My Running Journey

My running journey started ever since I came to Tsinghua University, driven initially by the mandatory running requirements that every student must meet. Tsinghua requires all undergraduates to run 3km at least 24 times every semester, and the 3km is a core component of our autumn physical education exam.

However, running as a personal hobby was a much more recent development, beginning in the autumn of 2023. I started off by simply going for a 3km morning run nearly every day. After several weeks of consistent training and breaking my personal limits, I scored a 12:33 in the PE exam.

From that point on, I became deeply engaged. In the spring of 2024, a close friend of mine who was then serving as the vice president of the Tsinghua Running Association introduced me to the group. Joining the association opened my eyes to structured training—we practiced tempo runs, long intervals, and short intervals, a massive shift from my simple daily 3km runs. Soon after, I also joined the Runislove Night Running Club and the morning jogging team. This community and structured training helped me improve rapidly; by the end of the spring semester, my 3km time dropped to 11:50.

In the autumn of 2024, I set my sights on joining the university's second athletics team, which required achieving three Team Two B-standards. I began training rigorously with the team, and on Christmas Day of 2024, I successfully joined. By then, my 3km personal best had dropped to 10:40. Since that same autumn, I have also served as a pacer for the Running Association.

My leadership role grew in the autumn of 2025 when I became the vice president of the Running Association. In this role, I manage our group check-in rates for rewards, and lead our sessions' warm-ups and pacing. In late 2025, I finally achieved a long-held milestone: breaking the 10-minute barrier for the 3km.

Needless to say, the 3km distance holds a very special place in my heart, as it was the catalyst for my entire running life. I personally love running intervals far more than tempos, which probably explains why I excel more at middle-distance track events than pure long-distance road running. Recently, at the 2026 Ma John Cup, I clocked a 4:25.93 in the 1500m. This performance achieved my first National Third-Class Athlete tier score, met my first Team Two A-standard (which is 4:30) by a significant margin, and left me personally astonished—I truly did not think I could run that fast. Looking ahead, I hope to slowly transition toward longer distances and achieve more A-standards soon.