Heavy horse runners cross the finish line and the road to charity is endless
Xinhua News Agency, Chongqing, March 24
Xinhua News Agency reporter Gu Xun
The “marathon” of public welfare has a starting point but no end.
On the 24th, the 2024 Chongqing Marathon kicked off. Among the 30,000 runners who gathered in the mountain city, there was a group of runners who used the marathon as a carrier and wrote vivid footnotes for “Healthy China” through public welfare undertakings.
A running rope leads you towards the “light”
On the 2024 heavy horse racing field, the blind running group wearing orange jerseys and “hand in hand” with the accompanying volunteers through a running rope was particularly eye-catching. They are the first team of visually impaired people in the heavy horse racing field. Nine people participated in the full marathon and 17 people participated in the 5-kilometer mini marathon. Many of them were running horses for the first time, and all of them successfully completed the race.
“Today, I accompanied all the visually impaired runners to successfully complete the race. Watching them receive their medals, stretch and relax, get on the subway, and go home safely, accompanied by volunteers, my hanging heart finally settled. ” said Lu Wei, the person in charge of Chongqing Station of “Dark Running Group”.
As a volunteer of the “Dark Running Group”, a national charity running group organization, Lu Wei has been guiding and accompanying visually impaired people to run at marathons across the country since 8 years ago. The meaning of this heavy marathon is particularly different. ——This is the first time Lu Wei has led the visually impaired runners he trained to run on the track.
In November 2022, the “Dark Running Group” Chongqing station was established, and Lu Wei began to organize professional marathon training for visually impaired people who have marathon dreams. “At first, they were afraid even taking a few steps and their movements were uncoordinated,” Lu Wei said. The volunteers held their joints and corrected their movements little by little. The visually impaired runners also worked very hard. Without volunteers to train with them, I also insist on core training such as weight-bearing running in place, jumping jacks, and plank support. After just over a year of training, they successfully challenged this year’s heavy horse competition.
What makes Lu Wei deeply gratified is not only the progress of visually impaired runners, but also the growth of charity forces. Since the establishment of the “Dark Running Group” in Chongqing, the scale has grown from more than 20 visually impaired runners and more than 40 volunteers to the current number of more than 200 visually impaired runners and more than 400 volunteers. It is organized every one to two weeks. A long distance running event.
Luo Bing, a 49-year-old visually impaired runner, expressed his feelings about horse racing in very romantic terms – smelling the fragrance of flowers, hearing the shouts, and making his blood boil. They can’t see the runway, but they still maintain their passion for life. Lu Wei hopes that the “marathon + charity” business can be successful and allow the visually impaired running in the darkness to run towards the “light” of another kind of life.
Big hands holding small hands to break through obstacles
After the successful completion of this heavy marathon, 63-year-old Xu Shouguo took his Grand Slam medal and enthusiastically took photos with familiar runners. He is the leader of the China Marathon Grand Slam Liaoning Charity Running Group. While the runners were exchanging results, they never forgot to ask Xu Shouguo, “Where are your children?”
In December 2020, Xu Shouguo launched a charity event in Dalian to accompany autistic children in running. Every Sunday, Xu Shouguo organizes runners to lead autistic children to run and exercise in Xinghai Square.
“When I first took them running, I wouldn’t let them touch their hands if I held them. Four years later, when the children saw us, they would hug and say hello.” This change is the result of long-term efforts by Xu Shouguo and the members of the charity running group. In exchange for continuous deep companionship. In order to make the children want to run, be able to run, love running, and know how to run, running group members purchased various snacks and drinks that the children loved as prizes at their own expense. At the same time, four levels of medals were set up: 5 kilometers, 10 kilometers, 15 kilometers and 21 kilometers. A medal awarding ceremony was held to give the children spiritual rewards.
A parent told Xu Shouguo that the happiest thing for his child now is running with the running group. The first thing he does when he comes home from running is to circle next Sunday on the wall calendar – that is the day he looks forward to most. In 2023, Xu Shouguo led a group of 6 autistic children to participate in the Dalian Marathon, and all of them completed the half-marathon safely and successfully.
“Our original idea was just to keep the children physically fit, but we didn’t expect that they would also gain a lot in terms of mental improvement, which made the parents even more happy.” Xu Shouguo said that through running, the children tried to open the blocked heart door and walk in The real world. Today, seven or eight of the children in the running group have gone to work, taking on simple business execution tasks in some charities and government agencies.
Big hands holding small hands, we traveled all the way through wind and rain, no matter it was cold or hot, we never missed our appointment. From the first 3 children to 86 children today, Xu Shouguo feels the responsibility and motivation. He said: “Running with love is different from running a marathon. Running with love has a starting point and no end. My biggest expectation is Keep doing this.”
Health public welfare “last mile”
Wang Shien, leader of the China Marathon Grand Slam Guangxi charity running group, took the high-speed train back to Liuzhou after finishing the heavy marathon. As a junior high school mathematics teacher, he had to stand on the podium on time on Monday.
The charity running group led by Wang Shien has been committed to “marathon into the community”, but he always cares about students and wants to take the charity road further. Wang Shien once taught in a junior high school in Jingxi City, which is only one kilometer away from the China-Vietnam border. “Unlike those in cities, children in border areas need more care from society, especially in terms of physical and mental health. I want to bring marathon sports and marathon spirit to these children.”
Compared with running groups in economically developed areas, the Guangxi running group has a small number of people and the amount of funds it can collect is not large. Therefore, Wang Shien wants to use the platform of the China Marathon Grand Slam Charity Running Group to gather more social resources and strength.
After this heavy marathon, Wang Shien communicated this idea with Jin Feihong, executive chairman of the China Marathon Grand Slam Organizing Committee. Jin Feihong made an agreement with him: “You are responsible for starting the planning, and we will definitely support you.”
Jin Feihong said that health is the greatest public welfare. The purpose of the China Marathon Grand Slam is “competition leads the way, public welfare is the soul”. Its charity running groups have covered provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country except Taiwan, Tibet and Ningxia, presenting many The hierarchical organizational structure enables health public welfare activities to smoothly go through the “last mile” and reach those in need.
“We rely on professional marathon runners to lead demonstrations, drive more people to participate in this sport, and guide everyone to become healthier and healthier through running.” Jin Feihong said. (Participating in the interview and writing: Yang Qianye)