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“He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man.”
Mao Zedong
With the most accessible section located in Badaling, roughly 2 hours away from Beijing, the Great Wall of China was our Day 02 destination. Built by the first Emperor Chin to keep the northern invaders away from his unified empire, it spans across several provinces with an estimated length 6,400 kms.
The Badaling section of the Great Wall recieves an average of 62,000 visitors a day, this makes it impossible for a runner to run the Great Wall without having to weave his way around visitors posing to have their pictures taken. However, once a year, a portion of the Wall is closed for runners running The Great Wall Marathon. Runners have the option to run 5k, 10k, 21k or the full marathon. Running the Great Wall is no joke, it’s quite challenging, but with proper training, one can finish the race.
I was there not as a Great Wall Marathon participant (hopefully someday I will run it with T2 ), but as a tourist to appreciate the Wall’s 2000 year history.
Runner’s perspective…. Little to no flats, mostly uphills and downhills
45 Degree hill behind me
Hill Repeats anyone?
At the first watch tower…
At this point, we found it hard to take solo pics of ourselves… so we decided to have some fun and share our moments with random tourists…
It would be nice to run The Great Wall Marathon, but I don’t think I’m ready for that yet….
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Pwedeng saling pusa when you guys decide to run Great Wall? That race is on my must-run races too.
By the way, how do you like those DS-Trainers? Been thinking about that. Did it help to ease plantar?
Comment by Jaymie April 27, 2009 @ 11:11 amDS Trainers offer good stability. I’ve used it for distances between 5 to 21k without any problems. If your plantar fasciitis is caused by overpronation, then the DS Trainers should be alright for you. For distances greater than 21k, I recommend a heavier stability shoe like the Kayano. Note also that Planet Sports might only sell the men’s version of the DS Trainer, you have to check if they have the women’s version.
I’d love to run the Great Wall Marathon but maybe in the distant future pa
Comment by Mukhang Guilty April 27, 2009 @ 11:27 am