The Great Wall Marathon Adventure

To celebrate 10 years of marriage, Jessi and I, along with my sister and her boyfriend, went to Beijing, China to run a Marathon on The Great Wall.

The race was put on by an organization called Albatross Adventures and included 6 days, with a couple of tours like Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

It truly was a trip of a lifetime. Here were the highlights:

Day 0
We started the trip by dropping off the kids with my parents. It was great getting to spend Mother's Day with the whole family. Thank you so much to my parents and Aunt who watched the kids all week.


Day 1
We arrived and were free to explore the city. We rode the subway around and marveled at how many people there were. We packed those subway cars like sardines.

Unfortunately, Jessi got sick and I decided to head out at 1:30am to find a pharmacy. I couldn’t find the place the hotel recommended, so I walked to another location (btw, the iPhone X & iPhone 8 on whatever carrier AT&T partners with, allowed full access to Facebook & Google. Perhaps an upgraded SIM card?). Anyways, I rang the bell and a grumpy looking man came out. I held up my request using Google Translate. He looked at me, said "Bù" (which I knew meant "no"), turned around and walked away.

Are you kidding me?

I stood in shock for a bit. I was happy I learned a handful of words, like "no", so I could fully appreciate the moment. But really? I opened my maps app and walked to another place.

This time a lady was willing to help me. We used Google Translate to communicate, and it was magical. I'm so impressed with that technology. Using the camera to translate the text on the box was magical as well. The future is now.

Day 2
We inspected the wall. Here are some photos:

Day 3
We visited a market and the Qing Dynasty Tombs. The setting was beautiful.




Day 4
Race day. Here are some pictures. I have much more to say about the actual race later. Lisa and Jason completed the half marathon. It was Jason's first, and Lisa's tenth.

Perhaps the funniest part was the song selections of the band.


Day 5
We visited Tiananmen Square & the Forbidden City, but I was most impressed by two smaller shops. The first was a silk factory. They showed us the process from silk worms eating leaves to stretching the silk into a comforter. It was true craftsmanship. It's inspiring to learn about a business that's doing excellent work.

We also visited a tea shop and learned about different types of tea and how to make a couple of them. Again, it was a perfect example of passion and excellence intersecting.


In both places they also had professional sales people. They were knowledgeable, but not pushy. It was like they understood that they got to live their passion by creating, AND proudly selling, an excellent product.

I was in the middle of reading "Meaningful Work", which contributed to my wonder.

Day 6
I was impressed with China Southern Air. The food was good and the entertainment options were plentiful.

It was a great trip and I'm glad Lisa & Jason could join us. If you run marathons and want to see China, this is definitely worth it.


Update: I promised to say more about the actual race. Here it is: Behind The Glitz of a Dream Marathon Race.