Born in a small island in southern China's Zhejiang Province, Chen Penbin could have been fishing for a living and rarely setting foot on the mainland like his father and grandfather did.
But thanks to his great talent and stamina, the 39-year-old is now a star ultramarathon runner in China and aims to encourage more people to embrace a healthy lifestyle through running.
"I was like a frog living at the bottom of a well -- only able to see the little patch of sky above, and never dare to believe that I would be living a different life other than fishing," said Chen when recalling his childhood.
Hailing from a fishing family that could barely make ends meet, Chen learned to accept his fate at a very young age. He believed no matter how many years he spent at school, he would still end up as a fisherman. He showed little interest in studying as a kid. Instead, he was keen to make his own contribution in order to ease burden for his family.
"Since I was very young I knew I needed to stand on my own feet as soon as possible," he said.
So right after his graduation from primary school, Chen went into the fishing business to help his father and brother.
"At that time my father had to hire another man to help us on the boat. Although I was only 13, I wanted to replace that man and help to cut down expenses for my father. So I would never be lazy. I learned quickly and always gave it my all out when I was working," Chen said.
In the following nine years, Chen worked as a fisherman. He was motivated and hard-working. He often had to face dangerous situations at sea but had never thought of quitting the fishing career he was stuck into. However, a push-up contest during the Spring Festival of 2000 opened a window for him.
It was a grassroots contest in the island village, Chen racked up an impressive 438 push-ups to beat all the other contestants which also included some policemen and firemen.
"I only trained for about ten days for the contest. I did not know how many push-ups I need to win. So I just kept pushing myself," Chen recalled.
"When I finished 438, a kid pushed me on my shoulder and I fell on the ground. He told me the other contestants were gone for a while. It was at that moment that I realized I had won already. Otherwise, I would do more push-ups. "
Chen won 600 yuan (some 87 US dollars) prize money for the victory, quite a sum of money in his mind at that time. And he gave it all to his father.
"Since I was young I always admired those heroes in kongfu novels. For me, winning a contest is like being a hero. I can earn praise from my neighbors and relatives, and what's more, the prize money can really help my family," Chen said.
The push-up competition became a turning point, helping Chen to realize his edge in stamina and changing the direction of his life. After that, his competitive instinct really kicked in. He started to act as a "bounty hunter" and competed in different sorts of endurance contests such as outdoor adventure races, triathlon competitions, as well as grassroots challenges like running a marathon with leather shoes and carrying a large water cooler tank while running as far as possible.
As Chen bagged more and more victories, he also gradually grew his fame nationwide. In 2009, Chen came to realize that competition was not only about money after competing in the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc event, which was the first time for him to run abroad.
"I saw the Chinese national flag flying from the hotel as soon as I arrived there which touched me a lot, and I came up with an idea to race in all seven continents representing my country," he said.
In the following year he set off on his bold plan to run an ultramarathon in all seven continents, and he only needed four years to fulfill his goal. After winning a 100 kilometers nonstop ultramarathon in Antarctica on Sept. 20, 2014, Chen became the first Chinese to compete in all seven continents.
After the "seven continents" feat, Chen has become a national celebrity, a sensation often called to China's Forrest Gump.
And his feats did not stop. In 2015 he managed to run 100 marathons in 100 consecutive days, starting from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou and finishing in the capital city of Beijing.
"Persistence is what has continued to push me forward. I'm really happy that I could achieve this. Some said I'm a stubborn man by doing this - it's not a good word to describe a person. But I do believe that if you want to do something great, you have to be stubborn, to be persistent," said Chen after passing the finish line outside Beijing's MasterCard Center, a 2008 Beijing Olympics venue formerly known as the Wukesong Stadium.
"By running marathons, I hope more Chinese people can get involved in sports and do sports for their health. I saw people run after me in every marathon in the past 100 days, and I believe I can inspire more."
In order to encourage more people to start running, Chen launched another challenge in 2016. He invited ordinary runners to form in relay teams of 10, running 100-kilometer races alongside him in five different cities. A total of some 15,000 runners participated in this campaign but Chen says he is not satisfied with just inspiring people to run.
"There are millions of people running in China. I want to teach them how to run correctly, how to strengthen their body while avoiding injuries. And I want to do this through the internet, sharing my experience to as many people as possible," Chen said.
The world's most populous country has witnessed a running boom in recent years. In 2011, there were a total of 22 road running events held or authorised by the Chinese Athletics Association, including marathons, half marathons and 10 kilometer races. And this number has increased to 328 for 2016. Around 2.8 million people ran in such races, let alone those who participated in grassroots events held by companies and running clubs around the country.
"Both the 'seven continents' and '100-days' accomplishments are my milestones. But it is this running boom that has created my fame and influence," Chen said. "If I had accomplish these feats ten years earlier, people may not understand me and may think I am mad. If ten years later, I may not be the first Chinese to do them, and the milestones would be meaningless."
"So I really need to thank the running boom. And I think it is time for me to do something for to help it," said Chen.
