Runner celebrates his birthday in sporting style

A man runs 122 kilometers – or almost three full marathons – to celebrate his birthday, a choir competition goes awry when a tiered platform collapses and sends singers tumbling to the floor, a patient stays awake during brain surgery to guide his doctors through the procedure and two universities argue over an abbreviation.

A map shows the route of Liu Yi's completed run. [Photo from Weibo]

Running enthusiast tackles 122 km to celebrate his birthday

Liu Yi, who loves running, achieved his seemingly crazy goal to celebrate his birthday by running the whole length of the Fifth Ring Road in Beijing, which measures 122 kilometers. It took him 14 hours and his story spread on Chinese social network Weibo.

He started his long run at exactly midnight on his birthday, June 3. He ran along the side of the Fifth Ring Road's and sometimes detoured, since some sections of the roadway do not have a shoulder.

Liu only carried a bag with two bottles of water at the start. About 20 like-minded runners accompanied him on portions of his run and left some supplies when they learned about his goal.

Liu said he's completed running Beijing's second, third and fourth ring roads before, which gave him good practice to challenge the Fifth.

And he has run 100 km before, so that proved that running the Fifth Ring Road wasn't impossible.

Liu Yi (middle) takes a break during his long run. [Photo from Weibo]

Next up: choir members take a tumble on stage when a tiered platform collapses.