Barefoot runner finishes 188 marathons in 22 years

Wu Jiase, a 61-year-old marathon runner who competes without shoes, has finished 188 marathons over the past 22 years, reports thepaper.cn.

Barefoot marathon runner Wu Jiase runs in the 2018 Hainan International Marathon, March 11, 2018. [Photo: thepaper.cn]

He completed this year's Hainan International Marathon in 4 hours and 32 minutes.

Wu Jiase started running in 1995 when he was in poor health.

He says part of the challenge of running without shoes is what helped him become healthier.

Barefoot marathon runner Wu Jiase runs with the Olympic torch in 2008 before the Olympic Games in Beijing. [Photo: thepaper.cn]

Wu Jiase has become somewhat of a celebrity within the Chinese marathon community, with the organizers of the Xiamen Marathon creating a statue of him.

His renewed health has also allowed him to give back, saying he's been able to donate over 390,000 millileters of blood since he's started running marathons.

He says his dream is to run until he reaches 85, and to donate blood until he's 75.