Fan Guozhi runs at a park in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A 46-year-old hairdresser is enjoying the thrill of living different identities in his day-to-day life by being a marathon runner, fitness fanatic and volunteer.

"Just live a happy and bold life. This has always been my motto," said Fan Guozhi who gets fun from workouts besides his ordinary role as a hairdresser.

Fan recently shared his attitude toward life via WeChat Moments on April 21, after finishing a 111.11-kilometer race.

But it wasn't always this way. Fan, who has been working in the hairdressing industry for almost three decades in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, knew nothing about fitness or workouts six years ago.

"As a hairdresser, I used to work very late at night and usually had midnight meals after work," he recalled. "In 2014, my weight was only 55 kilograms, but I had a pot belly.

"At that time, I felt tired from time to time, but couldn't find any diseases when I went to the hospital."

His poor state of health made him decide to make some changes and he started to go to the gym.

"Today, no one can imagine that I had no interest in any exercise in the first 40 years of my life," Fan said. "But I always believe that people should do something we don't like to strengthen our wills."

Driven by a thirst for change and purpose, Fan kept exercising through self-study. Now, he has reached the weight of 61 kilograms and a body fat ratio of less than 10 percent. In October 2018, Fan joined a running event by accident which led to him keeping fit by running.

In the past one and a half years, he has grown into an excellent runner in the eyes of his peers.

"I once participated in an ultra-marathon event, which took me 12 hours to finish the whole race, and also joined some 100-km trail-running competitions," Fan said.

Fan displays his build after a morning exercise. [Photo provided to China Daily]

He added that not long ago, he and his friends ran from Hangzhou to Huzhou, a Zhejiang city 80 km away, in less than seven hours, which usually takes more than two hours by car.

On April 21, Fan and two others decided to run around a 550-meter track in a sports park. They started at around 3 am, when the sky was still dark, and spent 10 and a half hours completing 200 laps, which amounted to 111.11 km.

"We prepared enough food and water to stay energized and this was also the first time that I wore a pair of sandals for such a long distance," said Fan.

Despite the feat, he returned to work at his salon the next morning after a night of rest.

In addition to his roles of hairdresser and runner, he has also done his part to serve society.

Fan has kept a tradition in his salon that people older than 65 are welcome to have free haircuts every Monday morning.

"Some elderly people will wait before the doors open, so we usually open the business earlier on Mondays," he said. "I don't know the exact number of people that we've served, but I will keep offering the service as long as the salon is open."

mazhenhuan@chinadaily.com.cn