The oldest couple — Wang Changfu and Pei Guolian.
Marathon isn't just for the young, and the tracks often see "silver-haired" participants. A particularly eye-catching pair are an elderly couple who have been running the 5K mini marathon at the Zhengkai Marathon for seven consecutive years.
This "silver-haired couple" are 70-year-old Wang Changfu and 69-year-old Pei Guolian. This year, they will participate in the newly added 10K event at the 2014 Zhengkai Marathon.
In his younger years, Wang Changfu served as a railway soldier in the northeast and suffered many injuries. He underwent surgery on his head and has a steel plate in his leg, requiring constant care from his wife Pei Guolian in daily life. In 2010, Pei Guolian was seriously injured in a car accident. Both of them are in poor health, which has become their biggest motivation to exercise. Pei Guolian said: "Changfu and I get up at 4 a.m. every day to exercise. We run 16 laps around the community track and then work out on various fitness equipment. In the evening, we also walk seven or eight laps together on the track before resting." The couple also joined a cycling association organized by their community, cycling as far as the northeast and Hunan. "We don't feel tired at all, we have a good mindset and always feel young!" Wang Changfu always smiles when talking about these experiences.
The two have now been married for 45 years and exercise together inseparably, becoming the "model couple" in their neighborhood.
In 2007, when the Zhengkai Marathon was first held, Wang Changfu and Pei Guolian participated in the 5K couples' marathon. They then decided to run it every year. Since then, on the day of the mini marathon, Pei Guolian, who arrives by vehicle first, would patiently wait at the track for Wang Changfu to arrive by bicycle. Once the race starts, the two elderly encourage each other, cheer each other up when tired, and call out to each other when they feel they can’t go on: "The finish line is near, keep it up!"
"The result isn’t important, what matters is the process of running and the joy we share!" Upon learning that the 10K event was added this year, the couple decided to set a new goal. "The 5K is too easy. We want to run on the Zhengkai Avenue just like the full marathon runners and complete the challenge of 10K!"
After running for 8 years, the couple’s marathon journey continues. "Although we’re 70, we have the spirit of marathoners and the energy of the young. As long as our health allows, we’ll keep running!"