Race Day

Well, here we are. It's finally here. Time to go race the Great Wall.  Everyone in our tour group got a 2:45am wake up call. Busses departed the hotel at 3:30. We all got a box breakfast to eat on the bus. And for once, the streets are almost completely free of traffic. Time to roll.

The sun slowly rose as we headed east out of the city. When we reached Jixian, we left the expressway and headed north on a winding two-lane road that would take us to the wall. When we arrive, temps in the mountainous area were cool with a strong breeze.  Now the goal is to stay warm for an hour and a half until race time.

As we entered the old fortress, we were greeted by music from a brass band to welcome runners from around the world. We entered Yin and Yang Square and looked for a spot to hang out until race time.

Today, there are three races. A full marathon, a half marathon, and an 8k fun run. More than 2,400 runners from 70 countries were in the square. Most were wearing shirts or hats to identify their homeland. And what a diverse group: Australia, Egypt, Brazil, Belgium, Mexico, South Africa, Japan, Russia, Canada, Poland, New Zealand, Iran, Argentina, Spain, and many more. Running and a sense of adventure had all brought us here, and everyone was mixing and interacting with their new friends from around the globe. I sat back, took it all in, and realized this was pretty amazing to experience.

Local dignitaries gave welcoming speeches, then it was time for the starter gun and we were off. The first three miles were straight uphill on a curvy road. It was lined with people from the local village cheering us on enthusiastically. At the top of the hill we entered the Great Wall.  The sun had popped up over the mountain ridge to the east the first tower was basking in the morning light.

Climbing the steps on the wall was no easier than it was on inspection day. I found it best to keep my head down, focus on my footing, and pace myself. I refused to look up to the towers at the top of the steps. After each climb, we passed through a tower and descended steps on the other side. Going down was as tough as going up becuse they were steep and varying heights. After six steep climbs, we had reached the final tower. It was now to head down the steep goat trail back to the fortress. We circled the fortress on ramparts atop the walls, dropped down a flight of stairs, and headed out a gate down the road. We had completed about 5 miles, a litlle more than 8 to go and our legs were feeling like jello.

We were about one hour into the race and the sun was starting to heat up as we headed down the road towards a local village. The course took us down a gravel road, across a bridge and into the dusty village. We were again met with locals out to look at these strange foreigners running in their streets. Kids would line up in groups of 6 or 7 to high-five as you passed. Big smiles and "hello!" as we passed by.

The course had many twists and turns in the village and I once thought maybe I took a wrong turn. I made it to the aid station at mile 10. I took a short break to take some energy gel, guzzle water, and find a little shade from the sun. Sam had let me go ahead so I was now going to push hard the last 3 miles to the finish.