During each competition, Qi will wait ahead at each supply station to talk to Yao, give her instructions for the next stage and inform her about her position in the race.

Qi, 34, says that Yao is not a naturally gifted athlete, but earns her results through hard work. According to him, to prepare for a race, Yao would train by running 1,000 km a month. "She is not nervous before an event, and she is mentally tough," Qi says.

"Unlike marathons, which are an Olympic event and have more professional instruction, for cross-country running, we need to figure out how to train and race by ourselves," he says.

According to Qi, muscle usage is different between marathons and cross-country running, so he adjusts Yao's training plan accordingly.

"She is ready to return to the UTMB race this year," Qi says.

After leaving ultra running and competing in marathons for three years, Yao has found that she is still passionate for long-distance running.

In the 2022 CCC division of the UTMB in August, French runner Blandine L'Hirondel broke Yao's trail record and won in 11 hours 40 minutes and 55 seconds.

Yao is glad to see her record broken after four years, as she believes it shows that female runners are getting stronger and faster. "I'm looking forward to meeting her on the trail," Yao says.

At the finish line of the Tsaigu Trail, Yao said she had been feeling philosophical about cross-country running, realizing that it echoes her idea about the meaning of life — it is a journey of happiness, suffering and enjoyment.

"The cross-country track is rugged and changeable, which, like the path of our lives, will not always be wide and smooth, but I want to keep running," she says, adding that, regardless of the conditions, she will persist, because we never know what's waiting around the next corner.