The Skinny on China

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家庭和朋友 (Family & Friends),

Miles Ahead:

As my pack hit the bunk at the Chinese Sports Complex in Jixian, I realized that this was not going to be a therapeutic mattress. Rather, a box spring that had seen better days. Simplicity was the theme of the room, with no flash to spare, which suited my taste just fine because my mind was preoccupied with the reason that had brought me here. The Great Wall Marathon (26.2 miles, 42 kilometers) was only days away and I had unfinished business to tend to.

Many racers had come from countries around the world for many different reasons. Whether it be to run their first marathon, write a book, raise money for a cause, or just experience something outwardly different from mundane life, they all gathered. I had reluctantly purchased the tour package for the event, which was a requirement for any foreigner, so that I could get into the marathon. While it was not really my scene, I was enjoying mingling with the populace at the group dinners and meetings, as I awaited Aaron’s arrival. Not to disappoint, the day before the marathon, Aaron rolled up to the complex in some three-wheeled job wreaking of cigarette smoke from the overnight train ride and the driver that chain-smoked like a chimney. Nothing like having a non-runner as your support crew.

Race morning came around 0500. The rats that were running laps in my stomach made for an interesting morning. Appetite nowhere in sight, I choked down a banana and some milk, made my way back upstairs, and tried to workout some prerace jitters. Plumbing in China is not of the same quality as it is in the states, if you know what I mean, which means I had to call the reception desk and request assistance. Guess I should take this opportunity to apologize to Aaron for the disaster that ensued. Sorry dude.

Later, as we exited the bus and filed into the arena, the masses gathered and electricity filled the air. The click that a few of us had formed, which consisted of a few members of the American military, racers from Connecticut, Boston, Aaron, and I, reserved our spot in the stands and started to warm-up. I decided not to venture far from the bathrooms, in fear of coming face to face with the infamous shart. Still, the bathrooms themselves were no more that a communal hole in the ground that resembled a POW encampment and with over 1,000 racers present, the chances for an outbreak of the plague was quite real.

By 0720, the start was 10 minutes away. I was wired and ready to roll. After last week’s embarrassment, I was on a mission to redeem myself. Needing to make drastic changes, my strategy had changed from last weekend. Instead of practicing patients and waiting for the later stages of the race, I decided to go for broke and push from the beginning to the end and hope that the wheels did not fall off before I reached the finish. Then at 0730, the morning air cool, muscles tensed, and the crowd focused, the gun sounded, and we were off.

The first 5k was a continuous winding ascent from the valley floor to the top of the mountains. I knew that this first section was crucial because it would start to bottleneck at the wall and I did not want to get caught up in it. So I did what I had planned, I pushed staying ahead of the main field. By the time I had reached the base of the wall I had averaged roughly a 7:45 mile pace up the mountain and was somewhat winded. However, if I stopped now, then all my work would be for nothing.

Laboring, I began hurdling the stairs as I followed the backbone of the ridge on The Great Wall. Now, one must understand that there are sections of the wall where footing is very important, especially on the decent. Uneven at times and riddles with rocks and potholes, a misstep, could give you a one-way ticket to the valley bottom. At this time my pace slowed, but as I descended, the terrain began to level out. Reaching the asphalt, gave me confidence, and I again resumed pace. I wanted to make good time on the even surfaces before the latter stages took their toll and the second climb taxed me.

Between miles 5 and 10 I felt good. Taking fuel and water, I motored with little resistance over some small rolling hills and what was largely a flat course at the moment. However, around mile 11, the discomfort began to set in. The toll that the previous weekends 50k had taken on me, began to emerge and I could feel the first physical and mental wall approaching. For those of you that are not familiar with this concept, this is a point where the body and mind begin to exhaust and send signals that it is time to quit. There are different kinds of walls, each holding its own importance. This wall I had felt before and knew that I if I kept moving, kept eating and drinking (regardless of if I was hungry or thirsty), and separated myself from the discomfort then my state would eventually change. Around mile 14-15, I began to feel its grasp weaken and I broke through the first wall.

As I began to feel better, I started to push again. I could feel the pain in my legs, so I mentally separated myself and popped some Tylenol, ibuprofen, and caffeine. Moving at a 7:00 - 7:15 pace, I took advantage of some slight downhills and started passing other racers. I knew that I would be hitting a second, larger wall soon (probably around mile 20) and that it would test me. Regardless, I did not want to leave anything out on the course, so I did not hold back. Coming up on mile 19, I entered onto the main road and merged with other racers from the half marathon. There were a few marathoners that had formed a pack and were taking turns drafting, as we tried to hold it together. Jockeying for position, we separated again from the main field and made our way to the base of the final climb to The Great Wall. I decided to do a quick status check with my legs and realized that the pain had now began to move up into my lower back and was making its way to my shoulder blades. To add to this my hamstrings were beginning to cramp from the strenuous effort and lack of electrolytes. Once I realized this, I quickly separated myself again, as so I would not linger on the reality.

As we hit the base of the mountain and began to ascend the climb in reverse, this is where I found the wall I had anticipated waiting for me. Both figurative and literal, the wall symbolized something that cannot be described; only experienced. At this moment the wheels fell off and I, along with every other racer, began to crash. As we climbed, we fought for 3-4 steps at a time, clung to the rock to keep from collapsing, and repeated. About half way up, we began to take casualties and bodies littered the route. Those of us who continued, went to some dark mental place that I have not been in a while. If you were a spectator and you wanted to see pain, this is where you stationed yourself on the wall. The delusional state that some of us were in turned the volume down on the rest of the world. Slowly and painfully we labored as if we were at altitude. Reaching the saddle, I caught a slight breeze and began making my way down the ridge on the wall with great effort. On steeper parts we raced on all fours, not conquering more than a few steps at a time. I tried to offer encouragement to those that had died as I passed, but could only offer a simple pat on the back. No words were exchanged, but the intent was understood. After which, I left them to there own resolve. As I and one other runner (whom was the winner in the female division and had the second fastest female time in the race history) existed the wall, I began to feel my mental consciousness return slightly. However slight it was, it never fully returned and I had to fight for the remainder of the race. With only two left, we began the final 5k descent, which was more of a controlled free fall. As I hit the valley below, gravity no longer aided me in my bid for the finish. It was everything I could do to muster the stamina to limp in the last mile. Making my way into the plaza I crossed the line in 4:58:50 and doubled over in pain. I was hungry, thirsty, sunburned, and exhausted; but more importantly I was happy. My efforts ultimately left me with a finish 13th in my age group and 64th overall out of some 500 runners.

With so much effort put into the finish, the following night we decided to blow off some steam. After the Gala dinner and award ceremony, we celebrated our tour by bringing in the early morning hours with booze, bar hopping, karaoke (KIVY), and street food. As the sun emerged in the misty morning haze, goodbyes were said and each of us went our separate ways until the next time.

Check out other adventures at our new site Ultra Expeditions and see what we are up to.

Quote:
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
- T.S. Elliot

The Plan:

Over the years I have lost toe nails, blown out knees, sacrificed sleep for 25 milers at 3am, lost friends, gained friends, and traveled around the world all for the chance to put one foot in front of the other. While I have experienced pain, joy, failure, success, and everything in between, running remains one of the purest things that I have every experienced. The rewards that I have gained have far outweighed the price paid and I would do it all again tomorrow.

So with this all behind me, what is next? Well, the next stage of the trip is one that I have been looking forward to for sometime. Now that I have a partner in crime, we will leave the road more traveled and start making our way south towards Tibet. With only packs in hand we will fly to Xining, where we will try one last time to find a permit that will allow us to enter the region of the world simply known as “world’s roof top.” Word on the street is that foreigners are forbidden to enter without a tour guide, however this seems more like propaganda than truth. So if we cannot get a permit, we will take an overnight train towards Lhasa (former home of the Dalai Lama) until we are kicked off. At which point we will hitchhike and walk into the country. If we succeed, the trip will be epic. If not we will try an alternate route to the east, which will take us into the Tibetan-Chinese wilderness region of Sichuan that proves to be just as ambitious.

最好的 (Best),
Jason

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