Pop star Jay Chou (right) and ultramarathon runner Kevin Lin attend a Beijing event to promote the film. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Taiwan-born Los Angeles-based director Simon Hung has directed the film. He also wrote the script mixing courage and romance.

In the film, the character based on Lin is at first a high-school student who falls in love with an older girl. Then they break up over a misunderstanding. To get his love back, he takes part in a marathon.

Chou reveals that as a producer his job included finding the right cast and crew as well as making the film's music. And for most of his fans, that might be the biggest draw.

Critics have said the commercial success of Zhang Yimou's 2006 martial arts epic Curse of The Golden Flowers, which cast Chou as a revengeful prince, was to some extent due to Chou's theme song, Chrysanthemum Terrace. It was one of the most popular songs in China's karaoke bars that year and was also nominated by the 79th Oscar's for the original song award.