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Articles about The Great Wall Marathon
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Articles about Marathon
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A great run on the Great Wall – The Great Wall Marathon
2008
The star and first-born of Adventure Marathons – The Great Wall Marathon – took
place for the 9th time on Saturday May 17, 2008. This legendary race keeps attracting
more runners every year, and this year was no exception. More than 1700 runners
picked up a bib number for the race that exceeds all limits in both difficulty and
beauty. 49 countries were represented among the fearless runners.
The excitement condenses
It all starts at 3 a.m. Saturday morning – at least for the large part of runners
who are staying at hotels in Beijing. They then have three hours of contemplating their
awaiting task while driving further and further up into the Chinese hills and closer
to the Great Wall. At 6 a.m. the first runners start arriving at the start area.
Eyes filled with excitement, anticipation and just a hint of panic stare up against
the steep wall hovering in the horizon as restless legs cross the big Yin and
Yang sign decorating the start and finish area. As time goes on, the endless
line to the bathrooms grows smaller, people are getting in sync with the energetic warm-up
girls, and before you know it, the first marathoners are on their way.
Off to the Wall
The race starts off headlong with a five-kilometer uphill run. Then the second
big challenge waits: 3 km of steps, steps and more steps on the Great Wall. After
stepping down the last rugged step – for now – a stretch of both paved and unpaved
roads takes the runners through several villages and serene Chinese nature. The villagers
in this remote part of China hardly ever see visitors, and
always serve as enthusiastic and encouraging marathon spectators. After some kilometers
of being cheered and clapped by happy, high-fiving children, the half marathoners
run straight to the finish line, while full marathoners have a second meeting
with their new best friend, the Wall. The very last part of the marathon course
is another 5 kilometers of steep hill, but this time downwards.
The first finishers
While most of the half and full marathoners are still crawling around on the Wall,
the first participants in the 5K and 10K races begin running under the big red FINISH
sign. The very first runner to get a medal around her neck is Victoria White from
Great Britain, who needed only 38 minutes and 54 seconds to climb 5 kilometers of
ups and downs on The Great Wall of China. The second runner across the line is
the male winner of the 5K run: Bodo Manfred Zeug from Germany (0:46:30). By now,
the medal presenters are getting busy, as both 5K and 10K runners start pouring
in, soon followed by the half marathoners with American Andrew Dorobek as the first
one.
A new course record
While some runners kick back in the massage chairs or just sit down in astonished
wonder over what they have just accomplished, others, i.e. the marathoners,
take pride in their own toughness as they run past their relaxing co-runners for
another trial at the Wall. In the next few hours hundreds of runners cross the
finish line, including the youngest and the oldest runner. 5-year-old Signe Jensen
from Denmark ran her 5 kilometers of uneven steps in 2 hours, 9 minutes and 15 seconds.
And about an hour later, the oldest person to have ever run the Wall gets her
medal. Margaret Hagerty from the US, who at 85 has run the Great Wall 10K in 3:14:31,
is also a Guinness World Record holder for being the oldest person n the world to
have run seven marathons on seven continents. A few minutes after this Great Wall
senior, the very first marathon runner throws his arms in the air and even earns the right to
call himself a new course record holder. 3 hours, 18 minutes and 48 seconds was
all that 37-year-old Romualdo Sanchez Garita from Mexico needed to finish his first
Adventure Marathon.
A great day is over
After 8 hours it is all over, and it is time to head back to the hotels and look
back on a great day of running one of the most historic marathon routes in the world.
The rain-predicting weather reports had proved false: No slippery steps and muddy
paths, just a nice layer of clouds to keep the sun out. No serious injuries: A couple
of dislocates fingers and a little dehydration. And as if traveling around half
the world to climb 5000 steps of Great Wall was not admirable enough, the runners
and spectators gathered more than 4,500 dollars for the victims of the earthquake
in China’s Sichuan Province, which happened less than a week before The Great Wall
Marathon. Next year The Great Wall Marathon will celebrate its 10th anniversary,
and this milestone will be marked by the very first Adventure Marathon World Championships.
More adventurous marathons
But there is no reason to wait a whole year for a chance to run a tough and beautiful
marathon in an interesting corner of the world. Next Adventure Marathon is The Big
Five Marathon in South Africa: An extremely challenging race where runners are the
guests of lions, elephants and antelopes in a South African game reserve. It is
still possible to sign up for The Great Tibetan Marathon in Ladakh, India, and for
The Polar Circle Marathon in Greenland. Check out
www.adventure-marathon.com for
registration and more info.
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