Chang Cheng Ma La Song [ The Great Wall Marathon]

I have a couple of friends in LA that are some of the more successful entrepreneurs that I personally know. The thing that they both have in common is that both of them barely made it through high school and never went to college. On separate occasions both have mentioned that they believe that they are successful because they were just too dumb and stubborn to fail. The reason I bring that up is because I just ran the Chang Cheng Ma La Song (The Great Wall Marathon) and was just way too dumb to know what I was signing up for.

I figured, “I’m in OK shape…I’ve done a couple of 10ks in my life. What’s a couple of more 10ks strung along together”. So I took this IIB “Ignorance Is Bliss” training regiment to Beijing. The night before the race we have this big “Carbo-load” Pasta Dinner with other runners and I met this really nice Australian guy Sam. Well Sam and his girlfriend just got back from the race pre-inspection (what!!! there’s a race pre-inspection! – this was consistent with my IIB training) and was telling me that maybe that was a good thing that I did not see the section of the Wall that we were going to run. Evidently it was hellish and would have scared the bejeezus out of a novice like me. Sam then proceeded to ask how many Marathons that I’ve run before. I smile and sheepishly say that this will be my first. He looks at me…was about to say “WTF”…he stops himself and gingerly smiles and says ...”ummm…you’ll be fine”. Did I mention that Sam is an animal? He just finished both the Boston and New York Marathons and to fast forward to tomorrow’s race, Sam came in 8th in the Great Wall Marathon. Needless to say, I had no idea what I was about to do.

Race day…the bus pulls up and I see this section of the wall that literally goes vertical about 500 feet (That’s a 50 story high rise building) and I joking say to Jerome one of the guys that ran it last year, “hey I guess this is where we start”. Jerome looks at me laughs and says “no, this is where we start and finish”!!!

Well…I ran the race… I finished the race (somewhat within the time frame that I set for myself)….it was one of the most amazing experiences that I’ve had to date….it was one of the more difficult experiences that I’ve had to date. The Wall was rough. 4000 steps climb and to do that after your legs are cramping and feel like jelly at the 20 mile mark was tough. Running through the local villages, farmland and country side of rural China was beautiful. Crossing that finish line with the wife waiting with a beer and a subway sandwich was absolute Heaven.

I think everyone should use the IIB training method in life…..