Guanjun Huang, a mute and deaf runner, 34-year-old, passed away during a fatal ultramarathon incident in 22 May in China. He could neither hear the sound nor speaking. The only hobby to him was keep running. This deadliest cross country ultramarathon in history made people know his name: GuanJun Huang (黄关军)
Guanjun was born in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, Sichuan Province of China. Beichuan was the country with the largest casualties in the Wenchuan earthquake. At the age of one and a half years, he became a deaf-mute boy due to fever and injection mistakes. That was actually a common case at that time in China; children were likely to get deaf or mute causing by gentamicin, which was a broad-spectrum antibiotic used in the treatment of serious infections or high fever in China. His parents came from poor countryside. He also has a younger sister who is studying in college.
Guanjun’s life is extremely hard, he often has to live by eating instant noodles, even though he is almost a professional marathon runner in his history. He determined to participate in the 22 May ultramarathon competition is just because he hoped to get the prize bonus. Guanjun often got relief from other marathon players and friends.
Guanjun studied at a general school rather than a school for the disabled. When he was in junior high school, he bought sign language text by himself and self-studied. However, because he could neither hear any sound nor speak any word as well as communicating with his classmates, he was unable to catch up with what the teachers talked in lesson. Consequently, he dropped out in the second year of junior high school.
”I want to study knowledge, I want to get good scores, I want to go to university, but I don’t understand what the teacher says, so I can only hide in the bed and cry inside every night.” Guanjun wrote down on paper when communicating with his friend. “It’s great to have classmates and friends!” He added.
This society has very limited choices for disabled people. It is nothing more than doing trivial jobs and delivering food. Guanjun had been addicted to games for a while and just could not get out from that virtual world, what might actually ruin the rest of his life. Guanjun lived at the bottom of society, struggled to reach the minimum living standard. he was too ordinary, just like a blade of grass in forest. Guanjun found a temporary job in a firm before but the firm owed his wage. He was unwilling to put up with such kind of unfair case, so he tried to enlist the Municipal Disabled Association for help, finally, he got his salary back.
In 2014, Beichuan County Disabled Rehabilitation Center was established. This is a career center oriented towards the disabled funded by the state. In this rehabilitation center, Guanjun Huang learned how to make “Qiang Embroidery”. Here is a referral page of Qiang Emroidery.
Embroidery art in the Qiang nationality of China
After studying Qiang embroidery in the rehabilitation center for a year, Huang Guanjun became the best embroidered and painted one among the trainees. Not only because of his natural ingenuity, but also because of his tenacious efforts. Despite the low education background: second graded of junior high school, Guanjun self studied a computer program named “Graphic design software self-study course”, and he was able to design an exquisite fan in just a few minutes. Many of his works have been mounted in this rehabilitation center. When a journalist asked him:” Why do you want to learn Qian embroidery?” He answered:” I can earn money to support my life, I want to save money.” His WeChat signature was “Lonely one”, or “Running alone”.
Fortunately, it was “running” who rescued his soul from a silent world. In 2019, he won the championship of the 10th National Paralympic Games and 7th Special Olympics Track and Field Marathon held in Tianjin, China. From then on, Guanjun was known as a famed excellent runner in his hometown.
At Huangguan Jun’s home, he took out a net bag with more than a dozen award certificates and souvenirs. Among them, he won the fifth place in the men’s 1500 meters and the third place in the marathon in the 2006 Sixth Provincial Paralympic Games. In the 7th Provincial Paralympic Games in 2010, he won the first place in the 10,000-meter long-distance race and the men’s 1,500-meter. “Next, I’m going to intensify my training, running for 2hr a day, preparing for the Chongqing Marathon held in March next year and the 9th National Games for the Disabled in September.” Guanjun told the journalists.
Only when he was running can he feel dignity as a normal people; only in the way of keep running did he get compliments and esteem from his peers. But in other time, he was just a down-and-out guy who had to embrace extreme loneliness. Several years ago, he was interviewed by journalists. One journalist cited : “The thin and weak boy in front of me was wearing glasses and in a thin blue sweatshirt in winter. On his childish face, a pair of melancholy eyes are as deep as water, which makes me feel distressed.” In the journalist’s eyes, Guanjun was sentimental, fragile, melancholy, even a bit of playing up to people who surrounded him. The journalist also said: “At the end of November, the photographer and I went to the rehabilitation center for the disabled in Beichuan New County. We saw him waiting for us far away. Even it was in winter, he only wore a thin blue sweatshirt. As I was going to write down in an interview book: “Are you cold?” I looked up and found that he had quietly stood by my side, looked at my question, and then took the pen skillfully, and wrote “Not cold”, probably he has been used to communicate with people by pen and paper. The journalist kept asking him: “Do you often communicate with your Dad and Mon?” He used a pen to draw a line under “Dad” and wrote “No”, then another line under “Mom” with the answer “Less”. “How about your young sister?” The journalist added. Guanjun wrote down the same answer “Less”. Then the journalist just tried to console him, said: “Your Dad and Mom are busy, but they love you, too”. Guanjun lowered his head and wrote: “No, they don’t love a deaf boy. Boring.” The journalist felt a deep sadness when she saw what Guanjun wrote.
Guanjun was a very kind, considerable man. After taking pictures in the hall and interviewers were going out of Guanjun’s home, he grabbed the photographer and carefully helped him remove the sewing thread stuck on his back. He ran to the kitchen to boil water for interviewer staffing. At the end of interview, he carried a tennis bag and wrote on paper:”The process of my running and the certificates are all in it. I prepared them for you.” He meticulously remembered the materials what interviewers hoped.
The journalist said after the interview: “If his flaw was not deaf or mute, perhaps, he could gain love and concerns from his parents by communicating with them, however, he was too fragile to even appeal to the most intimate people in his life. He looked like a trapped beast, no chance to shout, escape from this reality.”
“Mom and Dad went to sell fruits, my little sister is in second grade of junior high school now.” In kitchen, Guanjun washed the pumpkin, radish and rice as well as other food materials. He always cooked by himself, because no one has ever taught him how to cook, he did not know if he cooked well or not. If he came back earlier than his parents, he would assist to wash rice and vegetables to ease burden of his parents.
“I used to yearn for joining the army, but my actual conditions don’t allow me to join army. Running is good for wellness, and this is also a pursuit to me.” Guanjun told the reporters. He also showed them a piece of work of his cross -stitch, which has a boy and a girl snuggling together. He has never experienced love yet, no girlfriend. “Although I don’t want to get married yet, I also would like to wait for a girl entering my life, just like running, who will light up my life.”
This is Guanjun’s last running image shot in trail.
The tragedy of 22 May ultramarathon was held in Gansu, the poorest province in China, and this was Guanjun’s first 100km cross-country race. For this reason, he prepared well. In early May, he paid 1,000 RMB for the registration fee, which was nearly half of his monthly wage.
This is another video shot before Guanjun’s death. He was on the 100km ultramarathon trail of the Yellow River Stone Forest, Gansu province, from where he had never back again.
He carefully fell down the yellow sand slope, little by little, then he started to run, until disappeared from the camera.
The race to death
In this deadliest cross-country race, the faster the runner, the closer to death. Guanjun reached the first station of CP1 and then completed the second 11km, at that time he ranked no.4, other three excellent players including Jing Liang were in front of him. But it was just the timing that the weather suddenly changed, light rain turned into downpour heavy rain, and the wind became stronger and stronger, mixed with freezing rain as well as hail, blew wildly.
Guanjun just entered the most difficult stage of 11km trail, from station CP1 to station CP2. In the 11km distance was 1 kilometers climbing steep slopes, which requires the runners to climb up and crawl forward by both hands and feet. You can’t get over there even by motorcycles, so at station CP3, there was no replenishment provided. It means even if you reached the top of the mountain, there is neither food nor drinking water to replenish for players. Hot water is even more a delusional thing. The exposed mountain has nowhere to rest, and runners were not able to quit the competition here.
However, heavy rain plus mudslides, so you can imagine how hard it was to run off. The most terrible thing is the sudden drop of temperature. The freezing rain accelerated the loss of temperature of human body, causing some runners fell or unconscious. The higher runners climb, the stronger the wind and rain were. Guanjun did not bring any thick clothes, for lightening the load, like most elite marathon runner, he did not carry heavy equipment which can protect him from wild windy or rainy weather. The committee of the event even did not require mandatory equipment like jacket on this vital point. Finally, players like Guanjun who only wore T-shirt and shorts lost body temperature very easily. The 21 victims, including Guanjun Huang, were all excellent players running in the “First echelon” during the event. They encountered fierce wind and rain, there was no aid or replenishment, the inclement weather trapped them in a dilemma.
Tribute to Guanjun, you won’t be forgotten. Here I attached the Ave Maria from Libera, I think this song would be the best requiem for you. Please rest in peace, I hope that if there is rebirth presents, you would resurge to be a healthy guy with many friends loving you. Your story has made me cry too much, endless sadness and dark.
