Sunday, April 15, 2018

Great Wall of China

Against my better judgment, I traveled to Beijing and ran the Jinshanling Great Wall Marathon today.  I knew I would be marginal at best and actually happy if I survived and totally thrilled if I succeeded in completing the entire course.  I was encouraged to enter the race by a friend who assured me that she would stick with me to the end and get me to the finish.  As I suspected would happen, once she realized that I was significantly slower than she was, she would go on ahead and leave me to my own resources. Really, a person needs to run at their own pace.  This race includes very little actual running but does require an immensity of walking.  There are thousands of rock stairs to negotiate. They are totally uneven and they climb and descend at dizzying rates.  We had 9 hours to complete the race and even though I felt that I was having occasional near death experiences, when I finally reached the downhill part and left the actual wall, I picked up speed and was moving at a very good pace. Unfortunately the race has an unwritten rule that they neglected to tell the runners.  When you reach a certain point where the full marathon runners turn left and the half marathon runners turn right, it can't be later than 3:30 pm.  I reached that point after 3:30 and was told I must turn right and continue to the finish line.  This only gives me credit for the half marathon instead of the full.  I am extremely disappointed but certainly not surprised.  I knew before I registered that this race was clearly beyond my skill and fitness level.  But in spite of not reaching my goal of the full marathon, it was an exciting and rewarding experience.

I learned that I need to spend a lot more time climbing and certainly need to focus on speed training.  If I keep slowing down it will be very difficult to find races that will allow enough time for me to finish.  I'll keep working on it, but I need a little more motivation. I'll see how I feel after I've recovered from my jet lag!

A few photos of the wall and the crowds of runners slowing down slow people like me even more.






1 comment:

  1. So sorry for your disappointment, Caren ... and delighted for all that you did and do!!!!!!!!! Much Love, Peace and Happiness to YOU, sweet friend. Happy Happy Birthday!! -- Suzy B :D

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