truly experienced the state of a Buddhist runner: this is how a marathon is, reaching the finish line as fate allows.

This marathon had four gold medal closing pacers in the running circle: San Siro, Xin Xin Zhu, Lairella, and Guanmen Dao.Accurate pacing with a margin of error within 30 seconds every five kilometers.

Special shoutout to Aiyundong: Wind Passing Through the Grasslands. This photographer has captured me looking good more than once.

The hardest thing to accept about running is probably knowing the finish line of this race but not knowing the starting point of the next one.

Ran a very complex course, with a cumulative elevation gain of over 400 meters.

Successfully completed the task of closing the Sanmenxia Yellow River Marathon!

On the way, I met a little girl, 12 years old, in the 6th grade. According to her, she signed up for the half marathon but was mistakenly placed in the full marathon group. She finished the race with us, eating, drinking, and hopping along the way!

But I still don't recommend children participate in marathons, for safety reasons.

1. The age limit for marathons is 20 years and older (born before December 31, 1998).

2. The age limit for half marathons is 16 years and older (born before December 31, 2002).

3. The age limit for mini runs is 16 years and older (born before December 31, 2002).

4. Minors under 18 need their guardian or legal representative to sign a participation statement.

Having run through a city, I'm still a brick mover. At this moment, I'm flying high in the early morning sky, hoping that in the future, there will be you and me. Running together.

Sincerely thank you for reading,

and for our daily progress.