buck tooth zhao ran hard but left an olympic athlete in the dust

01

This weekend, there are two races I really want to run: one is the Lhasa Half Marathon, and the other is the Hefei Marathon.

After much hesitation, I chose Hefei because Anhui Province is the only province in mainland China that I haven't set foot in. Completing the Hefei Marathon means that I've visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China that I can travel to with just an ID card. This concept is very important to someone like me with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

I'm thick-skinned, so I'm not afraid of being laughed at: I'm aiming for a personal best (PB) at the Hefei Marathon. I've been injured for half a year, and if I don't give it my all by the end of the year, I won't have any hopes left for this year.That's why I didn't go all out in Xi'an and Hangzhou before, wanting to save my best condition for Hefei.

Er Dan is also going to Hefei. Anhui is his hometown, and when he heard I wanted to PB, he volunteered to be my pacer.

I actually feel quite embarrassed. Last year, he was my pacer and took care of me more attentively than he would a wife (even though he doesn't have one). I still don't know how to repay him. I'm not willing to marry him, and even if I convinced myself to be willing, he wouldn't accept it.

One wave has yet to subside, and another wave comes. Now I owe Er Dan another favor. I couldn't help but shout angrily: Aren't there any girls among my thousands of followers who want to get in touch with Er Dan????

02

On race day, the weather was cool and overcast. Our hotel was just 400 meters from the starting point, so we didn't even need to store our bags. Er Dan, being the local, was familiar with everything—so it seemed like I had all the advantages of time, place, and people.

The strategy Er Dan and I devised was to start at a 4:40 pace and push as long as I could. If I couldn't keep up, it would mean bowing to the 'dark forces' of Chen Zhong (to explain, I call Chen Zhong 'dark forces' not because of his behavior or morals, but because he trained hard this year and got quite tanned; it has nothing to do with racial discrimination).

Chen Zhong saw my post on WeChat Moments in Beijing and was trembling with fear. Not because he was afraid I'd break his PB, but because he was worried I'd collapse in Hefei. He had a good idea of my condition after being injured for half a year.

This race was also a national championship. The empty space at the front of the starting crowd was reserved for the 'I Want to Go to the Olympics' athletes, referred to as 'Olympic athletes.' Er Dan was one of these Olympic athletes, and his race number was 0009, which shows how impressive he is.To pace me, Er Dan gave up this great opportunity to feel distinguished and chose to start in the regular runners' area with me.

In the first kilometer, we gradually broke through the crowded starting area. From the second kilometer onward, we began to follow our planned pace.

Along the way, Olympic athlete Er Dan was responsible for clearing the path ahead, while I, as a chubby guy, struggled to squeeze through the narrow gaps between people, looking for opportunities as I ran.Everything was going well, and we were running smoothly and confidently.

03

At the 18-kilometer mark, for some reason, a small stone got into my right shoe, pressing against the sole of my foot, and I unconsciously slowed down.

Er Dan noticed something was wrong and turned to ask me, 'We meet by fate even from a thousand miles away, and you're already tired at 18 kilometers?'

I told Er Dan, 'Through mountains and rivers, there's always love; can I shake out the stone?'

Er Dan, frustrated, scolded me for stopping to tie my shoelaces during last year's Hangzhou Marathon, saying I had lost the most basic self-care ability of an adult.I looked up to the sky in silence.After shaking out the small stone, I put my shoe back on and continued running alongside Er Dan.

Er Dan turned to look at me with a strange expression, as if he had seen an unidentified flying object, showing a mix of surprise and disgust.Feeling a bit uneasy, I couldn't help but ask him. Er Dan helplessly said, 'Can you wipe your nose? It's about to drip into your mouth...'

Embarrassed, I looked around and, seeing no one, blew my nose hard and continued running. As I ran, my shameless snot started to flow again.

Er Dan finally couldn't help but scold me, 'Is your brain leaking?' I couldn't help but laugh, and a snot bubble popped out—thankfully, there were no photographers on the course at that moment.

04

I had a bit of a cold, but I didn't dare tell Er Dan, fearing he'd scold me. BecauseI had never been to Anhui or Nanjing. Considering how close Hefei is to Nanjing, I decided to visit Nanjing for a day before coming to Hefei, and I caught a cold there.

The cold wasn't serious—no fever or headache—so I didn't think much of it. When I couldn't help but cough while eating with Er Dan before the race, I only dared to say I choked.But after Er Dan saw my snot bubble, he seriously asked if I had a cold. In this situation, I couldn't deny it and had to admit it on the spot.

Upon hearing this, Er Dan's face changed. He said, 'You're running at such high intensity with a cold? Do you want to die? Have you heard of myocarditis, pulmonary edema, or rhabdomyolysis?'

I understood all the reasoning, but I was indeed a bit unwilling to give up.

Er Dan didn't care and forcibly slowed our pace to 5:00, saying, 'Isn't it good to stay alive?'

At the 20-kilometer mark, our route passed by our hotel. Er Dan looked up at the hotel's windows and turned to me, saying, 'Look at that big bed in the hotel; it's soft and white. Do you want to go back and sleep?'I really struggled internally for a moment before answering, 'Let's keep running...'

05

Sometimes, I really have to marvel at the impact of psychological factors on competitive sports. After I confessed to Er Dan about my cold, I immediately lost the motivation to continue and unconsciously slowed down.

When we passed the half-marathon timing point, I checked my watch: 1 hour and 45 minutes, a full 6 minutes slower than my PB in Hangzhou last year...

At that moment, I suddenly understood why Baggio missed the penalty in the 1994 World Cup final. The psychological pressure was immense. If it were me, I'd probably wet my pants.

We continued to drag ourselves along the course. Every time we passed a turnaround point, and the runners leading us by several kilometers rushed past us, Er Dan would cover his race number and helplessly say to me, 'Look at the runners on the other side, number 40-something has already passed, and I'm still here as number 09. It's so embarrassing.'

At this point, I didn't even have the confidence to speak. I kept diagnosing myself:

Oh no, I can't catch my breath. Is it emphysema? Oh no, my heart rate is high. Is it myocarditis? Oh no, I feel weak all over. Is it rhabdomyolysis? Oh no, my foot hurts. Is my plantar fasciitis acting up again?

At the 25-kilometer mark, Er Dan said to me, 'When we reach 26 kilometers, I'm dropping out. You can run by yourself. You can't PB anyway, and my task is done. I need to take care of my foot; there's the Shanghai Marathon next week.'Er Dan's foot was injured and was still swollen last Thursday. Accompanying me in Hefei probably worsened his injury.

I said emotionally, 'You don't need to follow me anymore. Drop out now and take care of your foot.'

Er Dan said, 'Are you stupid? I checked the map. There's a subway station at 26 kilometers. I'll take the subway back to the hotel. If I drop out now, I won't even be able to get a taxi due to the traffic control.'

Finally, we reached the subway station. Er Dan handed me his last half bottle of water. We hugged and waved goodbye, turning away with snot all over our faces.

06

After successfully exhausting an Olympic athlete both mentally and physically, I started to run aimlessly toward the finish line. As long as I didn't aim for a good time, safely finishing and getting a medal wasn't a problem.

In the last ten kilometers, I kept worrying about one thing: after finishing, how would I face my sister-in-law Chen Zhong, how would I face the handsome seafood Shen Wuze, and how would I face the bragging I did before?

Song Dongye said in 'Anhe Bridge,' 'The bragging we did will be laughed off with youth.' But I'm no longer young. Where can I find youth to laugh it off? Even if I borrowed it from Shen Wuze, I don't know if he'd want me to return it...

By the time I finished, it was 3 hours and 43 minutes. Er Dan was already clean and waiting for me at the finish line. I walked up in shame, opened a beer from my finish bag, and handed it to him.

We looked at each other in silence, with tears streaming down our faces.

Later, I found out that Chen Zhong and Shen Wuze had made a bet in Beijing, guessing my finish time would be between 3:42 and 3:45. I ended up running a 3:43.

If I had known about their bet, I would have held on a bit longer on the course and finished at 3:46, just to mess with them...

Sigh, nothing more to say. I'll try again in Shenzhen—I just received a text saying I got a spot.

The photographer took pictures of me, and with such good muscles in my legs, if I still can't run fast, I might as well stew them.To nourish my child, who's about to take the high school entrance exam, nutrition needs to be kept up!