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Li took up running five years ago following business struggles and the end of his marriage. He established a rigorous daily training routine and gained fame on social media.

For his latest challenge, Li has traveled across cities throughout China, running a full marathon distance (42.195 km) every single day.

His great big journey began a year ago in his hometown of Heze, Shandong Province. Li set an ambitious goal to run across all 34 of China’s provincial-level administrative divisions, visiting a new city almost every day.

He livestreamed his journey, passing through more than 300 cities and recording a total distance exceeding 15,000 km. During this period, Li also participated in official marathons in Suizhou, Changsha, Hangzhou, Nanjing and other cities.

“I have been running for five years now, and every ordinary person has the chance to achieve something great,” he told the South China Morning Post. “The prerequisite is that you must make up your mind, set a goal, hold on to a dream and persist. As long as you keep going, you can become an extraordinary version of yourself, and I want to prove through my actions that we can all do something amazing.”

He was recognized by Guinness World Records for the most consecutive days running a marathon distance by a man on August 9, in the city of Jinan, Shandong Province.

He completed his 372nd day of running in the presence of fellow athletes, successfully surpassing the 366-day record set by Brazilian athlete Hugo Farias in 2023. After breaking the record in Xinjiang, he continued running until returning to Shandong for the official verification ceremony.

The journey was not entirely smooth. When painful calluses flared up, Li would often stop at local foot care shops for immediate treatment before carrying on. He often combated exhaustion by consuming two liters of iced tea and an electrolyte drink.

A recent medical check-up revealed slightly elevated creatine levels in Li’s body. However, he believes his health remains stable thanks to his carefully controlled running pace.

Each day, he completes a marathon in about five hours, maintaining a steady speed of 5-7 minutes per km.

Li also maintained a strict and consistent daily routine. Every evening, he would drive to a new city and check into a hotel. The following morning, he would complete the marathon distance and have breakfast before moving on to the next location.

The 41-year-old runner adopted a training regimen inspired by the character Saitama from the famous Japanese manga “One-Punch Man”, MK reported.

Starting Aug. 24, 2021, Li spent 1,000 consecutive days performing a workout routine as Saitama did in the manga. This included 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats and a 10km run.

By the time he finished the challenge, he had run over 20,000 kilometers and did more than a million repetitions of the various exercises.

The Shandong native filmed his workouts and posted them online, quickly attracting a large following as well as sponsors.

The Chinese sportswear brand Erke approached Li to offer sponsorship immediately after he completed the 1,000-day challenge. Over the past year, this active partnership has seen Li wear through seven pairs of Erke running shoes.

What began purely as an endurance challenge has gradually evolved into a full-time occupation for Li. He now generates income through brand endorsements, livestreams and support from local running clubs along his journey. Li also livestreams his daily runs to 890,000 followers on Bilibili, his primary video platform.

Securing the Guinness World Record is not the finish line for Li, as he plans to continue running a marathon every day through the New Year. He is aiming for a streak of 520 consecutive days and concluding the journey in Lhasa, Tibet.