Globe-trotters driven by challenge

The world's major running events, such as the London Marathon, have drawn an increasing number of Chinese people in recent years. [Photo/Agencies]

More than 700 Chinese also entered the Berlin Marathon, one of the top international events, in September, he adds.

The Chinese presence at international marathons also is a point of pride as an emerging China makes its mark in many global spheres.

"I'm not representing myself but China and even Asia when running marathons," Xie says. "When I finish one, I stand there, and I feel so proud that I'm Chinese."

That presence also means people from other nations have greater exposure to, and camaraderie with, sophisticated and health-conscious Chinese people.

As for first impressions, "running is much better than (going abroad to) purchase goods", says Wang Xiaogang, 40, a Beijing running coach and freelance journalist, who has frequently taken part in overseas marathons.

Xie says she had one such positive experience after crossing the finish line at the Boston Marathon on a cold, rainy day in April last year. "I was so cold that I stood on a manhole cover where steam was escaping. People from different countries did the same, and we stood close to each other to keep warm. It was a pretty interesting experience."

One of the most compelling stories at the April 18 Boston Marathon this year was that of Lauren Woods, the 34-year-old Boston police officer who was running the marathon in memory of Lu Lingzi, a 23-year-old Chinese student who was one of three people killed in the 2013 bombings at the marathon finish line.

Woods was one of those who tended to Lu, a marathon fan and spectator at the event, as she lay dying. The young graduate student in mathematics and statistics was to have received her degree from Boston University last year.

"Lingzi Lu will never be forgotten," columnist Steve Buckley wrote in the Boston Herald on the eve of this year's marathon. "Certainly not in Boston. Certainly not tomorrow."

The new Chinese marathoners who can afford to go globe-trotting are mostly within the social status and age groups that have led China's modernization and economic rise in recent decades.