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What’s a vivid memory from the last race you finished? Edging out a competitor in the local Turkey Trot four days ago? Setting a new personal best in a recent 5K, 10K, or half marathon? What about finishing behind a chain smoker in a marathon?
On November 6, a fifty-year-old runner from Guangzhou, China, who goes by the nickname “Uncle Chen,” finished the Xin’anjiang Marathon in 3:28:45 while smoking the entire race. According to reports, Mr. Chen smoked during the 2018 Guangzhou Marathon and 2019 Xiamen Marathon as well.
Members of a Facebook trail and ultra running group I follow quickly chimed in as Mr. Chen’s feat gained traction in the media. “How rude to smoke around everyone else running,” said one respondent. “He smoked half the field,” quipped another.
Jokes aside for a moment, I think Mr. Chen’s finish time is remarkable: 3:28:45 at fifty. I’d like to accomplish that feat in ten years without the presence of nicotine.
Did he run the Xin’anjiang, Xiamen, and Guangzhou Marathon for attention though? Probably not.
Maybe he smokes during races to allay anxiety; maybe he utilizes smoking as a distraction like runners who listen to music or podcasts; or maybe he’s trying to quit.
Perhaps an interview with Mr. Chen will emerge at some point. I’d love to hear his thoughts.
I have a good friend who smoked a pack a day for many years before becoming a runner. Since then, he’s regularly lowered his race times through discipline, diet, and supplements. I wonder what he thinks of Mr. Chen’s times as a former smoker.
At my next marathon, I’ll likely see some smokers on the sidelines. But a fellow runner lighting up one cigarette after another as the miles unfold? Not likely.
Still, I suspect that the entrants in the Xin’anjiang Marathon didn’t expect to see smoke drifting in their direction from a fellow marathoner who looks so casual in the pictures.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
Translation?
Uncle Chen, aka the “Smoking Brother,” is fast.
I hope you have a great day. We’ll talk soon.
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Photo courtesy of Pawel Czerwinski