Zhang Rui, born in 1991, started running the 100-meter dash in junior middle school. He had been training for 10 years when he suffered a serious injury during his sophomore year of university. Zhang quickly found himself gaining weight and hopelessly out of shape. “I think it was the pride of being an athlete,” he said. “I had to face myself and change myself.” 

Eventually, Zhang began running again, starting with one lap, two laps, three kilometers, five kilometers. During a marathon in Shenzhen, in southern China’s Guangdong province, Zhang befriended members of a running group called “Speeding Horses.” “I thought it was so cool how they all dressed the same and trained and ran together,” he said. “I thought to myself, I should start a group like that.”

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