The most significant factor effecting my performance at the 2017 Lianyungang Xu Wei International Marathon would be the harsh north wind. It made me push out too fast at the start and slowed me right down during the tough middle section. If I ran this one again I would have paced myself better at the start and used the other runners to shelter myself more during the windy mid-section. This time I had a poor race strategy and suffered. Not my worst time ever, but certainly a race to put down to experience more than anything else.

Lianyungang is a city in the north of Jiansu province, somewhere on the ‘one-road one-belt’ economic pathway zone thingy. Its away from the high-speed railway line, so you’re best to fly in from shanghai hongqiao airport if you want to avoid a 20 hour train journey or 12 hour bus ride.

The marathon would run somewhere in the ‘one-road one-belt’ region away from the city, somewhere on the coast. So, not much of anything spectacular to see along the route. No buildings anyway, other than the ‘one-road one-belt’ control centre but plenty of blue sea, flat countryside and cloudy sky.

The course would be mostly very long straight sections without many turns. This was the sort of race where you could tune out and focus on the vanishing point. Maybe a bit boring for some, but I kind of liked the emptiness about it. Living in a crowded suburb made part of me long for a nice long clear road like this on occasion.

For this race I had the privilege to be invited along with about a dozen other non-Chinese athletes to run as a guest with all expenses covered by the organization. Our accommodation and food were provided for and travel expenses would be reimbursed if we could finish the marathon within a certain time. We also had a couple of nice student volunteer helpers who met us at the airport and sort out our race packs and rooms. Real VIP treatment.

The time limit wouldn’t be too strict (maybe 4 hours). We had a few guys in the group who could probably finish within three hours. I thought I should maybe go for 3:15 and my room mate, Steve the Australian, was going for 3:40 or 3:45.

The day before the marathon Steve and I decided to do some sightseeing at Huaguo mountain. Legend has it that the Monkey King lives in a hole in the mountain behind a waterfall. The Monkey King’s a popular guy and the mountain is a big tourist attraction in China so we had to arrive good and early to avoid the crowds.

Huaguo mountain is home to a couple of hundred wild monkeys who run about causing mayhem with the tourists.  They’re not scared of people one-bit and would run about in groups and grab food off folk if they weren’t careful. They could fly in from any angle, so you had to keep your eyes open.

We ate some noodles at the hotel and dinner was provided back at the hotel. It was an early night before the race the next morning.

On the morning of the race the wind was blowing in a gale from the north. This was sure to be a problem as the course would run a good section North-west along the coast with no buildings to break the wind. When they drove us out to the start there was meant to be a tent for the guest runners but it’d blown over in the wind so they had to let us wait in the hotel instead. At least this meant we’d be able to keep warm and get to visit the bathroom.

About five minutes before the race was due to begin we were led out to the start-line. I always feel it’s a great privilege to participate as an invited runner. Lining up with the elite runners at the start of a race is a big part of this. You can feel the tension in the air, hear the shouting and watch the pretty lady walking up and down with a sign telling you how long until the start of the race. When the gun fires its a fantastic moment and a massive relief to start running.

After the gun went I was overtaken with the excitement and picked up by the wind. After 2k we turned a corner. I thought I must’ve been turning into the wind, but actually as the wind was blowing from the north and I’d turned from a south-west to south-east heading. I’d just changed my angle and the force of the wind was the same. I was carried along like this for 12k until I we turned the corner to go north-east. Boom, the wind hit me right in the face. It was like running through treacle. A massive effort to keep the momentum going and move forward. The wind came right off the pacific ocean with nothing to break it until it hit me square on pushing me back from direction I wanted to go.

Running into the wind like this was brutal. I tried to fight against it, but this only seemed to tire my legs out. And there was nothing to shelter me from the wind. There were no groups of runners to go with and the one or two guys around me were too fast to keep up with. Even when I followed some dude for a minute or so, it was sparse relief from the battering of the wind. My legs were running out of energy fast and there was nothing I could do.

Steve the Australian had managed to keep with a group and shelter from the worst of it. He passed me at 17k and I kept with him for a couple of kilometres, but my legs were already destroyed by this point, even when we turned to go south east along the coast to run with the wind again. The damage was done.

Soon the race leaders ran past us on the opposite side of the road, then I spied a bus shelter that’d been blown over on our side. After the turn around we’d be running against the wind again and I wasn’t looking forward to it.

From 21k to 38 I’d have 17 solid kilometres running along the coast into the wind. I pretty much held on until the 24th kilometre before my pace dropped to a jog. Then at the 34th kilometre I went down a gear again with four more particularly tough kilometres before the second turn around. I was grunting and spitting, slowing right down at the aid stations, and doing anything I could to keep going. At least not too many guys passed me. And anyone who did pass me wasn’t going too fast either. I guess the wind wasn’t just effecting me.

I managed to pick up the pace again for the last 5 or 6k running with the wind, and again for the finish, but I hadn’t ran a good race. I’d wasted energy at the start and not done enough to shelter from the wind or use the other runners in the mid section. None-the-less I felt good because at least I’d finished and worked hard. 3:35:46 wasn’t a terrible time. I ended the race 63rd overall  and my time didn’t look too bad alongside the other invited runners.

Three of our runners did really well, coming in around 3:00 and 3:10. Steve came in around 3:20 doing well to smash his previous personal best. He’d started off at a more conservative pace and sheltered behind a larger group of runners going into the wind. He’d also thought to run close to the barrier to shelter his bottom half from the wind.

Before heading back to the airport we had dinner with some of the elite athletes. It was nice to hear these guys talking about running, where they came from, and how they manage the race season. The winner of the ladies race had previously came in 3rd in Boston. She started off as a 5,000 meters runner and transitioned to the marathon distance over time. The guy who won the men’s race owned a small farm back in Kenya and invested most of his prize money in livestock. These guys all trained hard, 20 or 30 kilometres a day and ran long distances to school and back when they were kids.

Two weeks later I’d carry myself to another marathon. This time in Shanghai, where I’d look to enjoy the trip again and hopefully run a better (wiser) race.