The Great Wall

I was hoping that my time in Asia would present some really neat opportunities and I think this one is going to be hard to beat! This was definitely one of those where, halfway through you're saying to yourself "Who is the idiot that thought this was a good idea???" and then you actually do it, you cross the finish line, and it's like giving birth: all the pain and agony that led up to that moment is completely washed away by the euphoria and the flood of endorphins! I did it! It was an amazing challenge, impossible to prepare for and possibly the coolest thing I have ever done. (Although the Race through the Jungle at the EFRC in Indiana does come close....roaring lions 20 feet away: very cool!)

I was really worried going into Race Day for a couple of reasons: my legs were still sore from walking the 2 miles of wall on inspection day 2 days prior; the 3:30 bus departure from the hotel on Race Morning meant at least a 3am wake-up call; and knowing that, since this is not a race one does for time, I had let my training slip and was not as fit on race day as I might have wanted to be. But Race Day dawns, regardless, doesn't it?

The bus leaves at way-too-early:30 but a breakfast box provided by the hotel puts a smile on my Sherpa's face! Love you honey!

Pre Race activity in Yin and Yang Square, the heart of the Fortress, where the 1/2 and full both begin and end.

Number's on; if I wasn't so freakin' cold (it was about 50 degrees) I might be ready to go! Thank God the sun came out and it turned out to be a perfect day for running, about 70 degrees.

And at 7:40, we're off! Out through the Fortress main gate

on the road to the wall, to what I affectionately refer to as...

The Hill of Attrition! 5 kilometers straight UP....

...and UP....

...and up. I was really freaked out on inspection day when I realized this part of the course. I learned a lot about reading a course topography map that day!

I was so relieved when we finally hit the 5 km. mark (you can see it propped against the road sign) because that meant we were around the corner from

Just a few more steps up...

And there it is

Now the fun starts!
 

You can see: it was a beautiful day! It was the biggest field ever, 2000 participants (over 500 in the full, over 800 in the half, 350 or so in the 10k and and about 225 in the 5k) so unfortunately there were a lot of bottle necks

But that was alright because it left some time for taking pictures

My motto for the day: "The journey is the reward"

Along the wall the steps vary in height and depth but in many cases it was little more than a stone ledge or ramp with a sheer vertical drop to one side. You couldn't see the bottom here without hanging out over the edge a bit. I chose not to do so.

The last portion of Wall was "The Goat Track": mostly dirt trail, straight down, with the occasional steps thrown in. But it afforded a beautiful aerial view of the Fort and the Square, including the beginning of the 10 k race, starting out under the bridge (see below). The course for the half wound around the fort once (which basically surrounded all of the buildings that you can see in these pictures; about 1 km), went down into and through the square, and back out onto the road for another 7+ miles. The next 1 1/2 miles was on the road, the middle 4 was in the nearby "village" circling back to the road to retrace the 1 1/2 miles back into the square. That middle 4 miles was a real trail run: all dirt, in some cases rocky path, and also full of hills.

 Some views through the village:

Almost there!

And finally, over 3 and a half hours later back in the Square!

It felt so good to be finished! And it really is true, once the endorphins kick in, you forget how miserable you were at mile 9! Am serious about doing it again next year so those of you who want to join me, let's start making some plans! All in all, it was a great race. I'll go into more detail about some of the fun anecdotes from the morning on the course in a next installment. At the moment I am surprised that blogspot has let me put this many pictures in one post so I won't push my luck. I'll wrap this up for now and write a little more soon. Happy running everyone!