The Great Wall 1/2 Marathon...Inspection Day

After a good night's sleep, we got down to the lobby at 6:30am to find about 50 other people ready board the bus with us. One thing I quickly observed was that these people looked like they were ready to run that day.  Because I knew that we were able and encouraged to take lots of photos, I dressed that part.  I also knew that we were only on the Wall for about an hour, so I wore my very comfortable Keen's...I was the only one without sneakers on:) I definitely started to second guess my apparel. We realized that the restaurant was open for our free breakfast, and since we hadn't eaten anything, we decided to run in and get a piece of fruit.  We weren't exactly sure what we were in for today, but at the least we had a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to the wall.  Sure enough, when we got back out, the lobby was empty.  Somebody pointed when they had gone...there was construction at the lobby entrance, so the group's buses were at the side entrance.  We had no problem catching up to the bus, but when they were collecting our name to get on, we found out we were not part of the group.  The woman directed us to a gentleman in the know, who pointed to another bus, blue and yellow, that we should get on.  As we were walking towards the bus, it started to drive off!  We started running after the bus, and before it got out of the parking lot, another attendant stopped it for us, and promptly yelled at us for being late.  Yep, good start!  Then it was the walk of shame to the back of the bus...but at least we made it on.  And all the way there I was hoping we were on the right bus with the right group:)

On the bus, we started talking to three other people who were there together...two American expats living in Shanghai, and the women's friend from Indiana.  I noticed that they had the same paperwork, which gave me a sense of relief that we were in the right group. What caused me some anxiety was that they had their race packets. We thought we were picking up race packets at inspection day.  As we read a little more carefully, it turns out that we needed to pick up the packets at their office in Beijing.  Our new friends were able to have theirs sent to them since they lived in China.

When we got to the Wall, we were ushered to Ying Yang Square...this was the starting and finish lines, and where all the runners were gathering for Inspection Day.  As we got closer to the Square, there were Wall officials who were collecting tickets.  Apparently, in your race packet are tickets to Inspection Day.  Andy and I were grouped with three other people who were in the same boat.  One of these young ladies (I think she was a Texas college student, and Asian) started arguing with the officials that they needed to let us in. We did have paperwork to prove we were runners...but these officials were not buying it...these were the rules...we needed tickets or we weren't getting in. Finally, a race official came over and vouched for us, and we were allowed to pass.  But we had a little laugh about this and called ourselves the "Undocumented Five."

After getting into the Square and waiting for about an hour as all the buses arrived, one of the coordinators went over all the rules and regulations.  There were timing rules and even an opportunity to change your race after inspecting the wall.  This was actually quite informative, and Andy and I were feeling better about making the effort to go to Inspection Day.

When he was done, all the runners boarded their buses, and were driven the 5K hill (that we will be running in the race) to the point where we will be entering the Wall.  Then we walked/hiked the 4K portion on the Wall back to the Square. WOW!  I'm not sure if this increased or decreased my anxiety about this race.  When we visited the Wall about 18 months prior with our kids, the Wall was a lot of stairs, but it was doable (plus, we got to ride down in a toboggan).  The portion of the Wall we would be "running" in the race was crazy...complete with lots of different size stairs, areas we would need to be single file, and places we would need to use a handrail.  But, I will say, we had an incredible day and all of the "scary"stuff could not take away from enjoying the incredible scenery. We took a ton of pictures, and we were so thankful for gorgeous, sunny, 85 degree weather (with very little humidity).

Instructions from the director in Ying and Yang Square 

Just remarkable surroundings in gorgeous weather!

Enjoying the beauty

We made it to the beginning:)

A few stairs

Single file and a hand rail for good reason!

Shade!!!

We can see the Square!

We got back to the Square to find Subway waiting for us.  I did survive quite well in my sandals...but Andy and I were drenched in sweat since we chose not to leave our back packs on the bus.  All in all, it was a great experience, and at least we were more informed of what kind of race this would be.

The drive back to the hotel was a bit longer (3 1/2 hours) because of traffic.  I was able to sleep a little bit, and Andy listened to a work call.  We got back to the hotel, showered and changed, and then met a group of Andy's work associates for dinner.  We were exhausted by the end of the day and had no problem going to sleep.