Written by: cankaoxiaoxi.com
Posted on: May 08, 2018 | 
| 中文
Kai Markus introducing his running route
According to German media, a Hamburg bank clerk who married a resident of Shanghai, China travelled along the Silk Road on foot. He calls the journey, “a cultural marathon,” and thinks that his running tour helped break down prejudices among different nations. Despite difficulties and hardships, such as a heel bone fracture, the runner managed to arrive at his destination in Shanghai, on December 16th, 2017.
“I ran for 11,249 kilometers,” Kai Markus said proudly in an interview to Deutsche Welle (DW). In March 2017, he set out from Hamburg, Germany, travelling all the way through Poland, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. After entering China, he also traversed through the Taklimakan Desert.
Along the way, he wore more than 40 pairs of running shoes, and experienced both extreme cold in Russia and extreme heat in the desert. Last September, he accidentally fell down in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China, a little more than one thousand kilometers away from his destination-Shanghai. This accident caused his heel bone to fracture and had to undergo an operation in Wuhan, China. Thereafter, he had to complete the rest of the journey by wheelchair and train. “But my good friend Victor Neubauer who accompanied me and drove along the way, joined me in running from Hubei to Shanghai. We completed the whole journey as a team.”
In the circle of extreme runners, Markus had been quite famous even before he began his running this time. He once ran from Germany to France in his teenage and from Flensburg in the northernmost part of Germany to the top of Zugspitze in the Alps during another time. On his journey to Shanghai, Markus ran 40 to 80 kilometers per day, with some intervals of rest days, where he participated in local cultural exchanges and activities. He told DW that running 40 to 80 kilometers per day, “just sounds amazing.” He pointed out that even the airport staff that provided him with wheelchair pick-up service had to walk 30 to 40 kilometers a day on average.
Markus explained why he chose to run all the way from Hamburg to Shanghai. “One of the reasons is that my family comes from China, and it is my second hometown. Moreover, many people have prejudices against China. In order to overcome these prejudices, I have to see this country and tell others about what I experienced myself. I hope my running experiences can encourage young people to stick to their dreams and never give up even in difficult times.”
Markus said that through the running tour, he could break down the prejudices between Germany and China for those who followed him. “For instance, Germans always think that Chinese products are cheap and lousy, but this time, I wore many pairs of running shoes made in China, whose quality is no inferior to those of German brands. There are also a lot of Chinese who used to think that Germans only eat bread. This is not true, of course. We eat other food besides bread, too.”
He said that what is more important is that he can break down some of his own prejudices against foreign countries. “Everyone holds some prejudice. For example, I used to think that Russia is horrible and dangerous, but after meeting Russians on the way, I found that they are very warm-hearted.”
Markus was deeply moved by the generosity and hospitality that he experienced from the strangers along the way. A Russian couple for instance, gave up their bed for Markus and slept on the couch instead. Apart from the couple, there were many other people who offered him food and shelter and talked to him about the world.
Markus also revealed that after running through the ancient Silk Road, he had formed his next plan in life. “But first of all, I have to recover from my injury, and then gradually pick up running again.”
Translated by Xu Donglin
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