Running on the spot(2)

Nightmares and dreams

Although women are not so well represented in running groups as men, they share the same enthusiasm for the sport. When 28-year-old Wu Qiongfei was at school, she thought running was a nightmare.

"Girl students had to take an 800-meter running test each semester in junior high school. Usually students have to complete the run within 4 minutes and 15 seconds. I failed every test I took. It was a terrible experience. I wondered why on earth people had invented long-distance running," Wu said.

For her old classmates and friends then, it was totally unexpected when Wu told them a year ago that she had a new hobby - long-distance running.

"They thought that I must have gone through something terribly devastating that I had had to resort to running to release my stress," Wu laughed.

When Wu joined the running club, she was not surprised to discover there were only a few women members.

"I think this is because most women prefer sports that are less intense. Many friends of mine take yoga classes. But most girls have the wrong idea about running. They think running is going to build up muscles and they are scared of getting muscles," Wu said. "But I have researched this myself and found that it is a lot more difficult for women to gain muscles than men."

Another woman member, Zhang Liping, agreed that a fear of appearing well-muscled was keeping many Asian girls from taking up running. "Most Asian girls want their bodies to be smooth and slim. They do not appreciate athletic and curvy figures as Western women do. I personally don't care much about what others think. I like my body to be a little muscular," she said.

But both Wu and Zhang refuse to run in direct sunlight. "Though I agree with the Western aesthetics that women with healthy muscular figures are attractive, I share Eastern values when it comes to the skin. There is an old saying in China: 'A white complexion is bewitching enough to hide a number of faults.' I don't want to be tanned," Zhang said.

Zhang does much of her running in the gym and occasionally in the evenings she runs outdoors.

"I once took part in the Beijing Marathon in October. I gave up at noon not because I was exhausted but because my skin was being burned by the sun, and I certainly couldn't carry a parasol while running," she said.

Wu also rarely runs in bright sunlight. "When it is summer, I run in the gym. I like outdoor sports, but I usually only run outdoors in the evening," she said. As well as giving her a curvier body, Zhang said that running made her healthier and feel more confident.

"I like being praised for being attractive and healthy and I think I have more energy than most of my friends. I have undergone an advanced medical examination which showed that running has boosted my metabolic rate, and I have a stronger body. My goal is to become the most beautiful old woman there can be," the 25-year-old said.

Wu said that running helps her persevere at other tasks. "I decided to run because I wanted to be more industrious. I managed to finish a half-marathon at the Shanghai Marathon last year. I got the certificate and stuck it on the wall of my bedroom. I don't think there should be anything I cannot succeed at after having completed the most impossible run of my whole life. I will keep challenging myself."

Easy to enjoy

Of the six runners the Global Times talked to, half were IT engineers, including the veteran Zuo. "I don't know why there is such a high rate of participation. But working in IT is really tiring. You have to stare at a computer screen all day and it is not uncommon to have to work overtime. Many IT workers have problems with their health. Running is the easiest sport to enjoy," said Chen Shitao, 25, an IT engineer.

Tan Kian Wee, 29, a Malaysian, joined the club two months ago, and is also an IT worker. "Though I have only been running for a short time, I think I have improved a lot both in my running and in my health. I feel more energetic."

He used to run in the school athletics team until he injured his leg and stopped running completely. "I won the 4 x 400 meters relay back in high school. But I hadn't run for long until I came to China last year." Last December Tan Kian Wee ran in the Shanghai Marathon. He said that he really loved running in the city. "The weather is not as humid and hot as it is in Malaysia, so you feel more comfortable running. There are a lot of public running areas here, which is not the case back in my home country," he said.

Though he has heard reports of poor air quality in the city, Tan Kian Wee is not worried about this. "We have air pollution in Malaysia. But we do not publish the particulate figures. It's not like the pollution is more serious here - at least I do not feel this is the case."

While some runners choose to avoid running on smoggy days, most say they have few concerns about air pollution. "People worry about the safety of pork and dairy products, but we still have to eat them. We have to live and carry on with our lives however the air is," Zhang Liping said.