Taking a good run at life

There's a widely used quote, attributed to someone called Ronald Rook, that states: "I don't run to add days to my life, I run to add life to my days." To non-runners, it can sound a little pretentious.

And, when, in 2016, Lin Jingdong heard a friend say that he found running addictive, the then 65-year-old man from the city of Shantou in Guangdong province thought it was just a brag.

However, when the friend, who often went climbing with him, turned up for their hikes less and less, Lin hesitantly laced up his running shoes.

Now, just under five years later, he enjoys the sport immensely-arguably, more than most people.

His extraordinary passion for pounding the pavements has led to many impressive feats, such as his recent run from Chengdu to Lhasa along the well-known Sichuan-Xizang Road. Some parts of the route are at an altitude of over 4,000 meters.

It took 44 days for Lin to finish the nearly 2,000 kilometer journey, which he completed in August. Most of the time, he was jogging with a backpack containing just basic necessities and weighing around 7 kilograms.

He didn't take any emergency medicine-nor fear-with him. When he was exhausted, or suffering from altitude sickness, he would just walk.

Usually, he would start before dawn and, as a vegetarian, would mainly eat instant porridge and from self-heating food packets.