A 20,000km Plan, Announced One Reel at a Time
An Instagram reel posted on 30 November 2025 has captured attention for both its ambition and its honesty.
In the video, shared by ultrarunner @whereisriax, Beijing-born athlete Ria Xi lays out her plan to run 20,000 kilometres across Asia and Europe — roughly 50km a day for 15 months, the equivalent of nearly 400 ultramarathons back to back.
“I want to become the first woman to run entirely in Asia and Europe, and this is my plan,” she says calmly, as if describing a weekend jog.
Her journey is set to begin on 1 May 2026 in Vladivostok, at the eastern edge of Asia and the final stop of the Trans-Siberian Railway. From there, she plans to run westward, step by step, all the way to Portugal’s Atlantic coast.
Why the Route Changed — and Why It Matters
Xi explains that the route has already evolved after months of studying maps, weather patterns, and regional risks.
One major change was scrapping an earlier plan to run from Magadan to China, replacing it with a Vladivostok-to-China route instead. After speaking with seasoned cross-continental travellers, she concluded the original stretch was “high risk, low reward” — citing dangerous traffic, lack of pedestrian space, remoteness, and even bears.
Just as importantly, she said the revised route better fits the narrative she wants to tell.
She also moved her original June start date earlier, acknowledging that winters in western China and Central Asia are brutal, with temperatures dropping below -10°C and snow cutting off roads.
Racing Seasons, Borders, and Geopolitics
From Vladivostok, Xi plans to cross 7,000km through China, running past her parents’ home in Beijing before reaching Xi’an, where she considers the official start of her Silk Road journey.
“I’ll be racing against time,” she says, noting that she must clear certain regions before winter closes in.
Central Asia poses its own challenges. One standout is Turkmenistan, where even securing a transit visa could force her into what she calls a “desert dash” — 110km a day for five consecutive days to exit the country before her visa expires.
Iran, Turkey, and Europe follow, with Xi reaching the halfway mark upon entering Turkey. She even floats the possibility of a Bosphorus cross-continental swim, though she admits that would require perfect timing — and learning open-water swimming.
Europe, she jokes, will feel like “a vacation” by comparison: a final 4,000km run to Portugal, retracing parts of the Camino de Santiago for an emotional finish.
“Who Cares If I’m the First? I Do.”
Xi is clear that the journey is not about titles.
“Well, I do,” she says plainly. “And it’s not for the title.”
Instead, she describes the run as a personal experiment — proof that she does not need permission to chase something enormous.
“This is my 20,000 kilometre experiment,” she explains, one that challenges the narratives telling her what she can or cannot do, and who she is allowed to be.
She also frames the run as a response to a world that feels increasingly fragmented.
“I’m choosing this journey that retraces the ancient Silk Road,” she says, “not with internet, not with cable, but with our footsteps.”
From Heartbreak to World Firsts
The scale of the plan makes more sense with context.
Xi, now 27, was previously working in Silicon Valley tech when a breakup pushed her into running as a coping mechanism. What began as a 30-day streak quickly spiralled into something much bigger.
Within a year, she completed a 567km run on Egypt’s Sinai Trail, setting a world first on a route no one had ever run before.
She later quit her tech job, moved between continents, and began treating endurance running like a one-person start-up — juggling training, visas, fundraising, risk management, and storytelling.
“Showing Girls They Can Do Hard Things”
Xi is acutely aware of how rare her path is, especially as a woman in an endurance space dominated by men. Whether she is running deserts, mountains, or historic trade routes, Xi sees herself less as a record-chaser and more as a moving reminder that alternative lives are possible.
“Maybe I’m a little crazy,” she says in the video. “But it’s what I believe in.”
And come May 2026, she plans to start proving it — one step at a time.
Watch her video here:
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