Update from China

Mike C

It’s been more than a year now since my family and I arrived in China.  Despite the pollution, no running clubs, lack of parks, no hills and the need to run in the streets I was determined to keep up with my running addiction.  I’ve had to make certain adjustments to my training such as not running outside when the pollution index is over 200 (NYC is typically about 10 on the index), running in the streets among cars, bikes and mopeds, and using the treadmill for hill work.  

The good news is that there is a small and determined, but somewhat hidden running community in Shanghai and Beijing where I spend most of my time.  This community has been great for motivation and training.  I’ve been able to keep up with training, although I must admit I have lost a bit of speed without regular speed work and running hills are lot harder for me now…never thought I would miss Cat Hill repeats!  Since arriving I have been able to complete four marathons and two half marathons, all but one of which was in China.  The last two marathons were the toughest I have run to date:  Great Wall Marathon and Grasslands Extreme Marathon.

Great Wall – May 18, 2013 

The Great Wall Marathon is held about a three hours drive outside of Beijing in a small village.  The marathon is unique in that it includes more than 5,000 steps on the Great Wall itself.  You are on the wall for only 6K out of 42K, but you are mostly walking (ok, maybe crawling) upstairs at a steep angle.  3K of the wall is between 36K and 39K.  I tried to prepare by running stairs in my apartment building––35 floors––but I soon found that I was not fully prepared.  

Mahjong anyone?

We arrived in the village the evening before the run, checked into our hostel…I quickly noted that my room included a Mahjong table, a single unused cigarette and a toilet that didn’t flush....well, this is China.   

The roosters woke us up at 4am, we headed to the start and for the first time could see how high the wall went and I thought I may have made a mistake attempting this run.  But it was too late to back out :)  

At the 4K mark I hit the wall for the first time and it didn’t feel so bad as my legs were fresh.  After the wall, we ran through about three different villages and a couple of major hills that were not marked on the elevation diagram on the website. I learned subsequently that only the Chinese version of the website had the accurate elevation…great!  

I hit the Wall (literally) for the second time at 36K and I remember laughing at how crazy it is to be walking and crawling up stairs this late in a marathon.  At one point on the wall I glanced down at my running watch and I was “running” a 25 minute mile.    

Finally I exited the wall and was able to sprint the last 3K downhill to the finish.   Time was 4:52…goal was 5:00 hours…so I was very pleased.  After the run the driver back to the hostel offered me a cigarette to help with my post run recovery (no I don’t smoke). This is definitely a bucket list run, but not sure I would do it again.

Grasslands – July 6, 2013

The Grasslands Extreme Marathon is in a small town in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region of China (about 1.5 hour flight north from Beijing).  Logistically it is difficult to reach, with limited flights and a 3-hour bus ride once you arrive at the nearest airport.  Unfortunately, storms hit the east coast on the Thursday before the marathon.

I arrived at 5:30 am, about 6 hours late.  A friend from Shanghai had a 7 hour delay in Shanghai, missed his connection in Beijing by 15 minutes, spent the night in a KFC and had to take a 12 hour bus ride to the marathon location.  

The marathon itself is literally on the Mongolian grasslands with rolling hills. At times you are running in grass up to your knees where you can't see where your feet were landing, and at other times the course is on sand-based dirt trails.  The trail includes goats, cows/bulls, and wild horses...and no pollution.  

At one point on the trail I came across a bull. I immediately regretted at that moment that I had my red Flyers shirt on.  This was my first trail marathon and I found it tough going.  The trail was poorly marked towards the end as it was telling the runners they only had 2K to run when in fact they had 3K to run.  

I crossed the finish line at 4:21…goal was 4:15 so a bit disappointed, but I learned a lot about running off road.  After the marathon the town hosted a party in a yurt area outside of the town itself which was good fun.  

The next day we even tried a bit of horseback riding.  I think I’ll stick to running.  

Unfortunately the return trip was also disrupted by weather and we arrived home 6 hours late at 3:45 am––but, with no regrets.

If you are looking for a bit of adventure I would highly recommend these two runs. 

-Mike C.