Competitor bio:

Mengfei Liu was born in Beijing and grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia until the age of 9. Now a 7th grader at the International School of Beijing (ISB), Mengfei discovered her passion for running during the COVID-19 pandemic, inspired by her mother. She earned her first running medal in May 2021 at the annual Alex Wake Memorial 5K Run hosted by The Baldwin School. Since then, she has embraced running and hiking for meaningful causes. After returning to China in late 2021, Mengfei began participating in an annual 3-day, 76-kilometer hike in the Gobi Desert to support a “preterm infant assistance program,” completing the trek three years in a row from 2022 to 2024. She serves as the inaugural Youth Charity Communicator for the Chunmiao Charity Foundation and the inaugural Youth Gobi Desert Coach for the second generation of China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) alumni. Mengfei achieved her first half marathon in October 2022 at just 10 years old. In July 2024, at age 12, she completed the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) hike. Looking ahead, she plans to participate in the 777 Marathon Challenge in February 2025 and the North Pole Marathon in July 2025. Mengfei finds running across continents an incredible way to meet inspiring people from around the world and gain new perspectives. She hopes her journey will inspire preterm infants and young people, showing them that life is a miracle and that anyone can make a difference. Outside of running and hiking, Mengfei enjoys reading, traveling, learning Spanish as her third language, and writing her first book.