Strong conviction
It was with entirely different convictions than a year earlier that I signed up for The Great Wall Marathon 2012. After a year with a heel injury and the fear of having to drop out, I was now free of injuries, well-trained and several kilos lighter.
With Karin again
Because Karin had been with me in China three years previously, I had not expected her to join me again for many years, so I was very pleased when she said she’d like to come. This time she would not make do with five kilometres, but seriously intended to complete a marathon.
As in 2009, we were not going to make do with the short trip, which only allowed travellers enough time for the run itself. So in collaboration with Albatros Travel, we planned an additional trip that would fulfil our special wishes.
Oh no, Far East again
When we received our travel documents, I could see that, in Beijing, we were to be staying at the Far East Hotel. Recalling our experiences in 2007, my reaction was: “Oh no!” I called Albatros, but it was difficult for them to make changes, and they just hoped that things would have improved.
Visa problems
Leaving Copenhagen as usual on Tuesday evening, we arrived in Beijing at around noon on 16th May. Here, one member of the group had a problem that delayed the rest of us. The Chinese authorities refused to accept his visa. As a result, he had to fly to Hong Kong to get a new one before he could return and enter the capital. I didn’t understand the logic of that and simply had to accept that that was the way it was.
Far East – far out
We arrived at the Far East Hotel in the middle of the afternoon. It was not good, in fact, it was horrible The place had been bad enough in 2007, but now it was far worse. In the meantime, it had become a youth hostel. The restaurant had closed, and there was no service of any kind. We were to eat at a nearby restaurant. First we got a room that stank of tobacco smoke. We didn’t want that, so we were given another. This one didn’t smell of smoke, but it was of an abysmal standard in every respect.
We were not alone in our dissatisfaction with conditions at the Far East. Everybody was up in arms, and nobody wanted to stay there. That year’s guide, Henrik, set about finding out what could be done. Of course nothing could be done on the first day, but people wanted another place to return to for the nights after the trip to Jixian and the marathon.
Karin to run half-marathon
During the Thursday inspection visit, Karin decided to downgrade to the half-marathon. Together with our respective adult sons, we had run the Helvede i Nord (Hell in North) in Tisvilde on the North Zealand coast a month earlier. The rigours had changed Karin’s belief that running a marathon in China was realistic.
A day to charge our batteries
Whereas we were accustomed to a drop in standards when we arrived at the hotel in Jixian, things were quite different this time. We stayed for the first time at the Star Pattern Hotel, which was pure luxury compared to the Far East.
We spent most of the Friday charging our batteries. We ran three kilometres and otherwise spent the day relaxing and preparing for the big run. In the evening, we were driven to the familiar Yuyang hotel, where we enjoyed the evening pasta party with the other groups.
Far East – good-bye!
That evening’s great news was that we were not going back to the Far East Hotel. They had found a far better place for us to stay.
I don’t think that Albatros Travel had realised beforehand what an awful place we had been sent to. A local agent is sure to have made a packet buying cheap and selling dear. Let’s hope that agent is no longer in business.
Well charged
My sleep that night was the best ever before a Great Wall Marathon, but Karin slept really badly. The guides had made sure we had plenty of bananas, raisins, bread and marmalade, so we filled our stomachs well before the marathon.
At Yin and Yang Square there is a secure deposit area for the runners’ luggage, but we didn’t need to queue up for that because the group had found a place for us by the grandstand. Not everybody in the group would be running so our baggage would be under constant surveillance.
Flying
My legs were in fine shape and for the first time ever, I didn’t walk on the way up the mountain, and I reached the Wall after precisely half an hour. That really was a record. Everything went well over the Wall as well, so I was back at the Yin and Yang Square after an hour and a quarter.
Everything went very well on the flat, too. I felt as though I were flying along and only walked briefly when I was getting supplies. I had deposited plenty of gel, power drink and salt capsules at the pick-up points.
Unprovoked fall
After 16 kilometres, I fell as far as I am tall. It was on a completely level asphalt road and happened without provocation. I grazed both my knees and had a few cuts on the palms of my hands. I was bleeding quite a lot, but I was okay. At that very moment the doctor, Mogens, came driving by and asked if I was okay. I assured him that I was. He had been called out on an emergency and had to get on, which was fine by me. I quickly got over the incident and got going again.
It later transpired that a tourist with a GoPro camera had captured the moment when I fell. He later sent me the file with the small film clip.
A minor crisis
It was not until halfway through the run at the mountain that I got a bit short of energy. At that time, I had been going for about two and a half hours. I walked most of the way up the mountain, but was in good spirits, and after I reached the top, I ran most of the way down again. On the stretch that followed, I ran most of the time, although I did have to walk once in a while when picking up provisions and summoning some more energy. I got a bit of cramp after I came down the mountain but got rid of it by running and doing some stretching exercises.
Meticulous medics
At the 30-kilometre mark, a Chinese medic was of the opinion that I ought to have something done about my grazed knees. I told her that everything was okay and that the doctor, Mogens, had given me a once-over. She was not entirely convinced, however, and was about to call someone. But I was convincing enough and able to continue. Only a few minutes later, someone said, “Hi Henrik”. It was Karin. She gave me a kiss, and we walked together for a while until I started running again.
In good cheer
I was back at Yin and Yang Square again after 4:14. I was well aware that this was an excellent time. But now the question was how well I would manage the Wall. Of course, it wasn’t easy, but I didn’t have to sit down more than once or twice. I also got cramp a couple of times but then I used the old trick of walking sideways and backwards, and it still worked. In some of the most difficult places, I crawled on all four.
Personal record
When I got right over the Wall, I was about 48 minutes away from my 1999 personal record. This made me very happy, and it was now obvious to me that this record would fall. I kept running for the first three kilometres up the mountain. I was tempted to stop for a breath but didn’t want to take a break while I was running so well. Finally, as the course flattened out I allowed myself the luxury of walking for a while, during which time I had a drink before running on. At the bridge after 41 kilometres, I slowed to walk, but immediately started running again. I walked a bit near the car park to freshen up for the final stretch, after which I happily ran the last couple of hundred metres across the finishing line at Yin and Yang Square, where I was received by Karin. She had done her half marathon in 4:13:52. In the morning, she had had to wait almost 45 minutes at the highest point on the Wall, because so many runners had been dispatched at the same time that it caused a bottleneck.
Unlucky number 13 – says who?
On my 13th Great Wall Marathon, I knocked 13 minutes of my 13-year-old personal record. So who says 13 is an unlucky number?
It was almost surrealistic for me to be at the finishing line watching other runners continue on up to the Wall for the second time. And just think, I was there while the gate was still open. It was also really odd that I was not the last Dane, who everybody else was waiting for. In actual fact, quite a few people crossed the line after me.
Extreme heat and high humidity
The reason for my good time was not that the marathon had been easier that year. The air was very humid, and the average temperature was 32 degrees Celsius in the shade. A total of 119 runners had been forced to drop out because of dehydration, but there had been no serious incidents. That year’s winner was the Spaniard Luis Alonso, with a time of 3:39:28, which was just under 21 minutes slower than the previous year’s winning time. So in every way, I was able to conclude that my good time was due to hard, persistent training.
Back to Qianmen
It had been a good day, and it ended well too. On our return to Beijing, it turned out that we were to live at the Qianmen Hotel we knew so well. It was lovely to check into a decent hotel.
We spent the Sunday relaxing and took a trip into the city, where we did quite a lot of shopping. In the evening, our guide brought us our train tickets for the following day. I got a shock. On the tickets, it said that we were to depart at 8.09 a.m. I immediately vetoed this, refusing to accept it because we had asked for an afternoon departure and would not be able to leave that early after a night party. Fortunately, our guide secured us a later departure, at 3.31 p.m.
Same table as the officials
The gala party was held at the Beijing Hotel again that year. Our group was supposed to sit at the same table, but two of us would have to sit at the neighbouring table. Since this table was for the Albatros staff and the medics, it was only natural for Karin and me to sit there because we wouldn’t feel out of it.
The evening proceeded according to the well tried principal. I had no anniversary that year, but was called up on stage all the same because Fran was telling about my performances through the 13 years.
The after party was also the same as usual and held at the Blue Bar. The hours passed in agreeable company, and we didn’t get back to the hotel until 4.30 a.m., so it was a good job we didn’t have to catch the train at 8.09.
Night train to Tai Yuan
Monday morning, I had practically no voice left. It’d started on the Sunday afternoon, and the night party had probably not improved matters. After breakfast and a little time in our room, we bade farewell to our group, who would be leaving that day for Denmark.
We were picked up just after noon and driven to the train station. This left us about an hour and a half to wait until the train left at 3.31. Inspired by a similar situation in 2009, we spent the time playing Yatzy.
We had a very nice train journey indeed. We had good seats with plenty of leg space and fold-up tables. We managed to watch a film and a half on the laptop before it ran out of power. We then played Yatzy again until the arrival in Tai Yuan at 7.22 p.m.
Cosy guesthouse in Pingyan
We were picked up by a driver, who was to take us to Pingyan. We thought it was just around the corner, but he drove for more than two hours before we arrived at the De Ju Yuan Hotel at around 9.30 p.m. It was a really cosy little guesthouse. We were shown to our room where we left our luggage to go and get some much-needed supper.
To the bank and jail
After breakfast on the Tuesday, we met our local guide, Lisa, who had a schedule ready for the day. First stop was the first bank in China, which opened in Pingyan. It had a very interesting story. After this, we visited the town’s old jail, which was not exactly boring, either. We were told a lot about the “good” old days, when a man took his punishment like a man. The women did not exactly avoid punishment, either. What we heard about was pure torture.
After that, we went back to the hotel, had lunch and checked out. After this, we heard about the town wall and enjoyed a little time on our own.
Massage with unpleasant after-effects
I decided to have my aching legs massaged, which I shouldn’t have. I got an extremely rigorous leg massage, and also a foot massage, as did Karin. But after we left, I started to feel cold and shortly afterwards I was completely drained of all energy. We went to sit at a cafe. I felt really cold and going back to the hotel to pick up a jumper didn’t help.
At 6 p.m., we were back at the hotel for supper. I had no appetite at all and just slept while Karin was eating. We were driven to the local train station just before 8 p.m., where we boarded the night train to Xian. In the meantime, I had eaten a couple of energy bars and felt a bit better.
Terracotta warriors
Thursday morning, we met up with a guide, who took us to visit tombs containing the Terracotta Warriors. The figures were of life-size warriors and horses. Dating from 210 BCE, they are part of the necropolis of China’s first Emperor, Qin Shi Huang. They started building the tomb in 221 BCE, when Qin Shi Huang ascended the throne at the age of 13. All the figures were in pits some seven metres below ground level with a ceiling and several metres of soil above them so they could not be seen from the surface.
The tombs are about a kilometre east of Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum, 36 kilometres north-east of Xian in Shaanxi province.
The figures were discovered quite by chance in 1974 by a group of farmers, and more pits are still being found in the area, making it one of the largest necropolises in the world. The mausoleum itself has not been excavated, and many of the other pits have been only partially excavated, both because of their size and because the objects in the pits are so fragile after many years under the ground.
We spent a good three hours at the place, where we also had lunch. It was impressive and very interesting, but by the end we had seen quite enough. Our guide tried to convince us to buy souvenirs, but we didn’t want to. I’ll bet he had agreed a cut with the sellers. We felt that although the figures were very impressive in China they didn’t really fit in our home back in Denmark.
School visit
In the afternoon, we were back in Xian, where we first visited a tea shop. After that came the actual highlight of the day: a visit to a school. Two teachers showed us around and told us about the place. After that, we visited a class with 39 pupils at the age of 16. It was a language school, so they spoke English very well. They were very sweet and candid and asked a lot of questions about us and Denmark, showing particular interest in Hans Christian Andersen. They asked us to sing a song, so we gave a recital of a very Danish song about a little fellow with a big nose and the Danish version of “Incy wincy spider”. Afterwards, it was their turn to perform for us. Since then I have not been able to listen to “The Lazy Song” with Bruno Mars without smiling and seeing the Chinese youngsters singing that day. When we left, we gave the teacher 100 Yuan, so the class could have some fun one day.
Late in the afternoon, we checked into the Grand New World Hotel in Xian. We had supper in the hotel theatre after which we saw an hour-long performance of traditional Chinese dance and music.
Another night train
We had some time to ourselves on the Friday, which we chose to spend at the markets and in shops, generally inhaling local life. In the evening, we were driven to the train station for an enjoyable return journey by night train to Beijing.
On our last day, we were picked up at the train station by our guide, who took us to the Qianmen Hotel for breakfast. During the morning, we visited a cloisonné factory before leaving for the airport at the end of a wonderful holiday.
Indescribable emotions
My emotions after this trip were indescribable. After the huge problems I’d had been through with my heel injury, it was absolutely fantastic to return at full strength, and to beat the personal record I never believed it would be possible to get anywhere near.
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