Great wall Marathon: Race Day

Nerves As my group was called up to begin the race I was experiencing one of the most severe cases of nerves I’ve ever had. Looking around at the other athletes, my heart sank as I noticed the majority of them were running the half marathon rather than the full. I overheard an Aussie, built …

Training for the Great Wall part two

As I’ve got more confident I have branched out in my training not only with distance but diversity. My favourite run takes in the stark contrast between urban and rural China. My apartment is literally on the edge of the city, as within the space of 500 meters the bright lights, modern streets and posh …

Training for the Great Wall Marathon part one

Training in Ningbo has been pretty challenging. Preparing for a marathon is hard enough but the Great Wall Marathon poses more than 5000 steps of mountainous terrain in the dry (smoggy) outskirts of Beijing. Unfortunately, the coastal city of Ningbo offers almost zero opportunity for gradients training. On a clear day (when factories are closed …