The Great Wall Of China Marathon 42.2 km run including 5164 stairs

One of the toughest marathons

Looking for a tough marathon? Do The Great Wall of China Marathon. Now in its 10th year this event is an amazing experience.

To do this event, you do need to do it as a tour, through a Sydney company called Travelling Fit. We were looked after very well on the tour, flights, accommodation and seeing all the main attractions in Beijing. They even arranged a traditional Italian pasta night the night before the run.

The run is on the Saturday, however you are taken out to the Wall on the Thursday prior and have the opportunity to walk the main section of the Wall. This is when you realise this is not a fast course.

Race day and we leave Beijing at 3.00am to make the 3 hour bus trip to the Wall. There is also a ½ marathon, 10km run and 5km run, all starting together (except the 5km runners, who are taken up to the Wall by bus) approximately 1000 competitions, from all around the world.

The first 5km is running up to the Wall. This is like running up Arthur’s Seat twice. Once you reach the Wall this is when the really hard work starts. Stairs that just go straight up and straight down and they just never seem to end. They say to add 50% to your marathon time for this event and when you are running on the Wall you soon understand why.

Coming down off the Wall, you run along a narrow dirt goat path, which is very steep and it is a good feeling once you come off the Wall for the first time. The run then takes you through local villages and the noise of the cheering locals is amazing. Lots of children giving high fives and flowers.

There are no road closures for this event with trucks, cars, bikes, horses, dogs, chickens all over the roads. Soon off the road and running through fields with big rocks. This run has a little of everything, a real adventure.

The hardest part of this marathon is the last 8km which is straight back over the first section of the Wall. At one point there is a rope on the side of the Wall which you use to pull yourself up.

Running up and down the stairs, my calves feel like someone has tied large bluestone boulders to each of them. They say that at around 35km in a marathon is when you hit the Wall, no better saying than in this event.

Once off the Wall it is all downhill to the finish. 4 hours and 28 minutes, 6th overall female out of 155 females, 23rd overall finisher and I could not have been happier that I conquered one of the toughest marathons in the world.