Nearly 2,000 athletes turned out for the races today in Xi’an as the 15th annual City Wall International Marathon took place. The event consisted of 5 different races; half-marathon, 13.7 km, 5 km, 13.7 km relay, and family fun run.  I decided before my move to Xi’an that I wanted to run in this event, at the very least as a goal to keep myself in running shape since the Fargo Half-Marathon in May. For this event I elected to run the 13.7 km race, which for those of you who have no idea how far a kilometer is (like me) I’ll do some math for you.

1 km = 0.62 miles  >> 13.7 km = 8.51 miles

The events began bright and early, as in before 8am, centered around the south gate of the city wall. This was a slight problem for me, because it takes me more than an hour by bus to get from my school to the south gate. Fortunately my Chinese mother and father were able to help me out (I can’t say enough about how generous and helpful they are!) and provide me with a place to stay the night before the race, located only a 15 minute drive from the south gate. Upon arriving, there were many people located on the main plaza in front of the gate pounding on drums and dancing some kind of traditional dance. The run was clearly a big event, and actually quite international. I hadn’t seen so many white faces since leaving LAX! I felt like it was a little un-organized, but that could be for a few reasons; I’m illiterate (that’s a big one, but it is supposed to be international), or perhaps I’m used to the great organization provided at the Fargo Marathon. Had I been alone, I probably would have been very confused.

My family helped me figure out where I needed to be, and realize that I had almost an hour to kill before the race would start. We walked around, and chatted and just observed some of the other people getting ready for the race, many Chinese, and a good number of foreigners, 43 different countries according to the official count. With about 20 minutes to race time I got down and did my stretching, and before I knew it there were five people taking pictures and one person shooting video. Apparently a white guy stretching is quite interesting. After some fanfare, including a few words from the Mayor of Xi’an and some other important figures, the race was about to begin. Although I’d love to talk about all the beautiful scenery I saw while running around the city, I can’t. The running surface isn’t the flattest, so I spent a good amount of time looking down at the thousands upon thousands of bricks to make sure I didn’t roll my ankle.

I’ll answer your questions about the air-quality now, before you even ask them. No, the air really wasn’t all that bad. My throat was a little sore after the race, but it’s not like I was breathing in exhaust fumes the entire time.

…I finished with a time of 1:12:10…

Before the race, I estimated that I could easily finish within one hour and fifteen minutes, and I’m happy to say that I was right. I finished with a time of 1:12:10, meaning I ran pretty consistent 8 minute 30 second miles. The unfortunate fact was that there was no timing being done unless you were participating in the half-marathon competitively! I’m glad I wore a watch and timed myself, otherwise I’d have no idea how fast I ran! I’m sure I’ll be a little sore for the next day or two, but I’m definitely happy I was able to take part in the race. See all the photos from the race in the gallery.

For those of you looking for information about the race, where to register for next year, etc. Check the links below.

Local news on the event (xinhuanet.com)

Official website (have someone who can read Chinese help you, the English version is relatively useless and outdated)

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