After partnering with ACG, world-class trail runner Yao Miao entered a new phase in her professional career.

At the 2026 Gorge Waterfalls 50 km category, Yao Miao made her debut representing ACG and finished in 4 hours 11 minutes 46 seconds to take second place. More memorable than the race result was the week she spent in Portland, USA:

"From officially joining the ACG family to visiting Nike's global headquarters and experiencing future innovations at the Nike Sports Research Lab, it all felt like a dream come true."

RUNYEAH's new documentary short "Her Rhythm" captures Yao Miao's experience and impressions after teaming up with ACG, as well as her thoughts about the future.

On camera, Yao Miao always carries a relaxed vibe unique to Chinese mountain trail runners. Standing in the American mountains and looking toward the distant snow-capped peaks, she offhandedly said, "That mountain is too short — it's not as high as Jade Dragon Snow Mountain."

It was an offhand joke, but you can feel the confidence that now radiates from her very core. The years of experience at high altitude and on technical terrain have long since become part of her.

Yao Miao says that, compared with the more "American" course designs in the US, she actually prefers traditional trail races. Because what truly attracts her has never been just speed, but the mountain's "wildness" — an unpredictable challenge that demands instant decisions.

The more important significance of this collaboration with ACG is its move toward professionalization.

While in the United States, Yao Miao underwent comprehensive sports science testing: lactate threshold testing, data collection at different gradients and speeds, evaluations of physical condition, and the construction of data-driven training models. All test results are synchronized with the coaching team to create more precise training plans.

This is also an important change happening in China's trail running.

For a long time, Chinese trail running relied more on experience, willpower, and high training volumes; but today, more and more athletes are moving into a stage of systematic, scientific training. What international brands bring is not just equipment support, but also training philosophies, R&D systems, and global resources.

And for ACG, the significance of Yao Miao,Yao Miao is not just an athlete with top-level race performances.

ACG Global Vice President and General Manager Scott LeClair said: "She is a world-class athlete, and that is who we serve." Athletes continually drive the development of trail running, while also pushing brands to keep innovating.

This relationship is, in essence, a co-evolution.

What is truly striking is that Yao Miao has increasingly started talking about "the future".

She says that if she wants to achieve better results on the international stage, she must leave her comfort zone and gain experience on bigger stages. The reason she has been able to remain competitive is that she has been continuously improving.

Yao Miao defines the present as "a new stage."

Because she is now clearer than before about what she wants to do, and finally has the ability to make it happen. And what she has always wanted to do is about children in mountain villages.

In the past this was only a vague idea. Now, with support from a brand and her team, it has begun to take shape. Yao Miao and Nike jointly launched the "Spread Your Toes with Yao Miao" charity project to encourage more girls to unlock their potential through sport. She said they have already partnered with nearly 200 schools and that more than 60,000 students have taken part, over 40,000 of them girls. That means that beyond the mountains and countryside Yao Miao has run through, more girls now have the chance to change their lives through sport. For a trail running athlete, this may be more important than medals.

Trail running has never been just competition. It's about nature, education, women's empowerment, and those who have never been in the spotlight.

Yao Miao's collaboration with ACG also marks a new stage for Chinese trail running. In the past, Chinese athletes ran onto bigger stages to be seen by the world; now, represented by Yao Miao, Chinese athletes have moved from "entering" global trail running culture to "participating in defining" it.

Yao Miao is experiencing not just a transformation from an outstanding athlete into a trail running representative with global influence, but also an expansion of identity. Behind her pace is a more professional, career-oriented global team collaboration; her influence turns into the sound of more girls' footsteps at the starting line.

What makes "Her Rhythm" so moving is that the rhythm is never fixed — it grows faster and deeper; it becomes more precise while also more expansive.