happiness

A few summary points from today’s event, with photo accompaniment.  Because I made the ultimate mistake of not carrying a camera, I shall use photos stolen shamelessly from the Chinese internet.* Some friends took pictures of me at the finish and I hope to post those later.

Some benefits of running the Beijing Marathon (some probably also offered in other Chinese races):

o    Being frisked by the People’s Armed Police when going to the start area (except the second they noticed I was a foreigner I was somehow exempted from this).

o   The perky Chinese exercise instructors leading everyone in “warm-up” exercises that resembled an aerobics class.  I sat that one out.  Who the hell wants to do aerobics before running 26 miles?

o   The palpable joy felt by all at the starting line.

o Starting out next to Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum, and then passing under his ever-watchful eyes, and wondering what the guy would think of the whole thing.

o   The first two miles or so along Chang’an Avenue (the Avenue of Eternal Peace), with all five westbound lanes closed for runners.

o   Approximately 2/3rds of all runners wearing the race shirt, this year a cheery bright yellow color (hard to miss in the above photos, yes?).

o   Cheering sections shouting 加油 (“step on the gas”) along with way, with the occasional woman shouting into a megaphone sounding like Chai Ling in the film Tiananmen.

o   Other cheerers yelling, “外国朋友加油” (“Step on the gas, foreign friend”).

o   People running along with music emanating audibly from unknown places on their bodies.  I was especially thrilled to hear my Favorite Chinese Rock Song Ever (with the caveat that I don’t actually know that many Chinese Rock Songs), the probably clichéd but still amazing “I Have Nothing” by Cui Jian.  It was the anthem of hope and protest in China in the late 1980s.

o   The course being marked in kilometers rather than miles (I am aware that it probably is only the US and UK that mark their race courses in miles), thus leading to the disheartening realization that, for instance, you’ve already run 12 km but still have 30 to go.

o   The large number of people running the whole race with the race drop bag on their backs rather than turning it in to be picked up at the finish.

o   The barefoot running team, all wearing little bells around their ankles making a lovely rhythmic sound.  Here is one such man at the finish, continuing his delightfully eccentric behavior.

Some things more universal to the marathon experience regardless of location:

o   The sound of 60,000 feet pounding the pavement at the start.

o   The self-talk going something like “Only 20 minutes till my next gel!  Only 90 minutes till I can take another ibuprofen!”

o   The inevitable betrayal by some body part when everything thus far has been going well.  This time, it was my breathing.  Around 22 miles or so I suddenly had a hard time getting a breath.  I’d like to say it was the fault of the Beijing air, but today was probably the best air day here since I arrived (at the time of the start the AQI was 91, only “Moderate” in terms of its risk level).  So alas I cannot blame the air for my end of race trouble and instead see it as the nearly-eternal dilemma of running long distances, expecting that a wall will be hit, just not knowing which one it will be.

o   The ultimate male privilege being manifested with men getting to go to the side of the course pretty much anywhere to take a leak.  This fact was apparently one of the top attention-getters for Chinese news media, as these photos have appeared on numerous websites here: 

In case what is going on there is not totally clear, here is another, with special Beijing flair, and lots of yellow t-shirts.

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*If you are the sort of person to care about trifles like intellectual property, good luck finding someone here who would agree.