More than 130 kilometers into the race, Li Deliang's mind began to drift. Countless "bugs" seemed to spring from the ground and swarm before his eyes.
Yet part of his mind remained clear. "I knew there was only grass on both sides of the trail," Li recalled. "I kept telling myself: 'Don't panic.'"
He fixed his gaze on the narrow trail ahead and moved forward as quickly as he could.
The hallucinations lasted for about an hour and finally disappeared after he took a short break.
Li was running the 2026 UTMB, the flagship race of Hoka UTMB Mont-Blanc, which crosses France, Italy and Switzerland. The route covers 174 kilometers, with 9,700 meters of elevation gain.
He did not sleep for over a day.
The race had two major aid stations where runners could lie down and rest, but Li did not use either of them.
In the end, the 42-year-old bank employee from Wuhan, Hubei province, completed the race in 34 hours and 25 minutes.
The UTMB is widely regarded as one of trail running's premier events. Of the 2,406 runners who started on Aug 28, 1,681 finished — a finish rate of less than 70 percent.
For many people, it can be hard to understand the appeal of such a sport: Why would anyone willingly enter a race that can last an entire day or longer and push both body and mind close to their limits?
For Li, the answer is not about "pushing the limits".
It is about knowing himself.
Li did not start running until 2018. Three years ago, he set himself the goal of completing the UTMB 100-mile race.
"I've always believed that life is shaped not by every day we live, but by a handful of defining moments that stay with us. For me, UTMB should be one of those moments," he said.
Behind that moment were eight years of progress, built little by little.
A demanding full-time job leaves Li with few large blocks of time for training. So he breaks his workouts into small pieces and fits them into everyday life.
When his alarm goes off in the morning, he does not get up right away. Instead, he stays in bed for a while, doing exercises to improve his hip mobility. On the subway, he sometimes closes his eyes and stands on one leg, using the train's starts, stops and swaying motion to practice his balance.
Living far from the mountains makes it difficult to train on hills. So he rarely takes elevators and makes stair climbing part of his training. He climbs one step at a time, then two, then three. To strengthen his calves, he puts more weight on the balls of his feet; to work his thighs, he lands more on his heels.
"In a long-distance trail race, the result has little to do with how the runner performs on the race day," Li said. "By the time someone reaches the starting line, much of the outcome has already been shaped by the quality of the previous months of training."
Once the race begins, however, Li sees two major challenges: pacing and willpower.
In some ways, they demand opposite qualities.
When the body feels good, a runner has to rein in the excitement and deliberately slow down. Running an ultradistance race is not simply about pushing harder; it also requires knowing when to hold back.
"I need to restrain my desires and impulses, because I have longer-term plans, longer-term goals and longer-term dreams," Li said. "The harder you charge early on, the more likely you are to crash later."
When both body and mind are exhausted, however, willpower tends to weaken, and that is when runners must push themselves to keep going.
Over time, Li also learned that managing himself mattered more than measuring himself against others. A runner ahead may look relaxed but already be close to breaking down; another may appear to be struggling yet still have plenty left for the later stages.
"Trail running has taught me to focus on doing my own part well — to look inward and seek answers from myself," he said.
After finishing UTMB, the goal that had driven him for three years was suddenly behind him. But he knows he will keep running.
In future races, Li hopes to place less emphasis on results and pay more attention to the experience itself — using races to explore different landscapes and local cultures.
If the opportunity arises, he would also like to contribute to the development of trail running in China and help more people discover the joy of outdoor sports.
As for his next ultradistance race, there is no hurry, Li said.
After all, somewhere along that 174-kilometer mountain course, he had already discovered that distance was not the only thing he needed to overcome.
