Race for the top: China’s business elite take a run at the marathon
After pushing themselves in the boardroom, corporate stars try different sort of challenge
Shen Le is determined to conquer the marathon, a goal that he sees not just as a physical challenge but a test of the mind.
"I was never any good at distance running," said Shen, the 31-year-old head of Shoyoo, a mobile game company based in Ningbo in Zhejiang . "But running a marathon is a challenge, not just of my physical ability, but, more importantly, my will."
Shen is part of a growing field of businesspeople from the mainland's wealthier ranks taking a run at the 42km race, which is often described as the summit of a runner's achievements.
Among them are Soho China property developers Zhang Xin and her husband Pan Shiyi, who crossed the finish line of the Paris marathon on April 12.
Other leaders of the pack include Mao Daqing, former vice-president of Vanke Group, the mainland's biggest real estate developer. Mao founded a group in October to promote the marathon to high-flyers in real estate and finance, and has already enlisted more than 20 top executives to his club.
In an interview with the Chongqing Morning Post in late March, Mao, a veteran of 22 marathons, said running the races made him "stand higher, see farther, eliminate all distractions and start to seriously examine himself".
Shoyoo's Shen said the thought of running a marathon had not occurred to him before this year, and he initially just wanted to see why his friends were so excited about the challenge. But now it was much more than that.