FORREST GUMP is a character familiar to many people and a Shenzhen Forrest Gump recently impressed the city by running 4,000 kilometers from Shenzhen to Changchun, Jilin Province in North China, in 66 days.

Qu Yanfeng arrived in Changchun on Tuesday after running for 66 days. He was two weeks ahead of schedule.

Qu, 48, worked in a bank before he quit his job in 2006. Too much pressure and irregular routine had often made him sick. He started running in 2010.

“I would get up at 6 a.m. and run more than 10 kilometers,” said Qu. He has run in more than 30 marathons and 20 long-distance cross-country races.

On March 13, as he celebrated his 48th birthday, Qu departed from Lianhua Hill Park with a plan to run to his hometown in Changchun in 80 days via more than 10 provinces including Guangdong and Jiangxi.

Qu did not have commercial support or team members following him, and the man had to drop everything that was not necessary for his running. He carried only two pairs of shoes, three sets of clothes, one jack, two pairs of long trousers, water and some dried food in his backpack.

The journey started off well, with Qu running 89.4 kilometers in the first 12 hours and 38 minutes, nearly 20 kilometers further than he had planned for the first day. He slept only five hours a day. “There is no limit for human beings, so I don’t want to give myself limits,” said Qu.

There were some interesting anecdotes that happened along Qu’s journey. For instance, two dogs followed Qu for dozens of kilometers to keep him company and other runners from the cities he passed through sometimes waited to welcome him.

Qu’s sister made a WeChat group for people to follow Qu’s running and cheer him on. The group has expanded to 350 people.

“I planned to run on my own at the beginning because I did not expect so many people to know, but since more and more people started to pay attention and care for me, I started to share my feelings along the journey when I had time,” said Qu. (Zhang Qian)