18 Indy Chinese Runners Club – Wenyan Cheng
Wenyan Cheng is a re-entry student majoring in Business Administration and she currently resides in Zionsville, Indiana. This paper is part of a discourse community study that she wrote for English W131 in the Spring of 2021. Wenyan’s professor Kelly Blewett, said “Wenyan‘s exploration of the Chinese running community in Carmel was fascinating!”
Indy Chinese Runners Club
Background
Since China normalized its relationship with the United States in 1979, the population of Chinese immigrants in the U.S has reached 2.5 million by 2018, accounting for 5.5 percent of the overall foreign-born population (Echeverria-Estrada & Batalova, 2020). Most of the immigrants came here to get higher education, obtain a work visa through an employer sponsor, and settle down. A sizable number of Chinese families live here in Carmel. Since my family moved here in 2007, we have gotten to know a lot of them from our neighborhood, children’s school, Sunday Chinese school, church, and parties. Ever since WeChat, a Chinese social media app, launched in 2011 and became popular in the Chinese community in America, the social boundary enlarged. Many WeChat groups are formed according to its functions, like gardening, politics, reading club, and running club. Here, we are going to look at one of the groups to see how these first-generation Chinese immigrants live.
The Community
The first time I heard about Indy Chinese Runners Club (INDYCRC) was in a local Chinese newspaper, Asian American Today. This newspaper is contributed, edited, and published by local Chinese volunteers. National news, as well as stories around us in local Chinese community, are shared. An article caught my attention. The author shared the story of her first half marathon. I always thought a marathon was for professional athletes who were trained for this type of activity. I admired that she, as a cancer survivor, could reach that goal.
In 2016, a Chinese lady in our community was campaigning for a school district board position. INDYCRC hosted a running event to help her raise money. I registered for the 5K to show my support. That was the first 5K I had run in over 30 years. A year later, I volunteered at the water station for the 7th Annual Carmel Marathon. I was impressed by how many ordinary people participated and surprised to see a quite few elders. Encouraged by my friend, I registered for the 5K at Monumental Marathon held in November that year. After a few months of training, I finished my first official run in 34 minutes.
Member Communication
INDYCRC reached out to me asking if I would like to join the club. I was then invited to its WeChat group, the main social platform. The WeChat app is a convenient tool for us to communicate. The INDYCRC announcements, information about running events, pictures taken during the running, articles for training and injury prevention, and calling for volunteers are posted here and instantly reach every member (see Fig.1). Currently, we have 318 members in the INDYCRC WeChat group with most of them living in Carmel and nearby cities. The members engage in a broad spectrum of professions, but they have one thing in common: they are all native Chinese speakers. The goal of INDYCRC is to encourage people to engage in running and form a closer community to support local Chinese immigrants.
No doubt, Tian is the most experienced runner and the core member of INDYCRC, thus earning the title of “coach.” He encourages members to register for upcoming competitions, posts training schedules, and updates the running records for all members. He posted a video clip of an 81-year-old man running 400m in 1 minute 31 seconds, then commented “few of us can beat him.” “He started at age 61 and practiced 20 years. Sounds like I started too early” replied the other. “No kidding, tomorrow morning group run at 7:30!” said Tian.
Tian has a lot of connections with other running clubs across the country when he travels for competitions and personally knows a few top runners. In the 11th Annual Carmel Marathon held on April 3rd, this year, he hosted the runner, Ziyang Liu, from Washington State. Liu is one of the fastest runners who have the potential to enter the Olympic trial. To show our support from the local Chinese community, he called for a dozen Chinese families and assigned them spots along the route to cheer for her in Chinese. Both Ziyang and Tian broke their personal records in this event.
Morning Exercise
Our routine weekend run is a fun time for members to get together. This event was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic and recently resumed. Gathering at the Monon Center parking lot, we take a group picture first and then group into small teams by running speed and distance. I usually run with a couple of friends at 12 minutes pace for seven miles. We talk about what is going on in our lives. The topics range from child education, shopping discounts, gardening, to gossiping. Here are some of the conversations we had in the recent running between Yingyi and me.
Yingyi is the head of the women’s sub-group called Mulan and my introducer to the club. We have known each other for years since our children were still in elementary school. Four years ago, when she suggested I run a half marathon, I almost dropped my jaw. She assured me it was doable and shared her own experience. When she was still in graduate school, she joined a running club where they meet once a week. She was told to start with 3 minute-run and 2 minute-walk mix for a certain distance. Gradually, she increased her running time and distance. At the end of that semester, she finished her first 5K. With her encouragement and training plan, I finished my first half marathon in 2 hours 38 minutes.
Me: I gained four lbs during this past year and it is all stayed at my waist. I need to get rid of it. How is everything going?
Yingyi: I had a problem with Richard (her teenage son). He plays video games until the middle night. The pandemic made things worse since he couldn’t go outside to play with his friends.
Me: That’s true. Hopefully, with more people vaccinated, life will get back to normal.
I wish I could go back to China to celebrate the lunar new year in 2022.
Yingyi: How are your parents doing in Nanjing (my hometown)?
Me: My dad broke his leg last year and had to stay in rehab for over a month. He recovered but is not as healthy as before. My cousin lives with my parents to take care of them.
Yingyi: You are so lucky. My dad lives alone since my mom passed away two years ago. I was planning to meet him in Japan last year where I registered to run the Nagoya City Marathon, but the organizer changed it to a virtual run at the end.
Research shows that the benefit of joining a running club includes companionship and motivation (Parren, 2021). Running alone is so boring to me, especially on a cold spring morning. However, with a couple of close friends, seven miles seems not that long anymore. Once you build up a routine, it is not that difficult to get up to meet the group. Over these years of running, we get to know each other, build a strong friendship, and improved our endurance and skills.
Social Connection
Besides running, the members in Mulan group meet for many other activities. When the weather is good and flowers are blooming, Yingyi would organize hiking in a nearby park. Once, I hosted a party to make Zongzi, a traditional Chinese food, to celebrate Dragon Boat Festival in May.
In the recent morning group running, I had a chance to interview a member for her view of INDYCRC. Hong is an advocator for the Chinese community and used to be a principal of the local Chinese Sunday School.
Me: When did you join the INDYCRC?
Hong: About six years ago. A friend of mine suggested I run a marathon and connected me with the club to get proper training.
Me: How this club benefits you?
Hong: I followed the training schedule provided by Tian. After three months of training, I finished my first half marathon. I could not imagine it without following the training schedule and suggestions from “Coach”.
Me: Besides excise, what other roles do you think the INDYCRC plays in our community?
Hong: The club works as a supporting network and members are so closely connected. At the beginning of the pandemic, I organized “Lunch for Health Caregiver” and received huge support from INDYCRC. Last month, during the “Stop Asian Hate” rally in downtown Indianapolis, our members helped maintain the order on the site. This club represents the Asian community in many events.
In addition to encouraging people to engage in physical activities, improve health, and build a strong Chinese community, the close connections between INDYCRC members also benefit the psychological well-being of Chinese immigrants. Research shows that ethnic identity affirmation and belonging were positively related to the scale of psychological well-being. Asian
Americans who have strong ethnic pride and attachment with their ethnic group endorse more aspects of eudaimonic well-being, such as acceptance and positive relationships with others (Iwamoto & Liu, 2010). INDYCRC fosters a positive, energetic, and cheerful environment that allows the first-generation Chinese immigrants to build trust and warm relationships, feel validated by the members and thus be more accepting of themselves.
Unique Literacies
The literacy practice is unique in this discourse community. The official language is Chinese. The postings on WeChat are written in Chinese, occasionally mixed with English. The majority of the members are first-generation from Mainland China. If you do not have this background, you will feel alienated. Since this is a running club, there are terms used in this group that are familiar to the members, but might not make much sense to outsiders. We use terms like “HM” for half marathon, “break 2” for finishing the half marathon in less than two hours, and “break 3” for finishing the full marathon in less than three hours. “BQ”, Boston Marathon Qualifying, is the goal for a dozen of top runners because of its history and fame. For the rest of us, “PR”, personal record, is what we are working on.
INDYCRC is just one aspect of the local Chinese community. Because of the WeChat app, we get connected without limitation by the locality. Some members have moved to other states or even other countries, but still pop up in the conversation. When new immigrants move to Carmel and join the club, it helps them find home here.
References
Echeverria-Estrada, C. and Batalova, J. (2020). Chinese immigrants in the United States. Migration Policy Institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/chinese-immigrants-united-states-2018
Parren, A. (2021). The benefits of joining a running club. https://www.sundried.com/blogs/training/the-benefits-of-joining-a-running-club
Iwamoto, D. J., & Liu, W. M. (2010). The impact of racial identity, ethnic identity, Asian values, and race-related stress on Asian Americans and Asian international college students’ psychological well-being. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57(1), 79-91. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017393