BEIJING, CHINA - The Great Wall of China Marathon took place on Saturday, May 25, on a section of the Great Wall three hours north, by bus, from Beijing, China, in the small village of Tianjin.

Eight Chicagoans competed in the marathon or half-marathon events. (See picture of six of us.) This recount is of the experience that three of us - Wesley Drake, Cathy Gries and myself - had as we ran the race together.

The race began at 7:30 a.m. with a 3.5-mile run up a steep switchback road to the section of the Great Wall we were to run. The 2.5-mile section was mostly stone, but had a few short segments of either stone trail or dirt trail.

As you can imagine, the Great Wall is old, and although some sections have been restored, there are some uneven stones that make this stretch a slow one. That, coupled with the steep climbs and descents, makes it nearly impossible to run on the wall itself. Many sections require single file travel and holding onto ropes or handrails that have been strategically placed to ensure runner safety.

Course officials could be found positioned in the most precarious spots so that runners with fatigued leg muscles would not trip and plummet off a section of the Wall without guard rails.

Our 2.5-mile run on the Wall finished with a long, steep descent of mostly stone steps with no guard rails on either side. The steep, winding stairway literally took you down the mountain from the Wall to the main road through Tianjin.

From there, we began a flat section of the course that took us along roads through villages in scenic rural China. The roads were not closed to traffic and running on the course often meant moving to the shoulder to avoid speeding cars and trucks or running down the middle of a street with traffic on either side. It seems that local motorists drive with one hand on the steering wheel, one hand on the horn (which is used liberally) and both feet on the gas pedal. Pedestrians do not fare well as the pecking order is based on size: trucks and buses, cars, mopeds, bicycles and then pedestrians at the bottom. Runners yield to everyone.

By mile 10, the temperature had climbed above 90 degrees and the sun beat down on us unimpeded by even a wisp of a cloud. The paved road turned to dirt road and back a few times as we traveled through villages filled with spectators. Children stood next to the road to high-five the runners and try out the little English they knew. Many of them called out, "Hello" to which we replied Ne-how, which means hello in Chinese.

To the volunteers we would say shei-shei (thank you), as they were as abundant as the bottles of water that we desperately needed in the heat. Most of the aid stations also had bananas, which were welcome additions to the fluid. We passed aid stations approximately every mile and a half.

By mile 15 we had completed our loop through the villages and were headed back to the town square in Tianjin. As we passed through the square we were not finished but rather headed back up the wall in the reverse direction from our first pass. We needed to run the 2.5-mile stretch a second time before we earned the finisher's medal.

As we began the climb, we likened the experience to running 21 miles on hilly, rocky terrain in the heat and then climbing all the stairs in the Sears Tower to get back up the mountain to run on the Wall again. The second trek over the Wall was a little slower this time around. We took our time as the steps were often uneven and difficult to navigate with fatigued muscles.

There are really no flat sections of the Wall. It seems that we were always going up or down and always watching our feet.

As we exited the section of the Wall we had 3.5 miles to go back down the hill we had climbed in the first miles of the race. By this time, the temperature had climbed to 100 degrees, so we took advantage of an opportunity to buy pineapple popsicles from a trailside vendor. Three popsicles cost us 6 Yuan, or about 75 cents US. That was the best popsicle I've ever had.

The last 3.5 miles went by quickly as we ran comfortably down the steep hill past rural farms and recounted among ourselves the highlights and low points along the course. At the bottom of our descent we had less than half a mile to the finish line back in the square of Tianjin.

Each runner was greeted by name by the announcer and finish line staff that greeted us with medals and bottled water. Those of us who had finished together came in at 7:37:30 and agreed that this marathon was as tough as they come but was also the experience of a lifetime.

The marathon winner was the defending champion from 2001 who set a new course record of 3:41:30. Zi Wang of China says he doesn't wear any special shoes or eat any special foods. He prepares by learning the course and training hard. His strategy paid off as the number 2 runner was 22 minutes behind him.

Anne- Mette Aagaard Sparta of Denmark, the women's winner, had also won the Copenhagen Marathon earlier this year. She finished in 4:20 and change. At the awards ceremony she said, "I'm just a simple runner from Denmark. I didn't come here expecting to win." But win she did. Both the men's and women's half-marathon winners were from the U.S.

Overall, approximately 500 runners started the marathon and half-marathon races; many were unable to finish as the heat took its toll later in the day. The medical staff was extremely responsive and had their hands full with those who will have to come back another time if they want to conquer the Wall.

Leesa Weichert is president of the Chicago Area Runners Association.