The familiar sound of my email alert caught my ears in the ground hog day style while I was working. Almost all of my emails are with regards to work but this email was to start me on one incredible journey of a life time. The email was from Anna (my girlfriend) and was headed “China half ironman”.  Anna had decided that she wanted to do the Half Ironman, now renamed Ironman 70.3, in Beijing China May 2011. It was July 2010 and we were getting organised for Ironman 70.3 in Phuket Thailand in November. Anna was training and I was just starting out as a beginner runner.  The email alert sounded once again and it was Anna once again but this time the email was headed Great Wall of China Marathon and the marathon was on the day before the ironman 70.3  As soon as I seen it I knew that was it I was locked in. Two things I have always wanted to do, see the Great Wall of China and run a Marathon. Perfect combine the two and I would do the marathon and then watch Anna do the Ironman 70.3.

 

Time passed, my running slowly progressed and the marathon was pushed to the back of my head as work, day to day living and Thailand were ahead. Thailand came and Anna asked if I could do the run leg for her as she had injured her foot in the Gold coast ironman 70.3 and I agreed. My running had progressed to 14km and I was worried about the 21.2km I had to complete for the half marathon leg. We entered as a team and we completed the race and had a great time.  A phone call at the end of the holiday crushed me with the news of my Mum passing away suddenly and I rushed back to Scotland. Over a month back home and I decided to run the Great Wall of China Marathon in the name of my Mum. I tried to run a few times while in Scotland but it wasn’t really happening and managed only a few runs around the 2-5km mark and one 10km run the last few days before I left to come back to Australia. 

 

On arrival in Australia the Brisbane floods decided to take full effect and within one day of getting home I was no sooner given a time line of 7hrs to grab as many belongings as possible before we had to evacuate our house. Running was once again on the back list of this to get done while we took up temporary residency in Cath and Dan’s house from Vision Tri club. As the days rolled by I got out for one 5-6km run with Anna until we were allowed back into our flooded house to assess the damage. The highlight of this stressful time was finding my Garmin running watch. While opening the flooded new bed side cabinets I became the happiest man in Brisbane that day, although the whole house was trashed. A rush of excitement took over because my watch still worked.  We moved again to Michael’s house, a very kind Vision Tri club athlete and now a great friend for a few months where the realisation that May’s marathon date was coming quickly and my training hadn’t really started. That night was the turning point and I went out for a 16km run around the rolling roads of Mt Gravatt, which is a bit much for no running really. It felt good and no muscle pain the days to follow. Right time to get serious and I contacted a good friend and tri coach Mark Smoothy. I explained the situation and we sat down and came up with a running program. The program was perfect timing as I had just had enough weeks to get the distance and taper in for the start of the marathon. 

 

Training started with four runs a week, staggered with rest days in between. Looking down the program at the amount of running that I would be doing towards the end of the program was a bit of an eye opener. I enjoyed finishing work, sliding my running trainers on, grabbing my watch and getting out for the training runs every second night. The runs progressed and I was feeling stronger and fitter than I had in years.

 

Running on your own is great and self discipline has never been a problem but it is also great to run in a group and I started going out with a small group on Saturday mornings that Mark organised. These runs were great, tough, very tough but for a marathon like the Great wall you are advised to train 20% than you would for a normal marathon. Being my first marathon a lot of people thought I was mad picking one of the hardest. I had nothing to compare the Great wall marathon against and all I knew was any marathon was meant to be hard so why not this one. Nothing was going to stop me doing it because I wanted to do it for my Mum. 

 

Training progressed and I loved running the hills it seemed to come more naturally than speed work. The speed progressed with the aid of tempo runs and speed sessions and it was great running until one Saturday morning were I arrived a few mins late for the group and they had set off. I decided to run myself and after about an hour of trail running I came to a cross road between a fire trail and a single track. I remembered briefly previously running down the single track but decided to take the sensible decision and take the fire road. Running the fire road I quickly came to a very steep decent, which lasted between 2-300 metres. It was so steep I ended up zig zagging down the face wondering why I just didn’t take the single track. I carried on running and eventually passed the running group and caught up with them on the way back to the car park. We had a quick chat and a laugh before we left on our separate ways.

 

The next day I could hardly move my right knee without sharp pain and the alarm bells started ringing in my head about running downhills. The pain progressed but would often come and go so I booked in to get it checked. The tendon had been over stressed with the amount of running, heavy braking and zig zagging while descending. Two weeks off running and then test time, 5km on Saturday morning. Excellent it held up and no pain. The next day I decided to really check it and ran 10km, perfect I was back and had learned a huge lesson. 

 

Training progressed and before I knew it I was near the end of the program. The actual point when I first got it and had the eye opener at the amount of distance I had to run. Everything was going perfect and on plan until the very last big weekends before taper began.  I had missed the big Thursday tempo run and decided to play catch up and do the run on Friday instead. A novice mistake, which I would pay for in the coming weeks. Injury prevention was a huge thing for me from the very start of running. I decided at the very start that I would see a podiatrist to get the correct trainers, see a physio to get my body checked and work out, which exercises and stretches were best to do for running and by-weekly full body massage, which would progress to weekly the closer to completing the running program I got. The stretching was part of the plan and I would spend a long time making sure I carried out all the correct stretches.  

 

I checked out some of the reviews people had written about completing the marathon and it really got me thinking. One person wrote “I normally finish a marathon in under 4hrs but the Great Wall cut off time is 8hrs, It took well over 6.5hrs and the hardest thing I have ever done”  Many more stories similar popped up and I began to convince myself that doing the Thursday long tempo run on the Friday was a good idea. After completing the substituted run on Friday I got ready for the big Saturday run. 2hours 50 mins up and down Mt Cootha. I finished the run and apart from feeling a bit heavy in the legs I was pretty happy. Back to the usual routine of stretching and icing before Sunday’s follow up big run. This time I went out with Anna and Laura her sister for a flat run around our neighbourhood. I remember saying to them how surprised how good my legs felt after such a huge weekend. Laura pulled off at 1hour and a great run for her, Anna pulled off at 1.5hrs and a great run for her and I just had a further 20mins to run to complete the 1hr 50mins. On the last 5 mins of the run I felt a twinge at the rear of my left leg. I backed off a bit and made it home to go through the usual post run routine.

 

 

The next day was I was in severe pain and nothing I had felt before. Joint and sharp shooting pain when I rotated my hip. I booked in to see Tony at Allsports physio in Jindalee and we went through the tests and some physio magic. I asked Tony if it would be ok to run on Thursday as I had a tempo run but it was advised to go for a walk first and just see how my body was. Thursday came and I slid on my trainers and grabbed my watch. My legs didn’t feel their normal ready to run feeling but I went out anyway. I walked for approx 800 meters and then started jogging. 20 metres later and pop a sharp pain stopped me dead in my trails. I knew something was drastically wrong and I hobbled back to my house.  Three weeks to go before I flew out to China and I had cooked my legs. I knew that this was something that could take a few weeks to recover from but the timing was playing on my mind.

 

A trip to a skeletal muscle and tendon specialist and then back to see Tony who diagnosed at torn Soleus muscle in my left calf. A week off my feet, leg elevated, icing, compression bandage and Voltaren was the call. If I couldn’t walk without a limp by the middle of the next week the cold truth that completing the marathon was over and running it for my Mum wouldn’t be possible all because of my inexperience. I now began to wonder maybe everybody was right and I should have picked a different marathon for my first.

 

Deep in my mind I was still adamant that I was going to China to complete the marathon but quickly had to forget about the training and concentrate on repairing my calf. The decision was made and I was going to do everything I could to get running. The appointment to a skeletal, muscle and tendon specialist gave me a 10% change of doing the marathon and completing it but after the consultation with my physio Tony it was clear there was no point in percentages as the body is a complex thing and all we can do is come up with a rehab plan when implement it and let the body heal. I went one stage further and made sure that I was eating the correct amount of protein and hydrated properly to give my body the fuel to repair.

 

The Wednesday limp test came and I hobbled up to the physio. The limp hadn’t completely gone but we stuck to the plan and then brought in some light exercise and stretching. Test time for walking and a light jog for a few metres and the calf failed straight back to the start again. Not only had the limp not gone away but the test had failed and I has now closer to start date. Everybody was saying that I was mad thinking I could run 42km and climb over 5100 steps varying in height if I couldn’t walk with only two weeks to go. The hard truth started sinking in but I would still do whatever it took and continue on so I could get to the start. I felt like part of the furniture at Tony’s business and often joked asking for a job there as I began to get to know the other staff. I progressed through the weeks of physio and the test was the Sunday the week before I flew out. The test was to walk 2km, jog 1km, walk 1km, walk 1km, jog 1km and finish with a 1km walk back to my house. The big day and I was nervous real nervous. I went for a hot shower to warm my legs muscles and then walked the 2km’s. I could feel my heart beat as it took my first step into the jog and then suddenly realised that the pain was still there. 500m into the jog and my calf seized up. I decided to push through and jog the 1km thinking if I can’t jog 1km how could I possibly do the marathon. I then walked 1km and started to jog another 1km. 10 metres into the jog and my calf gave way again.  

 

That night was routine again and back to see Tony. He asked how the test went and I explained what happened. We continued on with the physio but I think if we were honest both of us began to think the marathon was truly not possible I had organised with Anna that we would catch up in China and have a holiday instead and seeing the Great wall would be great regardless. Anna had to fly back to the UK because her grandad has just passed away so we would only have a few days in China together if she could get a Chinese visa in time. 

 

The days leading up to the flight were as normal and physio was top of the important list. On the last day of physio I walked into the building and surprised Tony when I said with excitement “check this out” and bent both knees and then straightened both legs with no pain. Tony treated me with surprise and I shook his hand and thanked him for all the work he had done. I prepared for completing the marathon with the all the running gear and nutrition I needed. I thought if I get to see the wall that would be great and getting to the start line that would amazing. If I got there and my calf was still pain free, I was going to start and if my calf popped then I had done everything I could and I would be back the next year smarter and stronger for my Mum.

 

The flight over to China was entertaining mostly because of the old Chinese man sitting in the seat next to me. Due to my strong Scottish accent some people find it difficult understanding me. The old Chinese man and myself could communicate no problem and neither spook each other’s language, which begs the question is it only Australians that constantly say “what” after I have spoken. I had a flight transfer in Hong Kong before arriving in Beijing and was pretty excited about being in China as I have only been in the international airports. Beijing has a population of approx 19 million people, which in comparison is almost the same as the whole of Australia and four times the amount of people in Scotland. This is quite apparent with high rise building after high rise pretty much right next to one another. The roads are also designed to accommodate for this vast amount of people with sometimes six lane traffic passing each way in the city centre.

 

The transfer bus dropped all the runners at their pre-organised hotels and I was happy to get some sleep. The schedule was to stay overnight in the hotel and leave at 5:30am the next day to drive two hours to the Great Wall where the race would be held. The bus journey gave me the opportunity to see the Beijing city before seeing the vast difference the countryside had to offer. You could feel the excitement in the bus as we approached the Great Wall. I for one was amazed by the Wall. Some people may say it’s just a wall but when you see the wall for the first time it really is a spectacle. The way in which the wall follows the steep contours of the hills and the detail that has went into it is what is really unbelievable. Two thousand years and approximately six thousand kilometres all hand built unfortunately now at different levels of erosion. Generations and generations of family’s that carried every stone up through the hills and died making the wall to what stands today is something that no country in our time would contemplate such a task. Standing there marvelling at this wall was something that I have wanted to do since I was a kid and it didn’t disappoint.

We arrived in Yin Yang square for the marathon introduction and to carry out the pre inspection walk of the wall. I really was surprise to see the amount of runners in the square as the event organisers talked us through what each group would be doing on the big day. There were two thousand runners split between the 5km, 10km, half marathon and marathon runners. To my amazement there were only approximately 500 runners running the marathon. We were told that the pre-inspection of the wall must be completed by all the runners regardless of the distance we were running as this was the last day you could change the race distance you had entered. We left Yin Yang square and headed to the vast number of tour busses were everybody filtered and then we were back on the road being driven up the 5km climb that we would run to the entry of the wall. As we wound through the steep corners an American man sitting beside me expressed his concerns about this 5km climb because he hadn’t done any hill work in his training. My thoughts moved to the wall after the climb but there was no point in mentioning it because we were about to arrive to see for ourselves within the few seconds that followed. The bus emptied and I got off the bus and straight away starting to walk uphill. The entrance to the wall is marked with assign that states “Entrance to the Great Wall”.

  

At this point I was excited and the steps were large and very uneven. After walking up the steps for a few hundred metres this is where you get on the actual wall. Climbing steep narrow steps to get onto the wall was quickly forgotten by the buzz that surrounded. With over 2000 people on this section of wall the clicking of camera’s was constant. A fellow Scotsman was kind enough to take a picture of me with the wall snaking off in the distance.

 

 

We said our good luck to each other and I started walking. The next five km was an eye opener. I lost count of the amount of times we climbed and descended hundreds of steps varying in size from two inches to three feet in height and different widths apart. Climbing was one thing but descending was another. The conversation between the competitors quickly became focused on the size of the steps and vast amount. I was still worried about my calf as it was getting one extreme workout so I began to change the way I descended only to find my right thigh getting burned out. Quickly deciding to use alternate feet for descending was made so to spread the load and this would sure test my calf. Three weeks without a run and then straight into an extreme walk covering over 2500 steps got me wondering if it was just my legs that were shaking. Speaking to a seven time marathon finisher put my mind at rest when she confirmed her thighs were shaking while going down the steps as well. Following the forever changing lines of the wall gave not only some epic views but an amazing array of colours. It looked like a moving multi coloured carpet flowing over the wall as the competitors ahead moved forward.

 

We ended the walk with a huge steep descent into Yin Yang square called the goat track then a quick bite to eat. Skipping that lunch would have been a bad idea considering my thigh muscles were screaming for refuelling. Conversation was all about the wall and I noticed a few people at the tent to officially change the race distance either up or down only they know. For me I was ecstatic I had just walked the wall climbed and descended over 2500 steps and my calf was still holding. I was going to be on the start line in two days and that was final. Back to the tour buses and off to the hotel, this time only approx 30mins away from the wall. The hotel was 4 star on paper and would have been exceptional in the 1980’s. The lack of English speaking staff confirmed that Western people weren’t very common on this part of China. Stretching, dinner and bed were the things on my mind. I woke up quite stiff and made my way to breakfast. This was my day of rest. To be honest my thoughts were on Anna and making sure we could see each other. 

 

Anna had been on a mission just to make it to China and still had to make her way out to Jixian, where we were staying. I got up super early because she was landing at 1am and tried to get access to a computer. No such luck until a little later. At 3:30am I convinced a staff member to open the computer room, which is only opened at 7:30am. Pictionary techniques were used because neither of us could understand what the other was trying to say.  It ended up being quite funny at times as I thought to myself I wish I could either download Chinese into my brain or had practised Pictionary a lot more. Anna and I had decided to communicate via facebook and it never dawned on me to see if facebook actually worked in China. After over one hour and staring a screen in Chinese and clicking buttons for a while, it became apparent that Facebook was banned. I thought if this was the case then I would have to get in contact some other way. Texting didn’t seem to work and then bingo, contact.  Anna had managed to get on a bus from Beijing. A few hours later a taxi turned up outside the hotel and sitting inside was Anna. I paid the taxi driver and then gave Anna a kiss before making our way to my room. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and then going for a short walk around the local shops before the pasta dinner.  

 

Pasta dinner is known for carbohydrate loading the night before the marathon so every athlete is keen to have a large meal.  It started at 6pm and we made it down for 6:15pm for a surprise. No more pasta, well I got the last remaining strands onto my plate. A queue for runners gathered behind waiting for pasta that never arrived. As I mentioned the carb loading is really important and there were a few runners who started complaining. The staff brought out a small amount of noodles, which I quickly dived into. I know that this was the all inclusive 4 star package but it really is the athletes responsibility to look after his or hers nutrition. I met a lady from New Zealand who had went one stage further and had specially made food that the army uses because  the last thing you want is a stomach upset before the big day. That night we slept in separate beds so Anna could actually get some catch up sleep and I hopefully would get some quality sleep as well. Unfortunately I didn’t go to sleep as fast as Anna and I lay awake for a few seconds before having a game of Tetris on my phone. The time passed and I moving around with excitement as I approached my maximum score. I smashed my top score and could not believe it but I really had to get some sleep, so content with a new high score I drifted off to sleep.

 

Beep beep beep and I dragged myself out of bed knowing that it was 3:30 in the morning, what I call international fight time. Such a time that should only be seen if you have to catch an international flight.  I had everything pre organised so I just had to do the Wallace routine of getting dressed from the Wallace and Grommit animation movie. I had written down what to eat for breakfast and when to make life easy and when on the bus to Yin Jang square for the race. 

 

 

The morning was very cold so after a toilet break with the men’s queue almost 30 metres long the tracksuit was quickly put on to remove the excessive amount of goose pimples that had popped up on my body. Walking into Yin Yang square and there were people everywhere and it felt like a very different place from two days ago. I must have gone to the toilet about 4 times before the opening presentations, warm up and then queuing at the start line. I had a rush of excitement as the first group of runners started the race.   I was in corral 2 (second start) because I had never completed a marathon before and happy to be there. We were scheduled to leave 15mins after corral 1 but were held back because the 5km leader just entered Yin Jang square. She crossed the finish line and we all clapped and cheered. Next it was us and we started too walked before leaving the square turning right onto the road.

 

 

I was surrounded by a group of American guys to the right of me and South African’s to my left. I had got to know the South African’s quite well as we were on the same group bus and stayed at the same hotels. A great bunch of people with their hearts deeply into running. The American guys were a carbon copy of what you think of when watching the movie American pie. The guys to right of me had a sweat band around his fore head and kept on shouting  “yeah pumped, I am pumped man” Yeah come on bring it on” I thought this was great so many different people all pumped and ready to dive into unknown. To be honest I had to hold back from bursting out laughing at the American, internally I was rolling around on the ground. I looked down at my heart rate monitor and it was showing 110bpm and I was standing still, a testimony to what excitement can do to your heart rate.

 

All the training, uphills, backup runs, tempo runs, sprint work and an extreme amount of physio all came down to the next ten seconds. I had decided back in Australia that the injury was just part of the marathon and treated it just like the training. The race on the day is the reward for all the hard work and the icing on the cake for me. The marathon started for me three week earlier when it could have been easy to just call it a day and plan for the following year. It was a pleasure being part of the 500 marathon runners and being surrounded by the hundreds of 10km and half marathon runners. I thought of my Mum and wished she could have been there to see the start. A moment of faith into the unknown, in more ways than one. Would my calf hold the first few steps, would it be ok up the first 5km climb 0.8km out of Yin Jang square, would it hold over the great wall. The sea of runners moved forward and I kept an eye out for Anna, then I heard “Jimmy” from above and Anna was on the wall above the exit from the square.

 

 

 

A quick wave and we exited the square and onto the road. This was it, no more questions, no more training, no more physio the time was now and I pushed the start button on my Garmin running watch.  Time froze still for a millisecond, the crowds went silent and everything zoomed in on that first step. I sprung off the back foot and within a heartbeat I was back with the crowd following through with a second stride. It was great, three weeks hardly being able to walk and here I was running. I remember thinking to myself I am going to enjoy every step. We ran for 0.8km down before turning left and up a 4.5km ascent on a mountain asphalt road with a gradient of up to 10% before getting to the wall. I checked my watched and looked at my pace, I was running at 5min pace so quickly put the brakes on to a slower pace and noticed runners passing me as if I was standing still. I didn’t want to make the mistake of burning out in the early stages. A kiwi couple running the half marathon, which I had got to know ran up beside me and we had chat.

 

At this early stage 2km into the ascent there were runners already walking, a few I recognised who passed me on the start straight. Next the entry to the wall and I decided not to run any steps, walking everyone because it was early and I really was enjoying it. Steps, steps, steps this is the wall. Over the wall consisted of climbing steps then through the towers and then back on the steps to descend them. I must stress that it is important to be careful when descending the steps. At points you almost think that you are being hypnotised by the vast number one after another. Tower after tower and eventually I was at the top of the goat track. Super steep and large steps continued until broken by a dirt single track and then back to more steps. I bumped into a runner while one the last set of stairs and had some jokes, she said it was good to a laugh after what we had done and said she hoped I would be in such good spirits the second time we were going to hit the wall. Excellent over 2500 steps completed and my calf was still holding together. Before entering Yin Yang square we had to run around the fort and I spotted Anna with her camera. I waved then gave her a kiss while still running and then passed through the square for the second time before heading out on the road again.

 

 

 

This time continuing passed the left turn of the asphalt climb through onto a gravel road and into the small villages. At this point I bumped into a runner and they explained the Chinese sign for the male toilet. I had been taken my nutrition as per plan and needed to go to the toilet. With a stroke of luck I looked around and asked if the sign to the right was just as described. I was in luck and what a relief. Back on the road again and it seemed that it was village after village. The locals would be out watching and would often say hello or “Ni hao” (Chinese for hello)  some of the children would stand in a row wanting high fives and saying hello, while others handed out some wild flowers they had picked. I always stopped and give the kids some Jelly beans that I had for fuel. It was funny at one point a little boy must have been only two years old stood near his mother and just looked with a big smile. I stopped running and walked back to the little boy. I unzipped my fuel belt and pulled out a few jelly beans and put them into the boy’s small hand. His mother smiled with surprise as the boy’s face lit up. I waved good bye and carried on running. The km’s passed and then through another village. Another boy ran out grabbed my hand and started running with me. We ran for about 100 metres before I stopped and gave him some jelly beans. I wondered if there was going to be a jelly bean crises later on in the race but for now it seemed like the right thing to do.

 

I was still focused on taking nutrition at the correct time and there was still a large climb ahead after the villages starting at the 17km point. We passed through a total of four villages, Duanzhaun, Xiayin, Chedaoy and Qingshanlin with spectacular views of local rice and vegetable fields. Lake and mountains views were also on the run but it becomes at bit of a haze because you are just concentrating on the run. The road began to descend and it came as a surprise to be honest. I was that used to running flat or uphill at this point the descent seems to be a nice change. This is the point where I noticed I was beginning to overtake people that had passed by me earlier on two occasions where I stopped to mix my sports powder this the supplied bottled water. From that point on I just kept on overtaking people who had decided to walk or run walk.

 

The steady speed I was running was about being consistent and letting my calf have half a chance. The time when I did pick up the pace slightly produced a twing from the calf, which quickly brought the speed back to where it had been. My body dictated the pace and I was along for the ride. Running the marathon you learn a lot about yourself and your body. When everything is stripped bare these little warning signs are like a flashing red beacon and I paid attention. All of a sudden I spotted a course official up a head and she let me know that the next section to the right was very rocky and uneven until the next village. She was right and it was great fun. I was thinking of how good it would have been to ride my mountain bike down this track. The road was very uneven, full of rocks varying in size and an ankle strainer. I loved it, bouncing around from rock to rock when I caught up to two ladies’s who ended up being running partners. The lady at the rear was shouting to her friend had she had hurt her ankle, hated this terrain and why they were risking their ankles. Her running partner just kept on running as if she didn’t hear a thing. She tackled the terrain like a dancer on the dance floor. Smooth, quickly and right at home. We ran together until we came up to a pack of runners walking the section and I took the lead until we cleared the section and was back onto the tarmac where she quickly retook the lead. Through the last village and right onto the gravel straight followed by the road section into Yin Yan Square for the third time since starting the race. Running up the road slowly I passed more and more runners, two of, which decided to pick up the pace and then retook the lead. It took a few minutes before I caught them walking again and once again it was open road but gaining ground to the square. 

The dreaded 32km mark what I had read and been told about was something that was unknown to me. It is known as hitting the bonk or hitting the wall. Keeping an eye on the km’s and I passed the 32km and felt nothing like I had been lead to believe. From all the sport I have done I am grateful to have never experienced this feeling.  2km ahead I thought and we hit the steepest part of the course “the goat track” this time the opposite way and trying to defy gravity up over the steps. Running the last 2km into Yin Yang square you feel as if you are coming into the finish as there were spectators clapping and cheering me on. A left turn into the square,  a right turn up the stairs would position me on onto the fort wall were you have collect a wrist band, which tells the organisers that you have climbed over the wall for a second time on the finish line. At this point I spotted Anna again. She was at the entrance to the steps leading to the fort wall. She couldn’t believe I had run this distance and thought I would have had to pull out a long time ago. She asked how I was feeling and I said good apart from my legs were quite sore. As we ran along the fort wall Anna asked if I would like if she climbed the goat track with me. Of course I replied, so after a picture from the race photographer.

 

 

I collected the wrist band and we hit the Goat track now at the 34km point. Previous to the marathon I had thought about this 34km point and considered that the course designer was something of a sadist. To make runners climb this gradient and amount of steps as large as there are was testing. Testimony to the amount of respect this climb demands was proven by the amount of competitors who were completely exhausted and sitting on the steps with their head dropped into their hands. Anna and I expressed concern to a few runners but it was the same story and they were each in their own internal battle. Stopping was something that I decided not to do. If you stop, getting started again would be even harder. It doesn’t matter how fit you are if you are an Elite runner or a first time marathoner like me the Goat track takes no prisoners. Anna had said she had been helping the leaders and runners climbing the goat track and expressed that everybody struggled up the track. It was just one step at a time for me and although stopping was not an option I kept an eye on my heart. Hitting the wall in the 160’s bpm I watched it quickly climb into the 170’s and then straight into the 180’s known I was climbing straight to max heart rate I decided to reduce the effort slightly while climbing step by step.

Once at the top of the goat track it is easy to feel like you have conquered the hardest part and it was easy from here on in. This section from 34km to the finish needed it own race strategy because your mind begins to play games, telling you its only 8km to go and your almost finished. Distance wise you are almost finished but intensity wise there is still a long way to go. We climbed onto the wall and here were the South African runners.

 

 

I stopped and grabbed a photo before carrying on. At the top of the badly eroded wall section was a lady sitting down in a state of exhaustion. Both Anna and I immediately stopped and expressed our concerns. It is important to explain that over hydration is often more important than being dehydrated with more people dying from hypontremia (low sodium levels)  I was carrying salt tablets and asked the lady if she needed a tablet, she expressed that she was dehydrated and had just drank some water. Her position was straight into the sun and I mentioned about grabbing one of the locals watching from the wall to block the sun for her. Both Anna and I said goodbye after the lady confirmed she just needed a break. Back on it and tackling the great wall for the last time, up and down thousands of steps. I began to feel quite bad looking at Anna climbing the wall with her jacket tied at her waist, trousers on and backpack full with my tracksuit. I offered to Anna to carry the backpack and she thought I was crazy asking such a question. I explained that my legs were already stuffed and carrying the backpack wouldn’t be any difficult. Anna is a Half Ironman athlete so her ability to run with me was never in question but I still felt I had to offer. We scaled the wall until a photographer said to me that this was the last set of stairs and I joked saying “you better not be kidden” Unfortunately she lied, there were other climbs ahead and it thought she must have been sick of the runner expressions and by telling them this she would get a different reaction.

 

 

The official last set of stairs to climb and the photographer was fast to tell me. This time I joked with him saying that I would be back if it wasn’t. It was and we climbed off the wall and onto the stairs leading to the 5km road stretch ahead to the finishing line. We started running and the pace increased, which I was happy with. Now is the time where you think you have finished but there is still 5km to go. We started off and there was a runner behind approx 100m and we slowly pulled away and started to see runners ahead in the distance. Anna said it was the quietest she had ever seen me and it was. Stomach cramps had come on as soon as we hit the bitumen descent. For the next 5km we passed quite a few walkers and runners and the stomach cramps just intensified. Looking at my watch I kept on eye on the distance and began looking frequently now every kilometre and then there was 1km to go. We crossed the bridge followed by a right turn onto the road into the Yin Yang square for the last time. The spectators and supporters were clapping and shouting great job, which was great at that time. 

 

The last turn into the square and Anna and I ran in and I gave a last burst of speed left in my muscles to cross the finish line on the 7hr mark. I was given the finisher medal and a hug from the organiser and then a quick picture by the photographer before given Anna a kiss and a hug. 

   

 

Running the marathon you have plenty time to think and I thought about my Mum throughout and how I would have loved her to see me complete the marathon. I know she would have said be careful as she always was caring but I know she would have given me 100% support in anything I wanted to do. There were times when it could have been easy to stop when the going got tough but if there was one think that was certain and that was I was completing the 2011 Great Wall of China Marathon for my Mum.

 

 

 

A big thanks to all the people who helped me make this possible, Mark Smoothy for the training plan and Saturday runs, the runners on Saturday morning, Tony Ganter Allsports physio for treating me every day, my riding friends who knew I would be back on the bike eventually and Anna for the huge effort just to get to China, putting up with me through my hobbling around previous to the marathon and for running with me over a tough finish to the finish line.