Runner carries hope for reunited families

YINCHUAN — For nearly a year, marathon runner Ma Shuai has turned races into platforms for hope, rallying athletes across the country to wear posters of missing children on their backs during competitions.

His grassroots campaign, Marathon for Missing Children, has already helped reunite families that had been separated for decades.

Ma's journey began with a haunting encounter years ago with a mother whose 15-year-old daughter, Du Sisi, vanished after school, leaving her deep in grief.

"Du Sisi is my age, yet they've been apart for years. It shattered me," Ma recalled.

Inspired by families who never moved or gave up searching despite fading hope, Ma saw marathons, which attract massive crowds and media attention, as untapped tools for raising awareness.

At a 2024 race in Wuzhong, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, Ma pinned his first missing-child poster to his jersey. The campaign quickly gained momentum: thousands of runners have since joined him, wearing customized shirts with names, photos and contact information for missing children.

The movement had a breakthrough this January. At the Guangzhou Marathon in Guangdong province, a man who was separated from his family at age 4 recognized childhood details on a runner's poster.

After 26 years, he was reunited with his family — a tearful moment Ma calls his "proudest finish line".

Skeptics have accused Ma of using tragedy for attention, but he brushes it off.

"This isn't a sprint. It's a marathon," he said. "Doubters fade, but families never stop running."

Ma later headed to Yangling Marathon in Shaanxi province, distributing posters to new volunteers.

Each race fuels his resolve, he said.

"These parents endure a lifetime of marathons. If our miles can shave years off their wait, we'll keep running."