The Newton Hills portion of the Boston Marathon is the toughest running obstacle I've come across in my running experience. But I've never been to China and run in the marathon there that confronts its magnificent Great Wall.
From AP:
About 1,200 runners ran Saturday — 450 in the marathon and the rest in the half marathon and 5- and 10-kilometer courses.
Runners completing the marathon have to negotiate the Great Wall twice — a total of four miles.
The 3,800 jagged steps are battering. Some are flat and slick, many are giant-size, and others are little more than pulverized rock made dangerous by a lack of walls on parts of the course.
Add to this 91-degree heat Saturday that baked this portion of China’s most famous symbol, a stretch called the Huang Ya Guan pass, about 80 miles from Beijing.
The winning time was 3 hours, 23 minutes, 10 seconds, performed by Spaniard Salvador Calvo, whose personal marathon best is 2:32.
As for myself, I slept late today--so it's time to go running. The Chicago Marathon is in five months.
On a related note, there is a drive to set up a new Seven Wonders of The World list. Of the generally agreed upon seven wonders, only Egypt's Great Pyramids still stand. As for a new group of seven wonders, it's pretty hard to imagine one without the Great Wall of China.
Technorati tags: Running marathon run China 中國 中国 Great Wall history
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