Great Wall 2026 Marathon - A tough day
Race information
- Name: Great Wall Marathon 2026
- Date: May 16, 2026
- Distance: 42.2KM
- Location: Tianjin, Huangyaguan, China
- Time: 5:03
- Race organizer: Albatros Adventure Marathons (as i know there's different great wall marathons)
Goals:
| Goal | Description | Completed |
|---|---|---|
| A | Sub 4:20 | No |
| B | Sub 4:30 | No |
| C | Have fun | Yes |
Training
Last year end of November i ran my first marathon in 3:29 at Shanghai marathon. After the marathon i took some time to rest and recover, as i also felt an injury was looming. January i did 100k, February i was traveling and busy and only managed 50k. So most of my training was March (208km) and April (229km). My peak weak was 75k with a 30km long run. I would have loved to do more weekly volume and peak higher, and also just do more long runs. But i simply didnt have time. At one point i also had to take a week off because i felt my legs weren't great, and i skipped my last long run during tapering as i was sightseeing and walking too much.
As i knew the great wall section consists of 5000 steps and 1200 elevation gain, i tried to train for it. I live in a city with 0 hills... So my training consisted of running up and down my apartment staircases. I peaked at 50~ minutes. First couple sessions i ran for about 20 before realizing this is unnecessary and not what I'll do on race day. So the later sessions were 50min walking. I'd say training went okay, but i wish i had more volume, also only had 2 speed sessions, again because i just didnt feel comfortable increasing volume, doing stairs, and also juggling speed all at the same time.
Pre race
I got to Beijing the day before the race, traveling from South China, which was nice because i went from warm to cooler (still warm) weather. Arrived at hotel at 5pm, ate a ton of fried rice, and went to bed.
Got up at 5:30am the next day. I had booked my own hotel near the race, for the International runners on a tour package, they stay in Beijing and depart Beijing at 3:30am (sounds brutal). I got to the race at 6:00 and went to the bathroom, talked to some runners, and waited impatiently for the race to start.
The race
My racing plan was to run 5:20km pace on the flats, walk the hills, and then hopefully average out to about 6:20 pace. I started out in the first wave, at the very front. Immediately got carried away by the excitement and atmosphere and ran a 5:00. After this km 2-5 was all up hill. I had not trained any hills, as i dont have them where i live. This was brutal. My HR hit 180, at 6:00 pace (although im sure some was nerves/excitement). It was brutal. 6-8km are the main ones on the great wall. And these were brutal. It was amazing and pretty. But the steps are not made for running. On the downhills i would do 2-3 steps at a time and hope not to fall. The up hill i would walk slowly. The pace was 13:20,11:20, 7:37.
Atmosphere was high though and everyone was happy. After this we got off the wall and ran through a bunch of flat areas and towns/villages. Lots of school kids and locals out to support, lots of highfives. Was a nice atmosphere. Around 26-27km it again was more like trail running, hills again and dirt paths. I and other people i was around walked up the hills. (7:00 and 9:03 pace).
The weather was quite hot at about 20c and it was sunny for a lot of the race (realized i got quite sunburnt after). Every aid station i would drink electrolyte drink if available, and grab a bottle of water, dunking half of it on my head/back. This also meant i basically ran with wet shoes/socks for 5 hours... Not the most fun.
Around 30k we crossed onto the same path as people doing the half, which was nice as you had more people, and could overtake some people. A lot of the race i had primarily been running behind 2-5 people.
35-37km we had to go up the great wall section in the opposite direction of before. This was so incredibly difficult on my tired legs. The steps felt awful and i was in so much pain. The time was 18:44, 16:50. So in the future i would have preserved more energy for this part i guess. Took a lot out of me. I still got to enjoy the views and was greatful to be running there though.
38-42km was basically all downhill/flat. I went down the massive hill that i went up at the beginning of the course. Much nicer. I wanted to push the pace but my legs had given up, so i could not push past 6~min pace.
Post race: The atmosphere was great, winded down, talked to different runners, had lunch.
In hindsight i wish i had gone out slower, maybe ran more of the hills in the middle of the race. But mostly preserved energy for the second time on the wall i think i could have cut a lot of time, and on the final downhill i also should/could've run faster. But with my training i think everything went okay. I feel i pushed myself, and did my best. So I'm proud. I also came 35th overall (466 runners) so not bad at all.
If anyone had questions about the race im happy to answer.