Great wall of china marathon - General running

flying high

15/04/2006 at 14:52

hie

I have entered for the great wall marathon on the 20th of May 2006. just want to know if anyone else is doing this. Just looking for last minute tips from those who have done it or are planning to run it.

Chaz

moomoo

16/04/2006 at 00:21

Scotty is!

beckylou

16/04/2006 at 10:42

Which stretch of the Great Wall is it on?

Scotty.

16/04/2006 at 22:57

Hiya Chaz N,

I'm paid up and the Visa is in the passport!

This will be my 13th marathon but I'm ashamed to admit that my training has been a little bit slap-dash. I really should be thinking about not using the lift at work :-)

Did you read Mr Fishpool's report from a few years back ? I think there's a link from the web site.

I'm treating it more as an event than a proper 'marathon', a 20 miler with a 3 mile hike at the beginning and end. I tried reading the full course description on the Official web-site but had to stop as I was exhausted just reading it, descriptions of missing walls and free-falling into valleys below if you're not careful!!

Really looking forward to it though. Everybody I know that's seen the Wall say that images in books or TV don't prepare you for the awesome sight of the real thing.

beckylou, We'll be staying at Jixian and the marathon starts (presumably nearby ?) at the Great Fort. I've yet to do my research on that area but am looking forward to our stay in Beijing for a few days either side of the event.

beckylou

16/04/2006 at 23:15

I used to live in Beijing, and think I know what part of the Wall this will be on. It will be a fantastic experience but hard work! There was one part that was like a virtical climb with loose bricks - I was terrified until I saw a Chinese guy take an alternative path off the Wall and back on to it again, so decided to follow suit! Look forward to hearing about your experiences. I hope the training and the marathon go well.

flying high

17/04/2006 at 21:20

thanks Scotty

I will go through Mr Fishpool's report.
I have never been to China before so this will be a treat for me. I don't know though if it is a good idea to run the great wall 4weeks after the London marathon. London will be my first marathon.Well am hoping it will all go well. I was going to go trekking in PERU with Mind, but when i saw the great wall marathon i thought it would be a nice challenge.

Hey Beckylou, are you going to join us for this challenge?

Scotty.

17/04/2006 at 23:02

Sean's Report

Chaz, good luck with the FLM. I'm sure you'll be fine for the GWM, you'll certainly be in better shape than me as I'm struggling with the long runs at the moment.

Looking forward to when we all meet up at Heathrow :-)

flying high

17/04/2006 at 23:49

hey scotty

Part of my fund raising i make peopl at work walk up the stairs instead of using the lift, other wise they have to pay £1.50 everytime they use it. It has worked wonders ;-) Start by thinking that if you have to use the lift you will pay, just maybe it will get you motivated.

Chaz

ps. my work mates on the third floor don't smile no more, when they see me!!

beckylou

18/04/2006 at 09:46

Chaz N: no I won't be joining you! Sean's report brought that hike all back to me, and I'm full of nothing but admiration for you guys attempting this!

Scotty and Chaz N, do you have justgiving pages? I'm an impoverished student but will send you both a fiver for your chosen charities.

Scotty.

18/04/2006 at 10:00

I'm not sure if I'm doing it for charity yet or not. If I do it'll be a low key thing with the regulars at my local pub. I've just started a new job so would find it difficult to raise much at the moment (small branch and all that).

Scotty.

25/04/2006 at 12:27

Hiya Chaz, how's the training going ?

True to my word I've avoided using the lifts at work. Quite scary how I can run a very comfortable 20 miler at the weekend but still find I'm getting out of puff after only 4 flights of stairs at work.

One report I read reckons you can add nearly 2 hours to your normal mara time with GWM. Apparently the 18" steps are what catches most people out.

Did you get your Visa OK? Took me nearly 2 hours of queueing at the consulate in London a few weeks ago just to submit my application - a marathon in itself :-)

Speak to you and see you soon.

flying high

06/05/2006 at 23:19

hie Scotty

have not had much time to come back to the thread. I did the london marathon on the 23 of april. that did not go too well i should say. i ended up finishing in 5hrs 12mins. i wanted to finish at max 4hrs but it was too difficult. i fell when i was on the 10th mile (sliped on an orange peel). i was treated by the medical aids there and got patched up. so i walked and ran after that even though i was still in pain. i wish i had stopped it after the race it has been really difficult to go back to training. my knee still hurts. but i am still running a bit. i will have to go for the race and see how it goes. hope to finish in 6-7hrs hopefully.

speak to you soon

Charity

Scotty.

08/05/2006 at 12:35

Hiya Chaz,
FLM sounds like good prep for GWM !Well done on getting round with the injury.
Can't believe we're flying out next Monday....must start looking at my phrase book. I've been watching plenty of China/Beijing travel documentaries on Travel Channel recently, I even bought a DVD. Can't wait!

flying high

09/05/2006 at 23:47

hie scotty

wow it does seem unbelieveble that we flying out monday!! Do you know one strange thing i have been worrying about my knee and ankle that i forgot i have to learn chiniese!! well i am crap at languages. i will have to follow the tour guides like mad when we get there;-) i have started watching channel CCTV-9 on sky which does chiniese lessons. check it out.

at the moment i am just thinking of finishing the marathon. i think it will be a hard one as we will take 2hrs longer to finish. i am just preparing myself mentally to finish it. i guess if you have the eye for it you just might do it.

hey i will talk to you soon

Charity

flying high

24/05/2006 at 15:01

Helloooo

Back from doing the great wall of China marathon!! It was tough but mostly it was fun. Well there is no other marathon i can say i ran, i walked and i crawled while climbing well and did a bit of absailing too!! Well done to everyone else that did it!

moomoo

24/05/2006 at 15:40

Well done, Chaz! I'll be hearing Scotty's report at the London Social on Friday!

Scotty.

24/05/2006 at 20:58

Hiya Chaz,

Dozed off 10 minutes into Lost last night and managed to miss work today thanks to resetting my watch to PM instead of AM on the plane yesterday (another blonde moment - will they ever end ?). Still, at least I got a good nights sleep for the first time in nearly a week.

Are you still going to the Chelsea Flower Show ? The London social looks like being another quiet one unfortunately, (24 names on at the moment) probably due to the bank holiday. Be great to see you there though if you don't mind getting home a bit later than planned.

See you soon

Scotty

flying high

25/05/2006 at 13:33

Hi Scotty

i will be coming for the chelsea flower show on Friday. You will have to give me the details. I will be lookig forward to it.
Hey you can watch lost over the weekend.

Hey moomoo

thanks! suppose i will meet you on Friday too.
don't make a mistake of looking for a little boy like scotty did!!

cheers

Chaz

Ps:- Scotty by the sound of things we should axpect to see a blonde man at the social. ref so many blonde moments;-) i just had to say that!!!!!

Balham Bouncer

25/05/2006 at 13:46

Congratulations you two. I've been reading up about GWC marathon for a little while, and reckon that I might take it on next year.

Hope you've recovered!

PB

Tiger

25/05/2006 at 13:47

Scotty gone blond? Gosh!

Sounds like Great Wall was quite an event, what an achievement :) Glad to see you're back to tell the tale!