Obstacles

I actually ran for five out of seven days in the past week, which is good, because I’ve received word that I am officially entered in the Great Wall Marathon. I’m not sure what the highlight is for me on the verification form I received—it may be the notice that “except free first aid on the Marathon site, we do not cover the cost of transport to hospitals and the ensuing medical treatment there.” Then again, it might be the fact that on marathon day I will have to be at the sponsoring hotel at 2:45 a.m. for transport to the marathon site. I don’t even want to admit that I’ve actually paid a fairly large sum of money for these privileges. It’s a sum close to about two months’ salary for an average Beijinger, and Beijingers earn much more than the average Chinese person.

My runs have been in the Purple Bamboo Park and on the treadmills of the King Gym. The weather here has been unseasonably warm, and so I got outside for some runs over last weekend. The Purple Bamboo Park was crowded, though not with runners. The only other runners I saw were two other foreign women. There was occasional commentary from Chinese in the park, including hearing a little Chinese child saying “Waiguoren dou paobu (The foreigners are all running!)” They probably wondered what we were running away from.

I’ve been reading a lot about “obstacles” for rural women, as in sentences like “Rural women face many obstacles to attain full autonomy.” “Obstacle” or zhang’ai is a good word to use for today’s Chinese lesson, as running in China is often akin to participating in an obstacle course. In fact, that could be the Chinese contribution as a demonstration sport in the Olympics, and they could incorporate other elements of the culture as the obstacles.

So, I think it is time for some reader participation in this blog. If you remember particularly torturous obstacle courses you’ve endured, for instance in junior high school P.E. class (inherently a torturous experience for most of us, I know), feel free to send examples of the obstacles you faced. I will try my hardest to think of the likely Chinese equivalent and post them here.

I’ll start with an easy example. Water obstacles—such as jumping over small pools, etc., would be well-served in our Chinese Obstacle Course by people spitting, and our competitors needing to evade their expectorations.

Creative suggestions welcome!