THERE are only a few dozen runners in China, let alone in Guangdong, who can claim the achievement of having finished 100 full marathons, but Huang Kaijun, a member of Shenzhen Runners Club, has become the first person in Shenzhen to do so, the Daily Sunshine reported Thursday.

In his 40s, Huang was able to crown himself with the 100-marathon achievement at the Shandong International Marathon on June 11, which he ran as a designated pace setter. For 13 years, he has been on the journey toward reaching this goal.

Huang started running while he was studying in New Zealand in 1998, after which he stayed in Australia for work. His first half marathon was completed in Sydney, which was an unforgettable experience where there were barely any Chinese runners, according to Huang.

In 2004, he finished his first full marathon in Canberra in 3 hours and 44 minutes. Two years later, Huang set his personal record of 3 hours and 23 minutes in Melbourne.

After running a total of nine full marathons and over a dozen half marathons, Huang came to Shenzhen in 2013. It was then that he embraced the peak of his running career. In fact, finishing 100 marathons hadn’t been a goal of his until after he had been running for years.

“It was in October 2015 that I was inspired by a runner who named himself Wheat at the Osaka marathon,” Huang recalled. “He said that he had already finished 100 marathons, and he hadn’t even started until 2010. Wheat’s personal record was completing 30 full marathons in a year.”

In the marathon world, there are six so-called “World Marathon Majors.” Runners who complete the marathons in Tokyo, London, Boston, New York, Berlin and Chicago are awarded a medal. Huang has also been crowned with this honor.

When asked about the future, Huang said that one of his goals is to finish 57 full marathons within a year, which means he must complete around 1.1 marathon per week. After starting in August 2016, he is only seven marathons away from reaching that goal. (Lei Kaibin)