Just so you know, that means Buddy waited for me just in front of the finish line for something like 10 minutes. That act, and the "all we have to do is run" quote sums him up pretty well.
You might remember I was stressing about finishing within 25 minutes because I thought all runners were going to get picked up by the van after that but somehow that rule was not enforced. However the pick-up van did drive right alongside me for much of the route. Taunting me.
This race was my first and I had so much fun. I felt GREAT the whole time. Everyone was in a good mood, the runners smiled and waved and high-fived each other along the route. It was raining and we got soaked but that helped keep us cool while we were running.
Once we stopped running and our bodies cooled off, that soaking wet clothing was awful. And we had to take the subway back home so we shivered for a good hour.
Buddy thinks he's getting sick.
Here are a few observations from the race.
- The AQI was over 300 today, which is "hazardous". And yet there was no discussion of canceling the race.
- Is it strange that there was not even an attempt to record our time? I'm not sure the race officials even know I ran.
- All of the foreigners I saw were listening to music and almost none of the Chinese were.
- Did you know it's possible to run while holding an umbrella? Possible, yet oh so inadvisable.
- Getting up at 4:45am, getting the kids to Xin's sister by 5:45, and getting to the race venue by 7:00am was a mini-marathon of its own.
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10 comments:
Hey, I knew that Buddy person. He had your back.
He did. And you know how much that means to me. We all need someone who has our back. Best feeling in the world.
awesome mel! you guys rock. racing is exhilarating, and I think the best part is the encouragement from other runners. Same at the Great Wall Marathon last year, it was high fives and cheers all the way. It's a race (it was timed there, we had chips in our shoes that tracked us too) and people were still cheering. Too bad you had bad weather, yuck.
Excellent! Congrats on finishing the race and doing it in just half an hour. That aint no mean feat, girl!
Interesting how all the foreigners were listening to music but not the chinese... I find little things like that really fascinating. Cultures are the same on the big things - generally - it's them little quirky things that really set cultures apart, or so I think. :D
Thanks Dalton and Sarah! :)
Ya'll are so sweet...crossing the finish line hand in hand! I can just see it. Are all the couples in China like that, or are you an oddity there like you would be here?
Your post made me smile :) CONGRATS! And I'm so glad you felt good the entire time.
Thanks Ulyana! I did think of you during the race and how passionate you are about running. I wish we could have run together!
Jane I can't see your blogger profile but somehow I suspect you are Jane my cousin and not Jane my co-worker in Beijing. :) I think Buddy and I are an oddity no matter where we go. :)
Congratulations! I wish I could run a marathon, but my knees won't allow it.
Cute photo too! I guess the couple that runs together, stays together. ;-)
Jocelyn I'm afraid my knees and/or back are going to give out soon. I'm loving the running but I feel my joints slowly starting to ache...
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