Great Wall

Wow, what an intense week. Sorry for the lack of posts but we have been very busy and without Internet access.



First off, I completed the Great Wall Marathon on Saturday. For a variety of reasons it was a very emotional day.

The day started with getting up before 4 in the morning and driving to the Great Wall. During an opening ceremony there was a moment of silence for the victims of last week's devastating earthquake in central China and in a way the race was dedicated to them.

The marathon started at 7:30 with a run up a steep road leading to the wall. We then ran a section of the ancient wall before making our way down to run through the villages. By the time I returned to run the wall again I was feeling pretty good.

But not having eaten during the entire run caught up with me on the ascent back up the wall. Climbing nearly-vertical, knee-high steps after running 21 miles was absolutely brutal. And this is coming from someone who likes to run up Half Dome.


These steps were one of the biggest tests of my stamina ever. Grown men and women were literally crawling up them, people were throwing up, it was crazy. That was one of several moments when it felt more like an obstacle course than a marathon.

Throughout the race I received encouragement in many ways -- from little kids in the villages waving and saying "hello" to the intoxicating smell of blooming jasmine trees.

I was grateful I did a bulk of my training in a country as hilly as New Zealand. There were still a bunch of running-related challenges to overcome while traveling New Zealand, the main ones being making sure I ran often enough (which was sometimes difficult due to our busy travel schedule) and making sure I ran long enough (which involved converting kilometers to miles, and I'm not a math person).


In the end, I crossed the finish line -- which was on a giant yin yang -- after 4 hours, 43 minutes and 43 seconds. Maybe a new lucky number?



I have with us a travel-size "Encyclopedia of World History" that says the Great Wall was built between 214-204 BC across China's northern border to keep out the hostile Huns. It was more than 1,400 miles long and wide enough for chariots to pass along.

Thousands of peasants worked on the wall and if their work was below standard they were killed. Convicted criminals were also used as a workforce.

Now back to the marathon: Two days before the race, runners visited the Great Wall with their friends and family so they could check it out before running it.


On the way to the wall we saw these camels (Amber and Ediza even got on one for a minute).


Hundreds of people from around the world ran the 9th annual Great Wall Marathon. There were also shorter runs, including a half marathon and 5K and 10K.

The group wearing red in the above photo were from a chocolate company based in Switzerland. They had people pledge them money and they raised enough to build two schools in Africa.

Money was also raised to help with the earthquake's aftermath. Today, the day we flew out, China began a three-day period of national mourning for the earthquake victims.

After what seemed like a never-ending flight from Beijing, we are now at the Amsterdam airport awaiting another flight to Athens. Amber and Ediza are passed out beside me.

Without their support I wouldn't have been able to complete the marathon. Thanks to everyone else, too, for their encouragement.

Ediza! (Part 3)

Here's a sampling of Ediza's Chinese adventures:


Everywhere we go Ediza is treated like a celebrity. People continue to crowd around her, give her gifts, want to hold her and take pictures of her (and us) with their cell phone cameras.



The other day some girls begged us to come up to their photography studio so Ediza could have a baby photo shoot. They dressed her in all kinds of outfits and had her play with things like rose petals and plastic balls. They plan to frame photos of her for their displays. Could this be the start of her modeling career?


A great baby climbing a Great Wall.


Amber and Ediza check out some colorful balloons at one of the Chinese markets we visited.

China

It was sad saying good-bye to New Zealand:( Penny took us to the airport Tuesday morning and pretty soon we were on our way to Hong Kong. After an exhausting 12-hour flight from Auckland we arrived in Hong Kong and spent the night before boarding another flight this morning to Beijing -- the capital of China.

We met up with the Great Wall Marathon tour group and were brought to our hotel in downtown Beijing. There's definitely an excitement here about Beijing hosting the upcoming Olympic games. The city has this thick layer of smog so I can't really imagine bringing the world's top athletes here to perform their best.

Hopefully the air will be cleaner at the rural town we head off to tomorrow. We look forward to learning more about Chinese culture during our stay there and also when we return back to Beijing.

One thing's for sure: Chinese people (both men and women) love Ediza. Maybe it's the blonde hair or the big brown eyes, but they all just can't get enough of her. When I was signing in today for the tour, I look over in the middle of the hotel lobby and there's this group of employees huddled around Ediza watching her every move. One of the women even gave Ediza her pearl bracelet (she's wearing it in the photo below).

Want more proof? When we went out to eat late this afternoon the waitress, on her own, brought Ediza some watermelon and a baby cake for dessert. We'll see what she gets tomorrow.