Sunday, August 2, 2015

Runner Profile: Yuanchao Cheng

Say hello to this ever-smiley friend of mine who is better known as Yuan (among us). He's pretty shy, I think, but with an ever-ready smile on his face, you'd be sure to spot him from a mile!

I have to confess that I have been dying to ask him whether his polka-dotted shorts was his favourite running attire, so ...


1. Tell us, Yuan, are these your favourite pair of running shorts? :D

(YT: If you don't know what I'm referring to, it's this one, but lately, he hasn't been wearing it so often!)

Haha. Yes they are. I’m a very boring man at my daily life. So I want to try something different while running, like wearing some colorful fancy pants...

At the 2015 TNF100 Australia.


2. It feels like the last time I saw you was when you were running towards the finish line at the 2014 Surf Coast Century 100KM. Since then, you have been hopping from one ultra event after another. What has been your most memorable event so far?

I would say 2015 Two Bays Trail Run would be the one. Even though I have done a couple of 100k events, this year’s Two Bays 56k was the hardest one I ever ran. It was the only one I had a goal to achieve from the beginning to finish. So I pushed myself very hard and hurt me a lot...

2015年的两湾挑战赛。虽然我已经完成四个百公里了,但是今年初的两湾56公里确是目前为止我觉得最痛苦的一个。这是目前为止唯一的一个超马我从比赛开始就有完赛目标并且一直坚持到比赛结束的。比赛自始至终我都很严肃的逼自己跑的好一些,最终成绩确实比上一年进步很多,但是由于这场比赛把自己逼的太狠导致之前累计的疲劳全部爆发出来。从这场比赛开始,我的身体遭受各式各样的过度训练症状,疲倦,困,容易生病,失眠。。。几个月过去了,现在已经好多了,希望我能尽快返回跑道。


3. How long have you been running?

Nearly 3 years. I stopped smoking in Feb 2012 and noticed that I had put on too much weight. Suggested by a friend, I started running since Sept 2012.

到今年9月份就满3年了。我在2012年2月份戒烟,然后就像几乎每一个戒烟成功的人一样疯狂增肥。然后在2012年9月份,在一个朋友的建议下开始跑步,然后一发不可收拾。像很多跑者一样,为了减肥而开始跑步,真正开始跑步之后就爱上跑步,完全忘记跑步的初衷了。

With the family at Tarawera Ultramarathon 2015.

4. What's your favourite food? Do you follow a strict pre-race diet regime?

I grew up in North China, where noodles and dumplings are the traditional food over there. So I still love noodles and dumplings, even all kinds of breads more than rice.

我在中国北方长大,面条馒头包子饺子之类的是那里的主食,所以直到现在我仍然最爱这些食物。

No, I don’t follow any pre-race diet regime. I even had fish and chips for dinner before Great Ocean Walk 100 (GOW 100) (Siqi Wu’s idea).

没有,我没有赛前饮食讲究。在去年大洋路100公里前晚我甚至吃了一大份鱼薯当做晚餐(斯骐的主意)。只要不是吃的特别辣就行。



5. What do you think about when you're running long distance?

During a race, I usually just focus on my body and the race itself, like my running form, pace, nutrition, hydration etc. At training, I just purely enjoy the moment to be alone, I'm not thinking too much.

一般来讲并不会想很多事情。在比赛的时候我会更加关注自己的身体状况以及比赛本身,比如补给跑步姿势等等。在训练中跑长距离的时候我基本上也是在享受难得的独处时间,放空自己。


With the family after completing the 2015 Surf Coast Century 100km.

6. You and your family take part in the parkrun quite regularly. Are they as passionate about running as you?

No, they are not as crazy as me. My wife runs 3 or 4 times a week, only 5-7ks  with her dog .My son, Andrew only runs at Saturday mornings' parkruns. I believe we will be doing more parkruns together when my 6 year old boy can run the whole 5k.

没有。她们并不像我这样跑的这么疯狂。我太太每周带着狗跑三四次5,6公里的段距离。而我的大儿子也只是跑parkrun或者跟着他妈妈一起带狗出去跑步。


7. When and where can we expect to see you again for the rest of the year?

I think I joined too many events last year and pushed myself too hard. Since early this year, I started getting sick frequently. So this year, I’m trying to join less events. For me, there's only one left for rest of the year: Ultra Trail Mt Fuji (UTMF), which is the one I’ve dreamed of for a couple of years. I used to climb up Fuji summit when I lived in Japan. I'm so excited that I will run a loop around it this time.

After UTMF, I will probably have a long break, of course not out of running, but will spend more time with the family, going hiking or parkruns, etc.

去年参加了太多的比赛,把自己逼的太紧了,身体严重疲劳,今年开始不停的生病。所以我今年会放慢脚步一些,参加的比赛比去年要少很多。下半年只剩下一个比赛了,就是环富士山一百英里。我以前住在日本的时候曾经爬到过富士山顶去看日出,这次我将尝试着去围绕着它跑一圈!而且这是我的第一个百英里,好兴奋。

这个比赛之后,我会放松自己,不赶着去参加任何比赛,当然还是会跑步的,只是会花更多的时间跟家里人一起,parkrun或者带她们去爬山什么的。

With some of the Surf Coast Trail Runners at the 2014 Two Bays Trail Run.

8. Where in Melbourne would you recommend me to go for the best noodles or dumplings? :D

Haha, for me, my wife makes the best dumplings in Australia!


Good luck and all the best in conquering UTMF this coming September! Looking forward to hearing about your experience and achievement.

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Other SCTR runner profiles:
The Wild Wombat Boys
Gregor Hartnell
Jon Lim
Dion and Liberty Milne
Caroline Bertrand
Kirsten Maplestone
Erin Vaughan and dad, Tony
Chris Roberts
Matt Hosking and his 100 Mile debut

And why I interview runner friends. :)

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