For Xue Shaokang, a 97-year-old retired teacher in Shanghai, the secret for a long and healthy life is running - he has kept the daily exercise for 68 years.

"People always ask what I eat (to keep fit). Actually there is nothing special with my diet. The only thing I stick to is running," says the thin, clear-minded old man, with a trace of the accent of his hometown in Wujiang city, Jiangsu province.

Xue lives in a narrow apartment with his 91-year-old wife Yang Lelan in the city's Xuhui district. The old building does not have an elevator. But he climbs up to their fourth-floor apartment without too much panting, which he attributes to the benefit of running.

Xue Shaokang developed the habit of running in 1946 and has kept it ever since. Gao Erqiang / China Daily

Every day around 3:30 am, when the whole city is still sleeping, Xue gets up to prepare for his routine exercise. He brushes his teeth, boils a pot of water, and cooks a large bowl of oatmeal for breakfast.

Then Xue steps out of the house. The wind is chilly in the early morning in late January, the coldest season in the city. But Xue only wears a sport coat. He practices a set of radio calisthenics and several warm-up movements for about 20 minutes.

"The warm-up is vital in running, especially for old runners. Imagine your body is a machine, the warm-up helps it run at a progressive pace," he explains.

At around 5 am, Xue starts up. And it is still dark. He jogs along the street, keeping a speed of about 12 minutes per kilometer. "I should be careful with the road. At my age, a tumble would be deadly," he says.

Cars occasionally roar past. Xue considers these four-wheel steel creatures "the biggest danger on the road as they sometimes ignore the traffic lights". Xue himself seldom travels in automobiles - as he gets car-sick.

The happiest part of his morning running is to meet other runners on the road, some in their 70s or 80s. He also enjoys running with university students at the playground of Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University near his house.

"I run for fun, never for competing or challenging limits," he says. Now, he runs about three or four kilometers every day.

Chen Zhiliang, an 85-year-old Shanghai resident, met Xue running. The two became good friends and sometimes run together.

"Xue is energetic and always cheerful. Most of all, he is more persistent than many of us," he says.

Xue developed the habit of running in 1946, when he moved to Shanghai from Wujiang and became a physical education teacher in a primary school. The school was near the Huangpu River, so he ran every morning along the river and felt more energetic.

In the early 1950s, the school moved far from Xue's house. He started to run 10 kilometers to and from work every day.

"It was also for saving money. We had four children and wanted to tighten our belts. I could save a 0.1 yuan (16 cents) ticket fee every day," he recalls.

Now, the fourth generation of Xue's family is in high school.

Last year his granddaughter, who lives in New Zealand, called to dissuade him from joining the amateurs running at the Shanghai International Marathon. He had participated in the event on eight previous occasions.

"I never take medicine and only go to the hospital for a health check. I do not have any illness and I can even recite all the phone numbers of my family members," he says proudly.

Yang Lelan says that he was obstinate with the belief "running heals".

"He had cataracts and refused to go to see a doctor. He would have had better eyesight if he had agreed to an operation," she says.

And Yang could not stop her husband from running on the heavily polluted days the city has frequently experienced in recent months.

But Xue is optimistic. "It is not running that would make me sick," he emphasizes.

wuni@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 02/09/2014 page4)