A small group
Delayed by a whole year, the fifth Great Wall Marathon was run in May 2004. As Søren had promised three years previously, I didn’t have to pay for the trip itself.
We set off on the evening of Tuesday 18th May with the smallest group I had travelled with to date. Group 8 consisted of only nine guests and a guide. I was partly responsible myself for the limited size of the group, since I was to be unaccompanied in China for the first time. But being in a small group was very cosy. We were always able to sit together at mealtimes, and this made the atmosphere more intimate.
Smile for the photographer
We were to have started with the traditional visit to the Summer Palace. Fortunately, this was postponed, and I didn’t have to visit this otherwise very interesting place, which I had visited several times before. Instead, I was able to drive straight to Jianguo Hotel, an excellent hotel in the city centre.
Peter Fredberg had challenged us to a short afternoon run, which would also frame an article in the tabloid BT. Only three of us took up the challenge, however. We went by taxi to the Forbidden City, where Peter took some pictures of us running. When he had taken the pictures, we ran around the Forbidden City for a while and then returned to the hotel.
New route
The next couple of days followed the usual routine, including the long trip on the run area, where we attended an information meeting, walked along the Wall and some of the route.
The route was changed after the debut year and was not changed again for the next three years. But now the time for a change had come. This was not because the organisers wanted it, but since we were last here, the vagaries of nature had changed the course. Negotiating one of the areas we previously had been able to run would have required a boat or kayak now.
We had previously run from Xiying Town up to Zhong Ying Village and from there onto a loop in a south-westerly direction towards Beijing, through some small villages, and then in a northerly direction towards Yin and Yang Square. This was no longer possible, however, and a new route had to be marked up.
The first time the route had been changed, they decided on an even more demanding one than the original. This strategy was also chosen on this occasion, so in future we would be even more aware of the fact that this was the world’s toughest marathon.
From Xiying Town, the route headed north-west. A short distance before reaching the half-way mark, we were to run up a mountain track for a couple of kilometres. At the top of this stretch, we would pass through Qingshanling Village, where our chips would also be checked. From here, we would continue round and down the mountain track on the other side until we were back at the foot of the mountain where we had started out five kilometres previously. From here the route would take us through Chedaoyu Village to the larger, familiar Duanzhuang Village. From here, we were now on the same route as the previous years on the way to Yin and Yang Square. The route has been the same for the last ten years.
Bitterly cold
This year, the big day was on 22nd May, and in keeping with tradition we had to get up early to make the long bus trip to the run. It was a bit cold when we arrived, so I was pleased I had a jersey with me. Thomas told me that a few hours earlier, before they had started preparations, the temperature had been around zero and the wind icy.
The trio became a duo
As it had now become a tradition, also this year, a joint photo was taken of Peter, Søren and me – the only people to be there for the fifth time. However, Søren’s statistics were somewhat amputated, because he had to make do with a half marathon this time due to an injury. This caused Peter to exclaim: “Bloody hell, Søren, the sissies’ race?” A few years later that remark would hit him like a boomerang.
A race by the book
The race itself developed more or less as expected. On the new ascent halfway into the race, I decided to walk and simply enjoy the view. On my way, up a girl came towards me and gave me a bouquet of wild flowers, which I put in my running belt and had with me right until the finish, by which time they were so miserable that I had to get rid of them. When I reached the top of the new section, I got my legs working again and ran practically all the way down.
There is nothing particular to tell about the race. It went according to plan with the usual ups and downs until I crossed the line in style.
Five times, then you are something special
Crossing the line, on the other hand, was a fantastic experience. My entire group was sitting together waiting for me. I had reckoned on each of them taking a bus home after finishing, but they had decided to wait as a group, which was an extremely moving gesture.
Crossing the line at The Great Wall Marathon is always a special experience, but this time I really did feel how special it was to have completed the race every time. Dave announced to the crowd that I was one of only two runners ever to have done this five times. There was a roaring applause and both unknown and familiar people came over to congratulate me, and I was asked to be photographed with quite a few people. I did not of course see the winner crossing the line, although I have difficulty imagining him attracting as much attention. I was now in no doubt that the following year would be The Great Wall Marathon Part VI.
No hat-trick
I was anxious to hear whether the local man, Zhi Jixiang, would win for the third time in a row. After his victory in 2002, he had proclaimed that he would return to run as long as the race existed. He did not, however return, nor has he done since. Zhi Jixiang is, however, the only runner ever to have won twice. This year’s winner was the Austrian Josef Miesraher with a time of 3:38:35. My time was 7:16:04.
An outburst of exhaustion
Two brothers from the Netherlands came in 10th and 11th, one of them almost dragging the other across the line. It later turned out that one brother had suffered a fatigue fracture in his shin. Apart from this incident, the day had been comparatively quiet for the doctors and nurses. Two runners dehydrated and needed to go onto drips. Otherwise, there were only a dozen or so minor injuries such as grazes, sprains and blisters.
Back to Beijing as a group
Luckily, our own fantastic driver was still in Huangyaguan, and our guide, Ida, had hired him to drive the group back to Beijing. It was really nice to be with my own group on the way home. This had never happened before.
We met up again at the hotel’s pavement cafe that evening, where we drank delicious draught beer and had a wonderful chat. After that, we went on to a good restaurant, which Ida had found. We enjoyed a rather special delicious Chinese fondue. A delightful day came to an end soon afterwards.
Alternative entertainment
We spent the Sunday relaxing and wandering around town with others from the group. In a pedestrian precinct, we had rather an odd experience, when a father with a son about two years old went completely berserk in the foyer of a department store. He shouted and screamed at one of the department store’s female staff. She responded by throwing something in his face, whereupon the boy started screaming. Experiences can take many different shapes and forms.
Gala party with a gift
The evening gala party was in keeping with tradition, with dinner afterwards, and during the presentation of prizes, Peter and I were called to the rostrum to receive a jersey each bearing the race logo.
A lot of shopping
In the years during the middle of the first decade of the millennium I had a long shopping list with me when I was in China. Family and friends, but also remote acquaintances, would ask me to buy various things for them. Of course, I was willing to help, but things gradually got a bit out of hand. This time, I certainly should have been better at saying no. The thing was that the task had gradually become more and more time-consuming, and meant that I missed out on trips, which, apart from the run, should have been a relaxing pleasure.
I spent a lot of time visiting markets, finding various things and haggling over prices, and it took extra-long before the chains of pearls were put together with the right closure. I had a long shopping list, from which articles were crossed off as I went along, and it was a great relief when I had bought everything on it. Until then, I could not relax.
This Monday morning after the run, I was out shopping at the silk market. I went along with two fellow travellers, who wanted to make the most of my experience when it came to finding the right price.
After lunch, I visited various places in Beijing with the group. I had visited all of them previously, but chose all the same to enjoy the company of the others in the group.
A rainy day
On Tuesday, there was again a full schedule for the group, and once again it was all a repeat for me. For this reason, I chose to stay at the hotel, so that I could relax and do my packing in peace and quiet. It was a very fortunate choice.
It was a cold day, and later in the morning the wind began to blow. Later it got even worse, so the group came home from the Forbidden City dripping wet and frozen stiff.
On the last evening, we enjoyed Peking duck together followed by beer at the pavement restaurant, by which time the weather was fine again.
Excess baggage
The journey home on 26th May went very well apart from a single challenge. I had done a lot of shopping, both for myself and others, and furthermore, I was particularly bad at prioritising, during that particular period, when it came to what I should have with me on the outward journey. As a result, I had a lot of excess baggage. At that time, the Chinese airport personnel were not terribly strict about excess baggage, so I didn’t have to pay more. On the other hand, all these extra kilos were heavy and difficult to handle, particularly on the leg of the journey home by train from Copenhagen Airport.
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