The Race

The Great Wall Marathon was undoubtedly one of the coolest experiences of my life. Kyle and I were so excited for the race and of course were training prior to our trip to Beijing, so we really had a goal in sight. I knew we would meet some really interesting people, but I couldn't have guessed how inspired we would be by the "runners culture" and the idea of adventure marathons. We met people who were progressing along their goal of running seven marathons - one of each continent. We met a couple who had done the Antarctica marathon last year. They had already completed three of the seven continents. At the awards dinner they recognized a 79 year old woman for completing the Great Wall Marathon. Another woman was recognized for completing her 100th marathon. An older woman took the stage because she had received a horrible medical diagnosis and was given two months to live. Live she was, as she hiked the Great Wall Marathon. The winner of the women's 10K was just 14 years old!

Overall, the race had nearly 2,000 participants from 53 countries. The half marathon had the most participants, and then the full marathon. A couple hundred participants were registered for the 10K and the 5K. Kyle and I went to China having registered for the 10K, but after hiking the wall on Thursday we decided to upgrade to the half marathon. So, we did our first six miles up to and then on the wall, and our last seven miles were through a couple of rural villages. The race was amazing. I am really glad we upgraded to the half marathon because we got a chance to see China from a completely different perspective. We ran through fields, alleyways, dirt roads and rock paths. We saw a young boy chasing a goat around a field and another boy trying to heard a flock of geese. I saw trusses (like to make the ceiling of a home) that were made from tree limbs rather than refined lumber.

We met a very cool woman from Australia who cheered for us all along the race. Her motivation really helped pick me up a few times. We met her on the shuttle van from the airport to the hotel. She looked at me like I was absolutely crazy when I told her this was my first 10K. By race day she must have thought I'd lost my mind! Anyway, she was with a group of women from Australia and South Africa and they were clearly runners. A few of them have done the Big Five which is a marathon in South Africa. She and her group of ladies all wore bright red tutus over their running shorts. She made up a song about "Kyle and Jenny" and sang it every time she passed us or we passed her. Check out her blog!

Upon completion of the race I sent a couple of emails back to the US. I figure my feelings, thoughts, and "runners high" are best conveyed in the text of these emails.

The first email, to my sister:
The race was awesome -- we did the half marathon and I am really glad that we did, because we got to run out in a couple of little villages, in addition to running on the wall. We started off strong -- ran the first 5K in about 38 minutes which was all uphill w/ a drastic elevation climb. Couldn't run much on the wall == too busy w/ people and steps are very uneven. Got back to the base and then headed out for about 7 more miles through the villages. I took a spill in one of the village alleyways w/ about 5K left of the race. I got back up and kept running. It was really good. I'm up for another 1/2 marathon -- maybe in Petra Jordan or the solar eclipse race on 14 November 2012 in Australia. You in? The race community here is so cool -- almost 2, 000 runners from 45 countries. A few ladies in tutus from Aus and So Africa. Kyle and I wore our matching "Run Forrest Run" shirts. Mine said "Jenny" on the back and his said "Lt Kyle." I can't access Facebook from here. Something about the restricted websites . . . so I wont be able to post pictures yet. Sorry I'm talking in code but I don't want this email to get blocked. Hum. Not sure if it was harder than Fuji or not. Oh wait, yes it was! But, Fuji was just so different, and I'm in much better shape now than I was then!

To my supervisor:
We just finished the 1/2 marathon and arrived back in Beijing. What an awesome event. I can't think of a much better way to see China . . . well, I suppose 5 star hotels and posh restaurants might be nice, but this race was unbelievable. The first 5K was all up hill with a drastic elevation change and then we finally reached the wall. The next 4K was on the wall. We weren't able to run much because of the crowds and the uneven steps and inclines. After returning to the base camp we took off for another 11K (7 miles) through a couple of rural villages. The terrain was really tough in the villages -- we were running through alleyways and on stone paths. But, the village people were amazing. There were children around every corner hollering "ni hao" (hello) and offering high fives. I took a tough spill in one of the alleys and have a scrap on my knee, but I jumped right back up and kept moving.

You might see I mentioned the Solar Eclipse Marathon in November 2012. Kyle and I are seriously considering it! Check it out and let me know if you are in.

I'm huge in China

As we walked through the city square in Tianjin Province, I noticed a group of teenage girls posing for a picture. And then, before my eyes, the photographer turned her body 90 degrees and took a picture of our people of Americans. There were about six of us standing on the sidewalk waiting for the rest of the group to catch up. I caught the young girl just as she turned to snap a photog of our group. I started smiling and waving! I thought it was hilarious. So, as we continued walking through the city square we noticed a few more people snapping photos of us. At one point I ran up and offered to just join in their picture. Boy was that a mistake. Of course that group of people was excited to have pictures of a real life foreigner, but then I was approached by three more groups. I tried to have fun with it and just smile.

Later that week we were in Tiananmen Square and Kyle got approached a few times. He posed for a couple of pictures with different groups of Chinese people. At the end of our day in Tiananmen Square a young Chinese boy, probably six or seven years old approached Kyle and starting talking with him. The boy's mom was really helping with the conversation, as the mom spoke much better English than the boy. Anyway, the boy said hello, asked Kyle's name, and then asked where he was from. Kyle answered all of the questions and then the mom asked if Kyle would take a picture with the boy. Kyle gladly knelt down on one knee and propped the kid up on the other knee. It was really quite funny.