Running the Great Wall: The Opportunity Of A Lifetime

By Hannah Murphy, Teacher in Beijing

After eight months in China, I have to say that this weekend will be my most memorable.

Myself, Justin and three other British teachers saw an advert to do a 5K run on the Great Wall and thought it was an opportunity not to be missed. Little did we know that it would end up being so much more than just a 5K run. We purchased VIP tickets for the weekend festival (700 kuai including transport to/from Beijing, ticket to music festival, ticket for run, pre/after party, ticket to water town) knowing very little about what this would entail, mostly due to very poor marketing. But this only made it all the more exciting, as it could only exceed my expectations.
A coach was ready for us in the centre of Beijing at 8pm on the Friday and we set off with mostly Chinese and European nationals to the Gubei Water Town in the Simatai section of the Great Wall. It was a two hour drive, meaning that we arrived in the dark. We were told that there was a ‘pre party’ for VIP’s, and so we dumped our bags at the hotel and strolled through the beautifully lit water town to our party destination. It was an intimate party in a small bar with a DJ playing house and dance music. Unintentionally, we stayed out dancing until 4am, knowing full well we had a 5K run to complete in just a few hours’ time.
We woke up at 10am in a lovely little Inn where we were served a traditional Chinese breakfast of cabbage and hard boiled eggs. Feeling a little rough from the night before, we went for another lay down before getting ready for our run. During winter and spring it does not rain in Beijing and so to our surprise it was a very dull, miserable and rainy day at the Great Wall. In hindsight, this was an absolute blessing, had the sun been beating down, I don’t think I would have completed the race!
We walked through the water town to find the start of the race. It was lovely to see this during the day time. The town was constructed in the style of traditional hutong alleys but was very new and very clean. Through it ran clean rivers and was like a little Venice. After a twenty minute walk, we found the beginning of the race just in time. I would say there were 50 people who started at the beginning, but people were coming all day long to complete it. A Chinese instructor gave us a quick warm up before the count down. 3,2,1 and we were off. The race started at the bottom of a very long hill and I immediately thought, “Oh no! I’m never going to be able to compete this!” I had to stop to walk a couple of times as it was too steep for me. But once at the top, it started to become easier, and the views were spectacular.
Parts of the race you were told to walk, due to the nature of the wall being dangerous. But for the majority, it was more than fine. Once you reached the wall, you really started to appreciate its beauty. Parts of it were covered in cloud and the green was luscious. People started to become separated and for parts of it I was running totally alone and it felt really quite surreal. The track was in a loop and so you were seeing other runners come in the opposite direction and you would give each other a friendly nod and thumbs up. I enjoyed the last section of the race the most as it was down the long hill that I originally had to climb. As I approached the finish line, I could see Justin and two other British friends shouting and cheering. At first I thought they were just cheering me on, but it turns out they were telling me to hurry up before my dear friend behind caught up. I turned around and saw him maybe 10metres behind me and sprinted to the finish line. It was close, but I beat him just in time!



I was thrilled! I have never been a runner and it was the first race I had ever competed in, and to say it was on the Great Wall is quite extraordinary! We were given a beautiful medal each, which were only available to the top 20 runners. Justin came 4th and I came 11th, which although not out of so many people I was still pretty happy with. So feeling refreshed yet exhausted from our run in the rain, we headed back to our Inn to prepare for the music festival and after party.
On the original posters for the event, Pendulum was advertised to be playing, but conveniently the day before, their name was taken off the headliner list. The music festival was in the water town in an outside auditorium. It was a mix of house and drum and bass music with a variety of DJ’s. It was a lot of fun as it was so different from anything we had done in China. Then day ticket holders made their way home at 11pm and VIP’s were escorted to an after party.

We arrived in a fancy looking building being told that men should go through one entrance and women through another. So our group split up thinking we would not see each other until the party was over. Little did we know we were actually being taken into a changing room. People were walking around in bikinis but as we were not given the memo, we failed to bring our swimming costumes. So we undressed into our undies and quickly wrapped a towel around us before being told to go upstairs. Suddenly, we were on an outside rooftop with a DJ playing chill out music and several hot pools all lit up in different colours. We saw the boys already relaxing in one. And then to top it off, there was free flowing champagne all night long.



As it was only for VIP ticket holders, it really did feel like an exclusive event, as the pool was not crowded with people. It was by far the fanciest after party I have ever been to. We even spent some time in the steam room and sauna to clear out our pores. The hot water also felt great for our tired legs from the run! At about 3am, I was exhausted and went for a little nap on some hot tiles wrapped up in my towel. At 5am, I was awoken to get ready for the coach back home. We departed at 6am and arrived into Beijing at 8am on Sunday morning. Although it was an early start, I was so grateful to get into bed after the busy weekend.
After reflecting on the weekend I can say with some confidence that it was my favourite in Beijing. It was full of surprises and was in a fairy-tale setting that I would not have had the chance to see otherwise as I had never even heard of this water town. I participated in my first race and attended my first VIP pre and after party. I would recommend this event for any teachers coming to Beijing and maybe in a couple of years, it will become a bigger festival with better known acts, such as Pendulum.