Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.
Little 8-year old Zhang Huimin is aiming for the 2016 Olympic Gold medal in the marathon.
Nope…not the 2008 Beijing games, or the 2012 London Games….the 2016 games (TBD) and maybe the 2020 games.
Zhang Huimin ran from China’s Hainan Province, Sanya to Beijing in 55 days.
She covered 3,560 km (2210 miles) or about 40 miles a day!
That’s amazing! And, incredulous.
On a diet of milk and eggs, and with stars Olympic 5K gold medalist, Wang Junxia and 110-meter hurdle world champ, Liu Xiang as inspiration, the little girl runs and runs, and runs and runs.
Zhang wants to be like Zhou Chun Xiu, the winner of this year’s London Marathon.
She runs every day from 2:30 am and averages about 70km (43 miles). She has worn out 20 pairs of shoes.
Nike!!! Are you reading this?
The little girl ran 3 km each day when she was 3-years old, and 23km/day when she was seven.
And now 70 km/day at eight. Hmmm….
She runs from 3-9am each day. 70km in 6 hours = that’s about a 8:15/mile pace, day in and day out.
Uh…I don’t think so.
Frankly, I don’t believe the little girl can run 8-minute miles for 40 miles for 55 days straight.
Nope…I don’t believe it.
The father says, “You can force your child one day. But you cannot force one to wake up early in the morning every day if one doesn’t want to.”
So, she runs because she wants to…fast….everyday…for long distances…over two months or more….on eggs and milk.
I still don’t believe it.
See also –
10-year old Huang Li swims 3 hours, 3 kilometers with arms and feet bound