The Dingtao Sunshine Running Group was officially established on May 1, 2016. It is a public welfare team spontaneously organized by running enthusiasts in Dingtao District. As of now, the team has more than 100 members from various walks of life. The oldest member is 55 years old, while the youngest is a student.

The vice-captain, Li Dongchang, is 53 years old and is the spiritual leader of the running group.

In the 1985 Vietnam Self-Defense Counterattack, he was blasted into a cliff crevice by enemy artillery, suffering severe injuries to his head and waist. He hovered between life and death and was rescued after three hours. As a special-grade combat hero, he defended the peace of the motherland with his youth and blood. However, the battle left his body scarred, and the steel plates in his waist will accompany him for life.

For more than a decade after returning to his hometown, he was unable to do anything, let alone heavy work. His body kept gaining weight, and after reaching over 230 pounds, his health finally collapsed, along with various complications brought by obesity.

He had undergone countless surgeries, each one a torturous ordeal, but he persevered through them all. Now, he has finally emerged from the shadow of war, running with two steel nails in his waist, enduring excruciating pain. He is not someone who is content to rest on his laurels and live a muddled life.

The spirit of a hero drove him to get up from his sickbed and start exercising bit by bit. From initially trying to walk again to easily completing a full marathon, his weight dropped from 230 pounds to 140 pounds, achieving a transformation from a fat man to a fit man.

Li Dongchang embodies the indomitable spirit of a soldier with his perseverance, urging all team members to actively participate in daily training with unwavering dedication.

The most recent encounter with this legendary figure was during a competition when someone saw him kneeling beside the long line of participants, painstakingly checking each member's ID copies and race certificates. Due to the steel nails in his waist, he couldn't bend over.

Some might ask, what prompted him to start running? Initially, even his comrades didn't understand. Given his physical condition, how could he handle such excessive running?

But he countered by asking his comrades, 'Is life more important or the body more important?'

Out of the 10 people, except for him, 9 answered, 'Life is more important.'

So he told them a story about himself. His mother had suffered from hemiplegia at the age of 53, bedridden for 16 years, with her skin ulcerated, unable to live or die, tormented by illness until she finally passed away.

In such a situation, is 'life more important or the body more important?'

His comrades then answered, 'The body is more important!' So, he was determined to train his body hard. This became his motivation to live. He began exercising regardless of the weather. Even if his legs swelled from running, he continued, switching from the left leg to the right leg, repeatedly alternating.

Up to now, in five years, his weight has dropped from over 230 pounds to 140 pounds. He runs 15 kilometers every morning and 12 kilometers every evening, with a minimum monthly mileage of 750 kilometers. Last year, his total annual mileage reached 10,569 kilometers.

With his relentless efforts, he finally brought all his physical indicators down to normal levels.

Not only that, but he also started running marathons, achieving a personal best of under 3:25.

He often leads the team in training. He said that the Dingtao Running Group started with only two people, then grew to seven, and now more than 40 people train with him.

At a fixed time and place, he leads the team members in running every day.

'To avoid lying in a hospital bed and to live a few more years, I can only endure the pain and run,' he said.

He is a hero of the Vietnam Self-Defense Counterattack, one of thousands of veterans. Running marathons is like being on the battlefield; he keeps running! This is the belief of a soldier!