My Maniac Sister Just Ran a Marathon on the Great Wall of China!

You might remember that we went to China last year to visit my parents, it was AWESOME! We spent most of a day walking the great wall and probably MAYBE went 5 miles… IT IS NOT FLAT. For some reason I guess I thought it was. But it is STEPS all the way, and up and down hills.

And yes, it is a WALL. In the middle of a forest on a mountain range.

Have I mentioned how it is NOT flat yet?? And the steps… oh the steps… they are NOT even. I cursed the men 2,000 years ago who built it with their bare hands! Why not make the steps a perfect 13 inches apart? Huh?!

I have never ran a marathon. I don’t plan on it, I am a horrible runner. I don’t run unless I am being chased and even then I probably would have to take my chances and fight someone off, because I am not running.

I did a 1/2 marathon once. I had a horrible time of something along 3 hours. I actually came in at the same time a friend of ours ran a full marathon. Awesome.

My sister likes to run. Weird. She was just down here for a 1/2 marathon in the Woodlands 2 months ago.

This is me looking up (I am standing) at my kids in front of me. IT IS NOT FLAT. Have I said that?

My aunt Jody and her 3 kids are in China also. They are all runners and in fact my aunt did an IRON MAN a few years ago and regularly does triathlons. My cousins also are runners. Hunter just graduated from high school and has a swimming scholarship for college. So they know what they are doing. I tried to warn them!

The next photos are going to be a little fuzzy, because they are slowly trickling in from cell phones and Instagram from China.

This is the FINSIH line!

From my Dad this morning:

Had to get up at 2:45am to run Hunter to the hotel across town to catch the bus to the marathon. We took the moped and got lost in the city. Had about 10 mins left before the bus left so we found a taxi, I called the apartment front desk for translation. Hunter jumped into the taxi and it took off for I don’t know where! I have to go home and tell his mom I dumped him in a cab at 3:20am in a foreign city of 25million, with No cell phone and 5 bucks in his hand. Fortunately he made it to the hotel and got on the bus, all by himself. Literally, he was the only one on that bus going to the Great Wall marathon. Hunter got 1st place in the 18-21 age group and Hudson got 4th in the 16-18 age group. I got no sleep worrying about where I lost my nephew!!

Anna on Instagram: Just us and 2697 of our closest running buddies!!! Headed to the start and couldn’t be more nervous and thrilled!!!

Anna on Instagram: Off to the start!!!! With Jody and Maddie.

 

Anna’s husband Jeff and Tristan waiting at the finish line.

My cousins Maddie and Hunter. Maddie did the 10k and Hudson did the marathon coming 1st in his age group 18-21!

Maddie again and her brother/my cousin Hudson. Hudson got 4th in his age group for the marathon 16- 18 year olds!

They all made it and look good!

The Great Wall marathon is considered a SUPER Marathon. The course is much tougher than traditional marathons there are 5,164 stone steps and many very steep ascents and descents along the way. In fact, Jody said it was harder than the Iron Man.

They are all asleep right now, so I didn’t get as much info as I wanted.. It was amazing and I am SO PROUD of them! Anna is a rock star and kicks some butt! I am sure she will do a cool write up over at CuteMomStuff when she can get some decent internet.

You can follow Anna on Instagram HERE and you can follow me at MyLitter HERE. You can also catch Anna over at Dollar Store Deals and Cute Mom Stuff ( her Fashion blog) when she can get some internet in China!