{"id":112,"date":"2011-05-23T02:54:22","date_gmt":"2011-05-23T02:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinagriffith.com\/journal\/?p=112"},"modified":"2011-05-23T05:17:33","modified_gmt":"2011-05-23T05:17:33","slug":"great-wall-marathon-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinagriffith.com\/journal\/?p=112","title":{"rendered":"Great Wall Marathon 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Great<\/a><\/p>\n

Preparing for the Race<\/h2>\n

When I was young I loved running. I was fast. \u00c2\u00a0I remember in 3rd grade racing a little African American girl in pigtails. \u00c2\u00a0She beat me by a second, but we beat everyone else by a mile. \u00c2\u00a0Due to my nerdism I did no sports throughout jr high or high school (I did read a lot of books though) and I recall the one time I tried to run a 5k with Layne Neilson I ended up with shin splints and dry heaving. \u00c2\u00a0Thus my mantra became : I hate running. \u00c2\u00a0I also had this idea in my head from my high school that I was\u00c2\u00a0physically\u00c2\u00a0unable to do very much exertion, I was tested for Hypoglycemia<\/a> and I\u00c2\u00a0definitely\u00c2\u00a0used it an excuse.<\/p>\n

Eventually my inertia caught up with me; the food I was taking in and the lack of movement produced a puffy version of myself and I decided I wanted to loose weight and get in better shape. \u00c2\u00a0I started mountain biking in California and Curg Johnson and Scott Barentsen introduced me to hiking. \u00c2\u00a0I’d hike Briones several times a week before work (this was the\u00c2\u00a0beginning\u00c2\u00a0of my Dawn Patrol days). \u00c2\u00a0 I liked hiking because it was just like walking you just went up hill. \u00c2\u00a0I still stated for the record that I did not like running.<\/p>\n

\"Gotta<\/a>After we moved to Seattle we moved into a home on Cougar Mountain in Issaquah. \u00c2\u00a0I had miles and miles of trails right out my back door. I kept hiking there and in the mountains. My next door neighbor Carl was a runner and he kept suggesting to me to try trail running : “It’s just like hiking, you cover the same ground you just go faster.”. So one Saturday we went running together and I enjoyed it. I bought a pair of trail runners and I kept at it. Eventually I even started road running at work during lunch.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Running became an additional way I stayed in shale for my true love : spending time in the mountains hiking or climbing. I even entered a few trail running races on Cougar Mountain. I did however find i had a problem pacing myself in a race, I often felt too keenly the competitive desire to pass the person ahead of me. I also didn’t like the 65 year old men passing me. I kept running though but no more races. Running also became a way to make up for when I was behind on my yearly 1000 mile goal. I’d run to work several times (17 miles) and I had a small tradition of early morning runs on Christmas Eve (23.1 miles<\/a> and 22.5miles<\/a>).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Big<\/a>Even though I don’t have the classic runner physique : my legs are like tree trunks (hammering up and down mountains) and I have a bit more heft on my frame than I really need around the mid section and saddle bags over my hips; I have stamina. I’ve learned over the miles I can go the distance; with proper training and refueling along the way. I knew I could do a marathon; I’d basically already run the length, just not in a competition.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last year a friend living in Japan had invited me to do the Great Wall Marathon but it just didn’t work out since I was still living in Issaquah. After moving to Beijing, Laurie Arnold at work sent out an invite to Amazonians in China to join her in the Great Wall Marathon. I immediately signed up. In reading over the course descriptions the 10K had 500 meters of elevation pretty much the same elevation gain as the 1\/2 Marathon of 21K, so I signed up for the half.<\/p>\n

\"Morning<\/a>One of the things I knew I’d give up moving to Beijing was the mountains and the trails. No more trail running, and hiking would require more planning and effort. I immediately began road running though. And one of the main reasons for choosing our apartment location was because it was across from Chao Yang Park where I could run among the trees. I try to run at least twice a week, though they are usually only around 6-7K. Occasionally on a Saturday I’ll get in a 11-12K run and I’ve managed to get out hiking to the Great Wall several times while I’ve been here (1<\/a>, 2<\/a>, 3<\/a>).\u00c2\u00a0 Even though hiking the Great Wall was good preparation it just wasn’t often enough so I added stair climbing to my routine.\u00c2\u00a0 One of the problems with the stair climbers in gyms is they only go up (one of the many reasons I detest gyms).\u00c2\u00a0 Most mountains you climb you have to come back down.\u00c2\u00a0 So I would do 3 laps up and down the 30 flights of stairs in my building.<\/p>\n

The Day Before<\/h2>\n

As the race approached I took the week before off from running; hoping that the theory of tapering would actually work.\u00c2\u00a0 The normal itinerary for the race was to depart Beijing on a bus at 3:30 am for HaungYa Guan.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We decied to go up the night prior and stay overnight at a Farmer Hotel.\u00c2\u00a0 Robert found us one on line that was right next to the Fort where the race begins.\u00c2\u00a0 Several folks from Amazon were also staying there. We got away Friday at 4:30 and it took us around 2.5 hours to drive there.\u00c2\u00a0 We arrived just as the sun was setting over the mountains surrounding the small village.\u00c2\u00a0 Our hotel was sparse.\u00c2\u00a0 5 single beds in a room with 1\/2 inch foam padding and a squatter toilet.\u00c2\u00a0 Price was 80 rmb per person including food.\u00c2\u00a0 After we arrived the farmer’s wife went into the kitchen to cook up some supper.<\/p>\n

\"Selvio\"<\/a>While we were waiting, we met Selvio.\u00c2\u00a0 He was from Italy; he spoke very little English.\u00c2\u00a0 He told us he was from Bolgna Italy where they made Maseratis and Ducati.\u00c2\u00a0 He showed us a yellow paper that was titled Marathons of the World and had a list of all the marathons he had either run in or was going to run in.\u00c2\u00a0 He was sad because his organization had somehow messed up his entry into the Great Wall Marathon and he had no bib number.\u00c2\u00a0 He said he would run anyway.\u00c2\u00a0 He was eating a dinner of nuts and bread and offered us some.\u00c2\u00a0 We said we were going to eat food prepared by the farmer’s wife.\u00c2\u00a0 He explained in mime and Italian : “picante, picante, picante” and then making a motion to his stomach he said “Ughhh” – “Not good” and then made a motion for squatting on the toilet.<\/p>\n

With that hearty recommendation we went into the kitchen.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s whipped up a mountain of dishes, 7-8 for the 5 of us.\u00c2\u00a0 I stuck to the safe bets : fried egg, tomatoes and rice.\u00c2\u00a0 Simple and unlikely to upset my stomach.\u00c2\u00a0 While eating Jean and Dennis arrived with Jonathan and Xixi.\u00c2\u00a0 We chatted while we ate and then went off to bed early. It was going to be an early morning.\u00c2\u00a0 Before settling into bed I poured a tablespoon of salt into a bottle of Pocari Sweat (local sports drink) and slurped down the salty concoction.<\/p>\n

Race Day<\/h2>\n

\"Breakfast\"<\/a>Carsten and I were running the half and Dennis the 5K, everyone else was doing the 10K.\u00c2\u00a0 The 1\/2, full and 5K all started early (7:30) and the 10K started 2 hours later at 9:30.\u00c2\u00a0 I woke up at 4:30, my hips hurting from the plush padding on the bed.\u00c2\u00a0 I “geared up”, most importantly for me was the liberal application of Glide<\/a>, didn’t want to be chaffing on this long run.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I walked around outside for a half hour and met Carsten and Dennis in the kitchen at 6am for a breakfast of corn congee with boiled egg and some chopped salty vegetables.\u00c2\u00a0 We walked down the hill to the Fort where the race began.\u00c2\u00a0 There must have been 50 buses in the parking lot and 100 people lined up waiting to use the bathroom.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/a>On our way to the entry point we ran into Laurie, Steve and Kari.\u00c2\u00a0 They were walking around to stay warm.\u00c2\u00a0 We said goodbye and wandered into the Yin Yang Square inside the Fort where there is stadium seating and big open area.\u00c2\u00a0 There was club music playing and people were warming up.\u00c2\u00a0 The sun had come up but was hidden by clouds and with a bit of wind blowing it was chilly.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Carsten and I sat down to stay out of the wind while Dennis went off to catch his bus to the start of the 5k.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 While sitting there Laurie called many times…. first to inquire about the bathrooms inside (there were no lines) and then to locate us as they joined us.\u00c2\u00a0 Later we heard the reason there were no lines is the “bathrooms” were just holes in the ground with no separators and no toilet paper.<\/p>\n

\"Climbing<\/a>Finally at 7:30 Carsten started off in wave one of the 1\/2 and full marathon and at 7:40 I set off.\u00c2\u00a0 The start was “slow”, so many people and so crowded we walked for a few minutes until we passed through the gate and entered the road.\u00c2\u00a0 From here the run actually began.\u00c2\u00a0 We ran a short distance down the main road before turning left and started a long gradual climb (5-10% grade) up to the entrance to the Great Wall.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally arriving at the wall we began the steps up and things began to cluster up again.\u00c2\u00a0 When the wall was narrow either up or down a line formed.\u00c2\u00a0 When the wall was wider either up or down things spread out again.\u00c2\u00a0 This was the part of the “race” where I felt the strongest.\u00c2\u00a0 I am used to climbing stairs.\u00c2\u00a0 On the down sections when I was able to get clear of the lines I bombed down the stairs and the trail.\u00c2\u00a0 I may not be the fastest runner but no one passed me going down.<\/p>\n

\"Great<\/a>Eventually we rounded the bend on the top of the Wall and started our final descent to the river crossing and back into the Fort.\u00c2\u00a0 Kari, Steve and Laurie cheered me on (there may have been others) as I ran past and we headed back out down the main road to the small village. Here the entire way the streets were lined with small kids giving high fives, smiling parents who looked in curiosity or cheered us on.\u00c2\u00a0 I grabbed a banana on the way out and followed it up with water.\u00c2\u00a0 There had been ample water all along the course. I always drank around a fourth of the bottle and then dumped the rest over my head to stay cool.\u00c2\u00a0 The run through the village had a couple of tough hills to scoot up across rocky paths that were unwelcome on the tired legs after all the stairs on the Wall.\u00c2\u00a0 Things started to drag and I took out my headphones from the small backpack I was wearing and put on some music to keep me company on the last leg.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally as I finished the last 50 meters my family was there cheering me on as I rounded the bend and into the Fort.\u00c2\u00a0 I heard someone yell : “Catch him” as a runner came up behind me. Finding a bit of reserves I sprinted to the end, but I slowed down 10 feet before the finish and he passed me at the last second.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>I paused for the obligatory race photo and my medal for finishing and kept walking so as to not fall down. I redeemed my ticket for a monster turkey sandwhich and grabbed some water and wandered outside to sit with my family and watch a few other fellow Amazonian’s in the 10K cross the finish line.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally we gathered at Laurie’s van for beers and drinks and a celebratory group photo.\u00c2\u00a0 The race was done and it was time to head for home. I had a great race and I look forward to doing it again next year.\u00c2\u00a0 Next year Sofi says she wants to do the 10k with me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Video of the Race<\/h2>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Great Wall Marathon<\/a> from mbgriffi<\/a> on Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preparing for the Race When I was young I loved running. I was fast. \u00c2\u00a0I remember in 3rd grade racing a little African American girl in pigtails. \u00c2\u00a0She beat me by a second, but we beat everyone else by a mile. \u00c2\u00a0Due to my nerdism I did no sports throughout jr high or high school … Continue reading »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-mark"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinagriffith.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinagriffith.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinagriffith.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinagriffith.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinagriffith.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chinagriffith.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinagriffith.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinagriffith.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinagriffith.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}