Racing in China

 What an experience!  I had never been to China before this race, and that visit was an experience in itself, without including the marathon.  We booked this race through an organization called Albatros Adventures, which organizes a week long program that incorporates sight seeing with the marathon.  Albatros was on top of everything. From hotel reservations, to excursion; they even picked us up from the airport!

The first few days in China we explored Beijing.  Day one included tours of Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. My favorite was the Temple of Heaven, which is so beautiful! It was quite hot this day, which did not bode well for race day.

On day two we had what was called an "Inspection Day". During this day we traveled the three hours (via bus) to the Great Wall and received our pre-race pep talk from the organizers.  They talked about the course, what to expect, and gave us tips and tricks to surviving.  Afterwards, we walked part of the race route that was on the Wall to get an idea of what was in store.  I am so glad we checked out this portion prior to running it.  Not only did it allow us to get some great pictures without having to worry about the race clock, but it showed us exactly what we were getting into.  

Let's just say not every runner who had initially signed up for the marathon stayed signed up for the marathon.  Surprisingly, not everyone who signed up for the half marathon stayed signed up for the half too, some decided to extend to the marathon! More power to them!!

They day after inspection day, my calves were so sore!  I felt like I had just ran a marathon. I was beginning to question if I was going to survive the full length of the race. Thankfully day three consisted of light walking while exploring the Ming Temples and a Cloisonne Factory.

When day four came around, it was finally race day!! As I had mentioned, the Wall itself was a 3 hour bus ride away, so it was an early morning start - and I mean 2:30AM.  Unlike most races though, which start at 6am, this race started at 8am.  There were four waves, and my family and I started in the last wave.  To begin the race, we started in the center of the Wall at Ying Yang square, and ran out on to the main highway.  We then took a turn up a hill that led to the main entrance of the Wall.  These first 3.2 miles were straight uphill, which was exhausting. Living in San Francisco, I figured I was used to hills, but this was intense.  

After this uphill, we reached the entrance of the Great Wall - insert photo opportunity of course!  

The next 3 miles were on the wall, going up and down some epic stairs - which were not even stairs at some points but were just jagged rocks cemented together.  

After this portion, we ran back through Ying Yang square, on to the main highway and then out even further into the local villages.  Fun fact about this race day is that it actually coincides with "National Tourism Day" in China.  That meant all the schools and businesses were closed for the day so the people could watch the race.  This route through the small towns was easily the most entertaining part of the race, not only because some of the sights we saw were naturally beautiful, but the local children which were easily the cutest kids I have ever seen! They kept asking the runners to stop to take selfies with them! Of course, I was more than happy to oblige. Fun fact: most of the teen girls even used filters while taking pictures! Nice to see somethings are international :) 

We ran in the villages for about 18 miles, again going up and down some gradual, but long hills, until we returned again to Ying Yang square.  From here we returned once again to the Wall to finish 3 of the last 6 miles.  This time we ran the same route we initially ran, but backwards - if you ask me it was definitely harder the second time, but again this was after already running 20+ miles.

It was during this part of the race where you really saw the true runner spirit come out.  Runners were literally crawling up the steps of the Great Wall, each one determined to complete the marathon route by the required time limit. At this point I was faced with a difficult choice: 1) To run as fast as my exhausted legs would take me to try and cut down my time, or 2) To slow down to enjoy the once in a lifetime view that was at the top of the wall.  I choice the latter :) Trust me, the photos were worth it! Can you guess what our Christmas card is going to be this year?

I ran the entire race with my mother, father and my husband, which was by far the best part of this race for me.  Finally, after 7 and a half very long, and very, very hot hours, it was done!!

We conquered the Great Wall!!

After the race there were complementary massages - I swear all races need this! - and then another 3 hour bus ride back to Beijing.  That was definitely not enjoyable....

The next day we had a few more excursions to go on, including seeing the Giant Pandas at the Beijing Zoo, followed by a tour of the Summer Palace.  The last night of the trip we joined all the other runners at a banquet in the Olympic Convention center.  It was so cool to see where the 2008 Olympics took place!

This trip was so unbelievable, and we were able to make some great connections with runners across the world!! I even met a few runners from San Francisco!  Talk about a small world :)

Now, its back to training for the Utah Valley Marathon which is 3 weeks away! I mean, I conquered the Wall, now its time to conquer another state!