Marathon #7: The Great Wall of China Marathon

Last November before heading off to climb Mount Kilimanjaro I had floated the idea to Rosa about going to China to run a marathon on the Great Wall. At the time I had been to five of the seven wonders of the world, with my aim to have all seven completed before I reach thirty.

As Rosa processed the idea I was amazed by her reaction - she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and shook her head negatively before saying “That sounds pretty cool, we can discuss it more when you get back.”

Fast forward to the afternoon of the 18th of May 2018. Rosa and myself were in a Beijing restaurant not far from our hotel surrounded by our tour group which was made up of people from Canada, Mexico, USA, England, Brazil, India, Poland and South Africa. In the past few days we had become close friends unified by a common goal to run on the Great Wall of China. The race was the next morning and we were all Carb loading to build our energy stores for the next day. I chased grains of rice and strands of noodles around my plate with chop sticks feeling proud about how quick I had learned to use them.

Back in the hotel I made a few minor adjustments to the gear I had prepared for the race and then got into bed to read my book – Deception Point by Dan Brown. It was Rosa's first Marathon and she had only taken up running 6 months ago. A marathon was going to be an enormous challenge for her. I was nervous for her also, as her feet had caused her a lot of pain when we done a 3 km recce walk on the wall a day earlier. Nevertheless Rosa went to sleep without so much as an effort and I sat continuing to read for a while. Unfortunately I had a very poor night's sleep. That night I spent a lot of time just trying to rest by lying in the bed and then resorting back to reading my book when I got frustrated. As the night progressed my stomach started to feel poor also. At some point I managed to fall asleep only to be awakened by our alarm which was set for 2:35 am. With less than two hours sleep I got dressed into my running gear and went to the toilet hoping my stomach issues might resolve themselves. Rosa and I then made our way to the hotel lobby where we met the rest of the group at 3 am. We picked up a pre-packed breakfast that the tour had organized. It was upon opening the lunch box that I knew for sure I wasn't well, as the smell of the food made me want to get sick.

To get to the Great Wall we now had to take a 3 hour bus journey. It was horrible and I spent the entire journey leaning down towards my knees with my forehead up against the seat in front of me. I felt like I could get sick at any moment. Rosa tried to cheer me up by creating conversation as the bus made its way towards the Great Wall and at one point we saw a beautiful sunrise. I gave a quick glance at the sunrise and returned to the only position that seemed to relieve the nausea I was feeling.

Eventually to my relief we arrived at Ying Yang Square which was full of life as over 3000 runners from 75 different countries assembled to take part. Immediately I searched for a toilet as I continued to struggle with my stomach.

As I came back to the main square I felt good to be up moving and getting some fresh air into me which was now helping me greatly. Only an hour to go before my race wave was to start I thought that I would try and eat something, I took a few bites of a peanut bar and a banana. It was difficult to swallow but I was relieved to have gotten some calories into me before the start. While I was trying to nurse my stomach and manage my big sleep deprived-contrary head the atmosphere was building in the square; a fitness instructor led a warm up session and then a group of fifty or so New Zealanders took to the stage at the top of the square and performed a haka.

Soon after the Haka War dance was over, a sign was held high close to the starting line inviting those who were starting within Wave 1 to come forward. Rosa was in Wave 4 and I was in Wave 2. Each wave would be separated by a 10 min window allowing the large group of runners to leave the congested Ying Yang Square. Waiting for my Wave Number to be held up, Rosa and myself took a picture and gave each other a few final words of encouragement. This was going to be her first marathon and it was by no means going to be an easy one. Months earlier we decided to run separate races as we both wanted to give the race our best shot, as we both considered this a once in a lifetime event. Further on that point, neither of us like the sight of couples running events together. As to us it just looks weird. We would both prefer to look back and say we achieved this purely as a result of our own determination and fitness then share each other's success or failure after the finish line.

As wave 1 left Ying Yang square the 2018 Great Wall Marathon had officially begun. The sign for Wave 2 was now held high. Rosa and I gave each other a quick kiss and promised we would meet back here in Ying Yang Square at the end. As I made my way to the starting line a local Chinese brass band were playing on top of the square on a stage. During the time we had spent in the square the band only seemed to know two songs and continually played them on loop. What bought a smile to everyone's face was that one of the songs was Jingle Bells. There I was in late May wearing shorts and a t-shirt nervous about running a marathon in temperatures suspected to reach close to 30 degree’s cheering on a Chinese brass band playing Jingle Bells beside the Great Wall of China, what a beautifully weird moment it was.

Next thing a voice came through a speaker saying "10, 9, 8" I got myself together ready to run "3, 2, 1". My Great Wall of China Marathon was underway. Starting off slow as the runners in wave 2 had to funnel through an arch we went out onto a main road running away from the wall. The course then immediately started to rise in gradient as the first 5 km was up hill along a twisty road. Everyone tackled the hill at their own pace knowing what other challenges lay ahead. I took off at a good pace, looking back maybe a bit too quick but I wanted to take advantage of the cool morning and get as much of the course done as possible before the suffer fest that would come later in the day as the temperature increased. We passed through two villages where all the locals lined the road to cheer us on. These were rural communities and it was nice to see them out supporting us as we ran passed.

With 5 km complete I was at the top of the hill and about to step up onto the wall. On top of the wall the view was amazing as the Great Wall wound its way across the top of mountains and valleys. Many of the runners around me stopped to take photos and selfies. I had taken all the photos I wanted that Thursday when we walked this segment of the course. Today I wanted to enjoy being on the wall and soak up the buzz of race without distraction. Going up the steps, if possible I would find a gentle robotic rhythm to run. In places the steps were too steep and I would resort to a brisk hike until reaching the top and then using quick foot work dance my way down to the bottom. Coming into Ying Yang Square I could see the finish line but had to run straight past it out onto the main road.

The next section of the Marathon took us off of the Great wall and out into the local Chinese countryside for 25 km or so. This segment was tough as I had myself mentally prepared for the steps on the wall, Now I would not see them again for a while. Finding a gentle rhythm I tried to slow down as I was unsure what my stomach was going to do and I knew that the consequences of a poor night's sleep may catch up on me also.

The route took us through more small towns and villages where little children lined the road looking for Hi5's, the bigger kids took pictures of us as we ran while the older generations sat in shaded areas and would shout words of encouragement, whatever they were shouting was in Chinese so I can only presume it was encouraging. The course winding its way through villages and then the road started to raise in inclination. As I started at the foot of the steeper section of road I could see runners returning on the other side having completed a loop. In the lead up to the marathon I had reviewed the coarse profile and was curious about this section as the elevation looked to increase but relative to the elevation on the wall it looked marginal. While on the course the hill was anything but marginal, it was a long climb to a village sitting on a slope. In this town the elderly were out sitting on wheelchairs clapping delighted at the life the marathon was bringing to the village as the runners flowed through. Leaving the village there was a sudden decrease in the elevation and I made sure to let my legs go loose and pick up the speed shaking myself back to life and letting gravity be my friend. Eventually after what I thought was 3km or so the road leveled out again and I could see runners going up the road and down the road, I had completed the loop. As I ran back I kept an eye on the participants running up the road about to begin the loop in the hope that I would see Rosa and maybe shout some words of encouragement her way. I didn’t see her and the route I was now on turned right heading off in the opposite direction from where I had come from. The route still had plenty of gradual inclines as I continued to jog and hike. Breaking the course down I was working my way from aid station to aid station which were found every 5km or so along the route.

As the day progressed so did the temperature; the heat was in the above 26 Degrees. I had lathered myself in sun cream and was nervous about how effective it would be with the hot mid-day sun hitting my skin so long after I had applied the cream. The other problem was, that I had ran 25km of the marathon distance and hardly eaten anything. One of the general rules for endurance sport is to "Eat before you're hungry, Drink before you're thirsty and breath before you're out of breath" because if you hit a wall as result of depleted energy levels, dehydration or start exasperating heavily it may take a long time to recover. With this in mind my stomach was still in a pretty delicate state and I still had no appetite so I cautiously ate half a banana after chewing it well and then as I continued to run, about 40 minutes later I took an isotonic gel. The route continued to wind its way through roads and trails until we reached the river that ran below a main road. Here I alternated between running and hiking. As I could start to feel the energy from what I had eaten a few kilometers back now give me a lift, I picked up the pace. I was excited as I was not far from Ying Yang Square where I would be returning to the wall, as tough as I knew the wall was going to be from running it earlier that day, this was what I was here for; and I knew as soon as I set foot on the wall it would give me the extra blast of energy I would need to finish.

As I continued along the road to Ying Yang Square I could see buses with people waving encouragement as they were going back to their hotels having most likely completed the fun run (10 km) or the half marathon in an effort to stay focused I kept the head down focused and steadily became stronger as I ran passing out a few people. As I entered Ying Yang Square again I ran through as quickly as I could to avoid any of the temptations that exist around the finish line. I was a man on a mission and still had 8 km to do before I could enjoy any of the festivities associated with finishing the marathon. As I took the steps back up onto the top of the wall I was delighted to have made it this far and knew no matter how bad or tough things got I could definitely run the remaining distance. The first bit back on the wall was the toughest and as I hiked up it I met many participants who were exhausted sitting down on a step or somewhere standing with their hand on the rail breathing hard. This incline was pretty long, steep and hard to hike with uneven steps making it difficult to maintain a constant rhythm. I passed a first aid station with quite a lot of people inside suffering with the effects of dehydration and some sitting down with feet elevated. Rosa would still have to do this section and I just hoped she would be strong at this point.

At last I reached the top and I was on top of the Great Wall again. I started running with excitement. The wall was now sparse with people and I enjoyed being by myself admiring the view. When I ran through one particular tower on the other side was a basic pop up shop. I asked for a Coke Cola. I could feel the cold as I put my hand on it and then took a massive gulp from it, delighted to be drinking something cold and sweet. The entire race all aid stations had was warm water to serve, so this was just blissful.

With sugar in my blood stream my confidence shot up and I started hiking strong passing out people on the steps. Some were on all fours climbing to get the top while some stopped and sat on a step taking in the amazing view of the section of wall we had just completed. Feeling strong I finished off the last segment of the wall proud of what I was about to accomplish.

The last 4 km where now all downhill and I love to descend. Once again opening up my hips and letting my legs run loose I ran the last section of road passing out familiar faces that had passed me earlier in the day. The speakers playing music from Ying Yang Square where now within earshot as I ran. This would be my fourth and final time entering Ying Yang Square today. Running passed the last water station and onto the main road I was delighted with what I was about to achieve: A freckled Irish lad sweating buckets and covered in sun cream from Byrnesgrove was about to complete a marathon somewhere outside of Beijing, China on the Great Wall of China. I turned a corner and went through the narrow arch and arrived into the square, through the speakers I could hear "James Morrissey from Ireland has just completed the Great Wall Marathon". I collected my medal and went to where I had departed that morning. Members of our group told me about their experiences during the day and that Rosa was still out on the route, I was delighted.

I sat down for a while to recover, putting my feet up and lying down on my back letting the blood flow to the rest of my body. As I lay there my mind was now on Rosa and I hoped that she was going to make it to the finish in good spirits. I tidied myself up and changed into fresh clothes as quick as I could, wanting to be at the finish line to see Rosa come in. After a period of time talking to different people from our group and looking at different people of different nationalities cross the line I could see how much it meant to each finisher to have ticked off what many people would consider two bucket list items:

1) Complete a marathon

2) See the Great Wall of China in person.

As the time ticked down I began to get nervous for Rosa and even felt guilty for asking her all those months ago if she wanted to do it. The announcer stated across the speakers that the race had entered the last hour for participants to finish. I contemplated going out the road to run in the last stretch with her but knew well that she would hate me for it as this was going be her achievement alone. I told myself if it goes into the last 15 minutes before the cut off that I would go out along the route. Rosa doesn’t wear a running watch so she might not be aware of how close she would be to the cut off time. As I was juggling this scenario one of the members of our group that would have been running with her came in and crossed the finish line, not to long later another member of our group from Mexico crossed the line completing her first marathon. Then to my frustration some random dude came around the corner completing the marathon. I started to panic, but not for long as I soon recognized the outline of the next runner. It was Rosa. As she crossed the line I was overcome with delight, she had completed her first marathon on one of the toughest marathon courses imaginable. I was banging the boarding as the announcer called out “Rosa from Spain now approaching the finish line after completing the Marathon". Around at the other side of the finish line boarding I took a picture of her with the finisher medal. I then gave her a hug and told her that what she had done was unbelievable, I think I said unbelievable quite a few time actually mainly due to the fact I was at a loss for words. We had both done what we set out to do having travelled 8,277km.

Once all the initial celebrations slowed down we boarded the bus to take the 3 hour journey back to the hotel. The journey back was a lot different to the one out that morning, with plenty of time to dream up the next adventure.

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