The sky is still dark and the Kansas grass wet when Wesley Paul gets up at 5:30 each morning to run 10 miles. But for the Chinese-American sports hero and holder of at least 20 U.S. and world records, morning loneliness is a part of being a long-distance runner, even if you’re only nine years old.

Last month, this 4-foot-9-inch 70 pound boy from Overland Park, Kansas, achieved his 1978 goal. He broke the three-hour barrier at the New York marathon and re-established his position as world record holder in the under-12 age group. Wesley ran the race in 2:55:59, his only problem being a blister on his heel, not the unusual 80-degree weather.

In many ways, Wesley is like many other 4th graders. He collects stamps; he plays baseball with his friends; and he is a hit with the ladies. But while other 9-year-olds dream of being baseball players or presidents, Wesley’s dream is more than a mere childish fantasy.

If asked, he’ll tell you with a shy grin that he wants to win an Olympic marathon. The dream is not unreasonable, for in his six years of running, Wesley has broken record after record from the mile to the marathon. His self-imposed training discipline is unusual in most adults, and almost unheard of in children.

Wesley started running the same way many children do- he tagged along with his father. Ailo Paul had decided to jog off some extra pounds. Wesley had just returned from living in Taiwan with his grandparents while his parents finished their graduate degrees at St. John’s University in New York. He made it a father-and-son team effort, even though his 3-year-old legs had to work double-time to keep up.

Ailo Paul lost his weight and in the process became his son’s trainer. Wesley went from looking like a “typical” round three-year-old to looking like a “typical” runner-tall, thin and graceful.

By 1976, Ailo Paul and his wife, Jean had taken positions teaching mathematics at the University of Missouri in Columbia, while continuing their graduate courses. Ailo Paul now has doctorate degrees in mathematics and English literature.

In Columbia, Wesley’s seventh year was filled with firsts. His father had noticed his son’s aptitude for running, and decided to time him for the mile. Wesley ran it in 6:04. That same year he ran his first marathon in 4:04. He competed mainly with adults, since none of the children could keep up with him.

By the end of 1977, he had sliced more than an hour off his marathon time, even though accidents like getting hit by a car in his second Columbia Heart of America Marathon set him back a bit. After a few stitches, he was back at the finish line to watch the awards ceremony.

In the 1977 Chicago marathon, he broke the national record for his age group by just 11/100ths of a second with a time of 3:15:31. After this triumph, the Taiwanese government decided to sponsor him in the NY Marathon just one month later. Appearing for the first time in his Chinese flag T-shirt and blue Frank Shorter shorts, he again broke the record, this time his own. After one month of rigorous training, he had cut 15 minutes off his time. He set the world record for his age group with a 3:00:31. Not surprisingly, the flag T-shirt has been his favorite ever since. That was the day the New York Times dubbed Wesley the “fastest boy in the world.”

But the word of Wesley’s young success was not limited to this country. After every Untied States triumph, he received publicity in Taiwan, where his parents had grown up in the 50s after leaving mainland China. So when President Chen Kuo Chiang of the Republic of China invited Wesley to spend the last summer there, he was, in a sense, going home. President Chiang hoped that Wesley’s presence would inspire the people of Taiwan to take up running and give the country a new national sport.

The Pauls’ arrival at the airport was not a quiet one shared by relatives and close friends. Having heard of the feats of 9-year-old Wesley, hundreds of people turned out to greet him at the airport. Wesley is fluent in both English and Chinese, but when he arrived in Taipei, his Chinese was a little rusty. Wesley used his smile to communicate, and one Chinese magazine reported that the Wesley Paul smile is as famous in Taiwan as is the Jimmy Carter smile in the States.

The summer pace was grueling on the 9-year-old. The people came to see him run, and run he did, up to nine races a week. After these races, Wesley and his father conducted clinics, traveling to a different town almost every day.

Races had to be scheduled at 5 or 6 in the morning to avoid the day’s most intense heat, but the early hours didn’t diminish the crowds. Up to 50,000 people turned out to see him, even in the steamiest Taiwan weather.

After the races, school children would surround Wesley, the girls often showering him with hugs and kisses. The people would carry him on their shoulders through the narrow village streets. He received about 40 fan letters a day.

Wesley and his father worked hard at establishing the Wesley Paul Jogging Club all through the island. The club now boasts about 3,000 members. The Pauls are credited with tripling the number of runners seen in Taiwan’s numerous parks and even the most crowded city streets. Many of them run in their Wesley Paul T-shirts.

“People in Asia think that distance running is dangerous,” Ailo Paul said. “This is why Wesley’s endurance is a good example for them. They’re very proud of him. We tell the people that almost anyone can develop endurance, even those who think they’re too old. “

Wesley’s summer stardom came to a close when it was time to return to the States for school. He remains soft-spoken and polite, and works hard to maintain his straight-A average in school. He has increased his dedication to his training, even when there is no crowd to cheer him on.

Wesley set a new marathon goal immediately after the last one in New York. He wants to break 2:50 by 1979. Weekends find him charging golf course hills in Columbia, Missouri, where he and his father return to visit his mother and little brother, Darcy, who are still living in Columbia temporarily. Ailo Paul started teaching this year at Shawnee Mission South, a high school in Overland Park, Kansas whose cross-country team has gained national recognition.

Wesley and his father don’t run together anymore. “Wesley likes to run alone, and besides, he’s too fast for me. I can’t keep up,” Paul said. After seeing him in action last year, one California track coach predicted that Wesley may be the first person in the world to run a marathon in less than two hours.

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