Marathon aficionados say no other sporting activity can quite match it with the challenges it presents to the powers of determination and perseverance. [Photo provided to China Daily]

For Liu Jianfeng, an executive with an international IT company, running marathons is about lifestyle choice and about perseverance. Liu, who has long been a regular exerciser, says he used to think running was not for him simply because it seemed boring.

However, when his grandmother died of cancer in 2009 he decided to do something to raise public awareness of cancer and plumped on taking part in a marathon charity with several friends that would raise money for cancer patients.

Even for a regular gym goer such as him training for a marathon was tough going, and it needed six months to, among other things, build up stamina. Eventually he and his friends completed a marathon in Macao.

Since then Liu has taken part in a dozen marathons both in China and in the United States.

There are, of course, many ways to keep fit that are not so nearly as demanding on time and physical effort as the marathon, but aficionados say no other sporting activity can quite match it with the challenges it presents to the powers of determination and perseverance as well as the opportunity it allows for reflection and contemplation.

Apart from that, Liu says, in China, marathoning has become an activity that provides the opportunity for socializing and partying.

Zhou Jiandong, the Nanjing resident, says it is of great fun to run marathon at a strange city, and since there are many cities holding marathon events in China, he hopes the organizers will be more detail-oriented to provide better experience for runners.

liuzhihua@chinadaily.com.cn