The marathon is a high-intensity extreme sport.

You might easily fall in love with running.

As a 6-hour-15-minute pacer, I felt that I reached not the 42.195 km finish line, but the liberation from enduring time.

The race started joyfully, and I sincerely thank Shen Wuzei for the meticulous care and attention during this Yixing trip.

This is just the chandelier in the hotel lobby.

Scorching

Pinyin: zhì rè

Definition: As hot as being roasted by fire, describing extreme heat.

Synonym: Blazing

When a marathon, from the encouragement of people around you saying 'Go for it,' slowly turns into concern 'Run safely, know your limits,' you can imagine it’s a deeply memorable ordeal.

The difficulty of the 2019 Yixing Marathon can be seen from the participants' results. Despite the participation of invited African runners, the men's champion finished in 2 hours 29 minutes, and the women's champion in 3 hours.

From the completion certificates, it can be understood that out of 3000 full marathon participants in Yixing, only 2067 finished the race, with nearly one-third choosing to quit or not participating for other reasons.

Safety first, know your limits.I believe no one on the track endured to the finish line any differently than I did. After waking up from a nap, my hair hurt, probably because I didn’t wear a hat.

I once read an article saying that marathon runners have a higher probability of hair loss and should avoid using open-top hats, opting for full-top hats instead. Thinking of this, I worriedly touched my sunburned hair and felt heartache.

Yixing in April, with the sun of August, in the water towns of Jiangnan, Yixing is truly beautiful, with flowers everywhere adorning this capital of Zisha teapots.

Jokingly, I said to my partner Wang Xiaobai: In 10 years, when we come back to run the Yixing Marathon, the small trees by the roadside should have grown enough to provide shade.

After enjoying the flowers, trees, and scenery for the first 7 kilometers, we gradually returned to reality from the beauty. Thanks to photographer A'dai for capturing our last smile inspired by the scenery on the track (after leaving Longbeishan Park, there was no more shade).

After 12KM, more and more fellow runners were around. This distance, usually easy to run, under the scorching sun at 9 AM, everyone was looking down at the road, sweating, not knowing if it was a blessing or a curse to keep running.

'Feet steaming in the hot earth, back scorching under the blazing sky'

After the half-marathon split, there were no more full marathon runners beside me.

I said sentimentally: Xiaobai, our marathon has just begun.

Xiaobai optimistically replied: No, it’s our marathon.

Xiaobai: Daoge, have you ever run such a scorching marathon before?

Me: Maoming.

Xiaobai: Any others?

I tearfully replied: Now!!!

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At each supply station, I would tell the volunteers: You’ve worked hard, there’s no one behind us, you can finish up.

The volunteers responded: Finish safely, keep going.

At one of the emergency stations, I asked for saline, and the volunteers pointed to a runner lying on the ground and said: There’s only one cup left, can we give it to him?

Every 2 hours, I cleaned my face with a sponge at the supply point and applied sunscreen.Here’s a friendly reminder for everyone: Sunglasses are essential for marathons.Sunglasses can help block strong winds and reduce the irritation of sunlight on your eyes.

Friend: Daoge, everyone says Yixing is scorching with strong winds. How strong is the wind in Yixing?

Me: ..........

Friend: What are you saying?

Me: ..........

Friend: Are you crazy?

Me: You’re the crazy one! The wind is too strong for you to hear.

'Hui Pao, gathering the strength of runners'

Having run 62 marathons, this was the most ceremonious segment timing point closure I’ve ever seen. I passed it at 11:57, and after confirming no one was behind me, the staff started the closure.

'Segment closure'!

'Segment closure'!!

'Segment closure'!!!

Important things are said three times, stemming from too many runners mistakenly thinking the organizing committee should cater to their net time closure, silently pushing the time back.

Xiaobai is from Wuxi, just transitioning from winter to spring, and was caught off guard by the 'great heat.' She wasa first-time pacer, lightly equipped. Seeing me in long sleeves, long pants, compression gear, and sunglasses, she worried I’d be hot. After being exposed for 5 hours, she was clearly struggling. I kept encouraging her: Xiaobai, at the finish line, I’ll give you a magical spin of love~

In the last hundred meters, only the four of us were left on the track. We held hands, not just because we were the last, but because this race was so tough, we finally made it through, we made it through...

Thank you, Aiwei Zhu, the teacher.

Perfectly stepping on the 2019 Yixing International Marathon 42.195 timing mat at 6 hours and 15 minutes, we raised our hands high and shouted with all our might: We finished!

Behind the shutter of the 'precise to the second' photo taken by running vitamin photographer Zhu, another photographer captured this moment. Thank you, masters of capturing moments.

At the finish line, seeing pacer Chen Chen holding the pacer certificate, Xiaobai burst into tears.

Thank you for believing we could complete the task.

'I don’t have to win, I just don’t want to lose.'I don’t have to run marathons all over the world, I just want to stay true to myself on the marathon path.

My compression pants were full of salt, like a piece of kelp.

Back at the hotel, lying in the bathtub, I thought, if someone asks me again: What’s the toughest marathon you’ve run?

I won’t compare Dunhuang in 2015, Maoming in 2018, or Yixing in 2019.The toughest is the next one.We should train ourselves well, always ready to face different challenges. A flat course and a hilly one are both parts of a marathon.Forget who you were yesterday. Yixing itself is truly beautiful. We’ll come back next year to see (and challenge) it again!

Ceramics are fragile and hard to come by.

Next race:

2019 Wuhan Marathon, 6-hour pacer.

Looking forward to your pat on the shoulder.