Blazing a trail

Pursuing glory overseas

In 2018, Yao, already known as "China's Queen of Trail Running", began competing at regional and international events.

In January that year, she won the Hong Kong 100 Ultra Marathon, breaking the course record by 40 minutes. In August, the then 21-year-old Yao not only won her first UTMB CCC race, but also set a new course record, becoming the first Asian female runner to win a UTMB event.

Yao's dominant performances revealed her innate talent for the sport.

"Trail running requires runners to judge changes in terrain and quickly adjust their pace and route. I feel that my reactions on the course are faster than most people I train with, and I can adapt to different mountain environments, both domestic and international, in a very short time," she reflected.

However, frequent high-intensity competitions, a strong eagerness to win and a lack of scientific nutritional support led to her experiencing a slump in 2019, during which she often had to withdraw from races due to various unexpected issues or injuries, mainly vision problems.

"During that period, I actually had very little confidence. I was quite beaten down. I didn't really want to run trail races anymore, but I still wanted to run," she recalled.

Yao then accepted an invitation from the provincial track and field team of Hubei to switch to marathon running.

Although her relentless training allowed her to make a name for herself in the marathon scene, even standing on the podium at some domestic marathon events, trail running remained her true passion.

"Compared to road running, I enjoy trail running more because along the way you can see many different landscapes, and the changing terrain brings me more excitement. Marathon races, on the other hand, mostly require you to maintain a steady pace and rhythm," Yao added.

Shen Ni, Yao's teammate on the Hubei provincial team, said that, after finishing a trail race, Yao seemed to glow.

"Even after running over a hundred kilometers, it was hard to see fatigue in her eyes. But at the end of a marathon, as soon as she crossed the finish line, she would lower her head, raise her wrist, and the first thing she would do was checking her watch to see her finishing time," Shen observed.

Driven by her passion, Yao returned to the trail running stage in 2022, participating in the Tsaigu Trail held in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, and won the 115km division championship.

It wasn't long before she regained her dominance, and, with China's trail running market thriving, it has given Yao a bigger platform, as well as more opportunities to sign endorsement deals.

Thanks to her impressive results and growing reach among followers of the sport, the once injury-plagued Yao signed a cooperation with sports nutrition brand M-Action, owned by China's leading dairy company Mengniu, in 2023.

It has been assisting Yao in her training, competitions and recovery with its professional sports nutrition products, a scientific support team comprising sports nutritionists and rehabilitation experts, thus solving many of the issues she faced.

"After experiencing the injury layoff, my mindset changed a bit," Yao said. "I have learned to approach nutritional supplementation more scientifically. I think winning is important, but so is enjoying the process of the race."

xingwen@chinadaily.com.cn