Source:
https://scmp.com/article/608103/run-girl-run

Run, girl, run!

As dawn breaks over Tiananmen Square, a breathless Zhang Jianmin appears with a milk packet in one hand and a loaf of bread in the other. In front of him, his daughter, Zhang Huimin, pounds the stone slabs at the foot of the awe-inspiring front gate to the Forbidden City, turning around from time to time in anticipation of some finger command from the father.

It is otherwise an ordinary August day-break in the heart of the capital, where hundreds of people - mostly tourists - congregate in the centre of the square waiting for the daily flag-raising ceremony against the sunrise. But the sight of the Zhangs creates a buzz at the usually sombre gathering.

Digital cameras flash in the early morning murkiness as the word spreads about a girl wonder in their midst.

'She looks slimmer and even more tanned than the last time I saw her in person ... it's not hard to imagine what she has been through,' says a middle-aged man, claiming to have come from Zhang's native Hainan province.

'She is even smaller than she looks on TV,' a camera-wielding woman adds.

Indeed, eight-year-old Zhang Huimin is tiny. The spindly legs, knobby knees and diminutive frame suggest nothing close to the physique capable of enduring a two-month running odyssey spanning more than 4,000km, tantamount to 11/2 marathons a day.

Tiananmen is supposed to be the end of the journey that started early in July in Hainan, the country's southern most island province. But her 54-year-old father suggests this is just the beginning.

'Huimin, take another lap around the square for photos before we have breakfast,' he orders, in a gesture of goodwill to a horde of photographers scrambling for a perfect shot.

'Oh, no! Haven't I finished already?' says the daughter mischievously.

It is one of the few complete sentences Huimin reels off in public. For most of the time she is monosyllabic, as one would expect of a tender girl dealing with instant fame, and as such the media struggles to get a glimpse into her inner world.

'How do you feel about eventually reaching the end of the run?' one reporter asks

'Fine.'

'Do you like running?' another joined in.

'Yes.'

'What do you make of those who criticise your running?'

'They are bad.'

Zhang steps in and tries to play down the significance of the end of the odyssey. Then he declares, once again, the family's next ambition.

'This ultra-marathon run is past tense now,' the father says.

'It's not a time for complacency. The real pride lies with an Olympic gold medal in long-distance running for China, an honour I believe she will attain one day.'

To achieve that, Zhang says, Huimin will have to continue the rigorous regime she has endured over the past three years, which requires a daily training diet of 40km at the minimum and 60km plus at peak.

But many observers and experts fear for the girl's health.

'That's absolute insanity,' says Li Guoping, the chief medical officer with the Chinese Olympic Committee, who pulls no punches over the father's obsession.

'For a tender youngster like Huimin, the regime will take its toll on her system, including the respiratory organs and joints. In domestic sports schools, coaches are barred from training athletes under the age of 16 in the marathon.'

Officials from the Chinese track and field association have also joined the mounting criticism by banning Huimin from entering the Beijing International Marathon, citing health risks.

Zhang staunchly rejects any suggestions his regime will harm his daughter.

Huimin underwent a thorough medical check the day after her Tiananmen appearance, the fifth the girl has had over the past six months.

'I do all these in an attempt to prove that I'm not wrong and I don't overexercise my daughter,' says Zhang, who claims no abnormalities have been found in Huimin's health, except for a few indicators being 'slightly higher or lower than the benchmark'. He refuses to produce the full reports.

Experts, however, accuse him of ignorance, saying many of the danger signs will only be apparent when Huimin enters adolescence.

They draw parallels with Budhia Singh, the five-year-old Indian boy racer allegedly exploited by his foster father to run marathons.

That comparison begs another question: what has inspired Zhang to push his daughter into such an extreme course?

The father insists it's a mix of Huimin's passion for running, his unaccomplished dream in the early years of becoming a distinguished marathon runner himself and an urge to pay tribute to the Beijing Olympics next year.

But acquaintances portray him in a different way.

Cao Zhizhong, once a colleague and close friend of Zhang on a fishing farm in Hainan, describes the father as a man whose life is ridden with frustration.

'He has divorced twice and went bust on his fishing business not long ago,' says Cao. 'I can feel his urge to achieve something extraordinary in life, to fulfil himself.'

Huimin is Zhang's second child.

He also has a 25-year-old son, born to his first wife. 'He told me he also tried to push the boy to pursue a career in the marathon in his early years but reluctantly gave up after persistent resistance from the child,' said Cao.

Cao wouldn't speculate whether Zhang coerced his daughter to run, but admitted hearing rumours of him 'disciplining the girl'.

That was confirmed by Geng Tao, another former friend who offered to manage the business side of the run in its initial days.

'He is also quite fussy about money,' says Geng. 'That's how our partnership fell apart.'

But if the father is exploiting Huimin for financial gains, it doesn't show. Father and daughter stayed at a run-down hotel in a Beijing suburb while in the capital and the only visible sign of a sponsor throughout the ordeal was the logo of a little-known domestic sneaker brand on Huimin's unassuming tracksuit.

He doesn't care too much about the Beijing Olympics, especially after the games' organisers distanced themselves from him and his daughter. All he seems to care about is his daughter's running career.

'Huimin first ran a full marathon last June and her official personal best is three hours and 28 minutes,' said Zhang, unfazed by all the controversy.

'My immediate target is for her to lower the time to under three hours within three years. If she can do that, you will witness the birth of a world champion.'