A film about running in the mountains opens with a river — which may seem odd.
But a river is how the mountains release themselves, sending landslides and hanging, glittering ice crowns down toward the sea.
Passing Tiger Leaping Gorge and flowing through Wuhan, the Yangtze runs through many chapters of Xiao Shuang’s life, just as her life surges and recedes in the river’s winding dream.
I first met Xiao Shuang at UTMB in late summer 2023.
At the time I was mainly filming Wa/ondering, a piece about Yao Miao. In the dark hours before dawn I filmed Xiao Shuang finishing CCC. I didn’t really know then what I had captured.
For an uninjured professional athlete that wasn’t a standout result. But for Xiao Shuang, that finish had nothing to do with time.
Image source: documentary
The following year I finally had a chance to get to know Xiao Shuang in the best possible way: by running with her.
When Salomon sent me to their July international team training camp, to go with Xiao Shuang and Zhang Huohua, I was also preparing for OCC. That week, Xiao Shuang and I ran a 40 km long run together in the French Alps.
Unfortunately, there was one wrinkle: the day before I had already run with Huohua.
The result, beyond a bruised ego from the previous day, was worse: a sleepless night. My roommate slept contentedly, snoring like thunder, while my quadriceps had already turned into rotten grape jelly and were on fire overnight.
When Xiao Shuang and I set off that morning a deep fear burrowed into my soul like an alpine marmot.
Forty kilometres sounded like 400. But (all runners know) pleasant conversation and the just-right threat of an approaching thunderstorm make the kilometres pass faster. It was the first time I began to appreciate Xiao Shuang’s kind of heedless, in-the-moment passion.
Although we never found any planned aid stations, hungry and thirsty with thunder rumbling overhead, that run became one of the most unforgettable experiences of my year.
Originally the film was only meant to be 15 minutes. But as I learned more about Xiao Shuang’s story — her love of sport, nature and the community around her — I increasingly felt it needed more time.
Of course, half an hour still wouldn’t be nearly enough. But I hope you can find what you need in this brief glimpse.
Some moments I spent with Xiao Shuang aren’t included in the film, yet they remain in the background:
She selflessly cooked for the entire Salomon team in Chamonix, camped at 3,600 m just to film a sunrise shot, and showed care and attention to every stranger who wanted to exercise. I worry most people will miss that.
But in the film’s title scene, when the words “The world is too big” appear, Xiao Shuang is actually running across the background — crossing the Yangtze, beneath the glacial cap of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
Image source: documentary
I think this is precisely the meaning of the film:A person who keeps moving forward, never demanding to occupy the whole frame; who devotes their life to that vast, unending process of becoming a better self.
This is a film about a friend—and, in a sense, a hero in my eyes.It’s about resilience and joy: the joy of nature, the joy of the mountains and wilds, the joy of the greatest gift—this one life—and our courage to cast everything aside and run toward the unknown.
Of course, with that relentless, indomitable energy for life and passion, you are destined to achieve some victories along the road of life.
[End-of-article interaction]
Text/Editor: Pao Ye / MP
Image source: Pao Ye Da Bao Zha
Visuals: Max
