Xie Wenjing is a teacher at Shenzhen Polytechnic. Fellow runners in Shenzhen describe her as “obsessed,” while she calls herself a “running addict.” “I can’t even eat if I don’t run for a few days.”
Berlin was Xie Wenjing’s third overseas marathon, following Athens and Osaka. Fresh back in Shenzhen from Berlin, she received a confirmation letter from the United States—she’ll be running the Boston Marathon next year. The letter thrilled her because the Boston Marathon is the most prestigious city marathon in the world, and has a high entry threshold—finishing time must be under 3 hours and 40 minutes.
3 hours and 36 minutes—that was Xie Wenjing’s finishing time in Berlin, somewhat off her personal best (3 hours and 29 minutes, set at the Xiamen Marathon). Xie explained that she started out too fast, making slight pacing errors. For training in China she wears foreign-brand running shoes, but for competitions she specially outfits herself with domestic gear and brings two national flags. She says although she’s an amateur, she still represents China’s image.
Three overseas marathons, plus more than a dozen domestic ones, have given Xie Wenjing a unique perspective for comparison. What stood out most about the Berlin Marathon were the details: tens of thousands of runners starting in orderly fashion according to their registered times, and bicycles accompanying them during the race to provide mobile hydration. These are details often hard to achieve in domestic races. In a previous interview about the Xiamen Marathon, it was mentioned that many runners arrive two or three hours early just to “save a spot” at the start line, only to find no place to relieve themselves when nature calls.
Xie Wenjing got into marathoning thanks to a book a friend gave her, “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.” It’s hard to imagine that someone who took up the sport at age 44 would quickly fall head over heels for such a “self-punishing” activity. In 2009, Xie ran her first marathon (the Beijing Marathon) and met the national level 2 standard. Now her goal is to reach national level 1 before she turns 50 (a time under 3 hours and 20 minutes). Her best training time is 3 hours and 22 minutes—a reachable gap that keeps motivating her to “push herself to keep running.”