yangshan half marathon report: i might have fallen into a rabbit hole

I watched 'Wonder' last week.

Although it didn't make me cry as much as I expected,

I still teared up a few times.

Actually, there was no miracle.

All of this was bound to happen.

Because genuine sincerity is the most precious.

The importance of some people

cannot be measured by scientific or logical means.

It cannot be determined.

It's not a numerical value.

It's not a price tag.

It's not a conclusion on the right side of an arrow.

It's a subtle influence.

Like watering, fertilizing, and accompanying a sapling every day,

until it grows into a towering tree.

When those you once admired and liked suddenly appear before you, you are surprised at how small the world is. When you part ways, hoping to meet again, you deeply feel how big the world is.

After running for more than a year, I suddenly found that I had more and more WeChat friends, no longer confined to my own small circle.

So the question arises, are WeChat friends really friends?

The answer is 'no'.

This kind of friendship floating in cyberspace is very fragile; you can block someone or limit visibility to three days at any time.

So, true friends are those who have experienced things together and completed them together. That kind of joy cannot be replaced by a thousand likes on your social media.

How to describe it? Thunder and lightning, fireworks in the sky.

As if destined, people far apart suddenly become very close.

First, I met Squid, then through Squid, I met CC, then Gale (although not yet a WeChat friend), and later Rabbit Head CC introduced me to the Rabbit Den at Yangshan.

The Rabbit Den group has been established for a while. The chats are sparse, and it's rare to see an emoji proving the group's existence.

Can you imagine? The day before the race, everyone was still very awkward during dinner!

We awkwardly drank, boasting about our drinking prowess, but nervously asked the waiter to bring a case of alcohol first, only to return half of it at the end. We comforted each other by saying it was an organizational task to maintain good condition, promising to continue drinking after the task was done.

After a full meal, we awkwardly played a card game in the hotel. Since no one was good at it, we only understood the rules near the end. I, eager to sleep, was seen as distracted and lost three rounds in a row, ending the 'sin' with a group selfie in the hotel room.

Bed photos of awkward card game friends.

This photo was taken for pre-race promotion. The photographer said, 'Run!'

The leading girl, known as 'Koala' (a very cute person), led us to complete this 'fast running' photo with a pace of over three minutes.

Taking a photo with your idol Squid would be a disaster for me.

The group photo of the Rabbit Den, feeling like one big family, is fantastic!

Da Bao, Old Cat, Koala, Season, Xiao Xiao Tao, Teacher Xu, Old D, Bai Fei, Classmate Jiang, Squid, and my coworker Ma Yijie, who loves stone locks but not me—sending you two words: 'Excellent, excellent, excellent, excellent.'

Old Cat and Teacher Xu Dan were the 3:00 pacers. On race day, it was very hot and sunny. To encourage more runners who were struggling, they finished six seconds past the cutoff.

Teacher Xu shared with us what his partner Old Cat said: 'Whether we finish or not doesn't matter. Bringing one more person across the finish line within the time limit is our purpose.'

When I read this, I couldn't control my tears. The mission we bear is both a responsibility and a recognition.

We are no longer just ourselves. We put away our personal identities—not influencers, not idols, not someone's parents, not station runners, not teachers, not students.

We shed these labels. As pacers on the track, we know our steady pace, our encouragement to runners along the way, every move and expression is our mission. We have the duty and responsibility to complete it seriously.

'Quick, check if we're going too fast?'

'Steady, steady, we're thirty seconds slow!'

'Five kilometers left; we need to finish in half an hour.'

'Almost at the finish line, sprint the last 300 meters!'

We kept calculating time and pace along the way, often hearing runners say they were following the 2:30 pacers, aiming to surpass them.

We met a 78-year-old veteran who said we were running too fast and our pace was off. He was aiming for 2:25.To accommodate the old man, we ran behind him.

When we reached the finish line and heard someone exclaim how accurate our pace was, all the effort and worry along the way felt worth it.

The 1:45 pacers, Da Bao and Bai Fei, waited for us at the finish line for almost two hours.

The 2:00 pacers, Season and Squid, and the 2:15 pacers, Xiao Xiao Tao, Old D, and Rabbit Head CC, took a perfect group photo at the finish line, a perfect combination with great looks.

This photo makes me sigh. My heart is bleeding. I won't say more; just a smiley face for you to understand!

The 2:45 pacers, the adorable Koala and Classmate Jiang, who was supporting his girlfriend's grad school exams, were voted the most harmonious pair of the event!

The 3:00 pacers, the loving Old Cat and the warm Teacher Xu.

We've been apart for over 48 hours, but everyone is still reminiscing in the group chat, looking at photos and recalling the moments we experienced together.

As time goes by, we may gradually forget the feelings we had, just like we said during the farewell meal, 'Who knows when we'll meet again!'

When we heard this, no one spoke because we knew that parting is cruel.

I hope that when we look back on our youth, we can remember our comrades who fought alongside us. Following the scent, we can find each other again, and when we meet, it will still be like a spring breeze with peach blossoms everywhere.

We look into each other's eyes.

Time marinates the intoxication.

We both see

in the shimmering spring water,

two birds trembling their wings.

Even if one day

I disappear in time,

please remember

that spring

was sent by me

to continue loving you.

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