Greetings all,
29 Oct 2014
As I mentioned in my last entry, we both enrolled to run the Qiubei , Yunnan China adventure race..Rod entered the 10k and I entered and ran the 1/2 marathon on 25 Oct 2014. We had never been to this part of China and the itinerary looked interesting and this was the inaugural running of this race. We had no idea how many people would be there, or what we were in for, but we signed up anyway, and so glad we did!
If you want to know more about this marathon, please visit:
http://yunnanmarathon.com/ You 'll find the course maps and a description of the races and the Qiubei area.
There were people from China, Poland, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, USA, and Hong Kong in the races. In the 5k fun run, there were several local runners and for the longer distances, it was mostly international runners. We had the pleasure of having some of the local minority ethnic girls in their full dresses show us the way to the starting line!
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| Miao and Yi people greeting us at the start line in Puzhehai, Yunnan China Marathon |
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| More Yi and Miao people...this time with Sarah doing a photobomb appearance |
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| Rod and Sarah at the Start, ready to run Oct 2014 in Puzhehai, Yunnan Marathon |
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| The startline from the back! |
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| The start! |
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| Beginning of the race! |
In this race, like most adventure races, we each were issued a map of
the courses and some descriptions of landmarks and we were looking for
red and yellow ribbons to mark the paths. For adventure runs, the experts tell you to forget time, forget pace and concentrate on knowing where you are! I'm sure the courses were marked,
but we all ended up missing some turns and ran farther than our official
course distances!
For those of you who have been reading my blog entries, you may recall that Rod did the 10k and I attempted the Full marathon on the Great Wall of China (I ended up doing the 1/2 ...See May 2013 for blog entry on that one). Based on that experience, I improved my plan..1st of all, I entered the 1/2 marathon, I trained with a water pack on my back and I decided to take lots of pictures! I didn't want to risk not having water, I knew that I wasn't going to set any speed records and the area was incredibly beautiful, so I stopped frequently to take some photos along the way. It turns out I took over 250 pictures on the course itself, so what you will see below is only a small sample of them!
The course included running of flat good surfaces, climbing a mountain up hand made rock steps, running along cow/oxen paths, over bridges, through tunnels etc. The race was very well organized by some American running enthusiasts with some connections in China..my hat is off to them for being able to organize a race long distance! If you are a runner reading this, I believe this event is worth the money and travel to do it...it's that beautiful!
I have a few of Rod at the startline and finish line..he finished way ahead of me! We both ran farther than our respective courses due to making some wrong turns! That was all part of the adventure and part of being part of the first group to ever run the race!
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| Rod at the beginning of the race |
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| My view at the beginning of the race |
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| Sunrise at the beginning of the race |
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| The base of the steps we had to climb! |
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| Sarah at the top of the mountain at Puzhehai |
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| Sarah with some Miao and Yi girls at the top of the mountain |
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| The tree bridge we had to cross (not a real tree, but concrete made to look like a tree!) |
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| One of the foot bridges we had to cross (what is holding that mud in there?) |
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| Another foot bridge we had to cross |
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| The view from one of the bridges we had to cross |
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| The first aide station manned by some local girls with their sashes from the village |
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| Where we ran, early morning in Puzhehai |
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| A mother and her baby in the village we ran through |
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| Hot Peppers drying on the side of the mud brick house/barn in one of the villages we ran through |
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| The village we ran through |
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| Some village kids in the village |
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| One of the farmers leaving the village we ran through |
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| One of the local farmers who took her chinese triangle woven bamboo hat off just for me to take a photo |
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| One of the farmer ladies I met on the trail Lots of women farmers here! |
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| One of the crops grown in Yunnan province is tobacco. Having grown up in the fields to Kentucky tobacco, I had to get this photo in Honor and Memory of my Mom and Dad |
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| Girl herding geese in and out of the rice paddies along the course |
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| One of the farm houses along the course |
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| Some of the local farmers. They were pulling up tobacco stalks, getting the field ready for the next crop . The strip the leaves in the field, leaving the stalk. |
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| Every day scenery along the course..the sun was starting to get some heat to it! |
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| Another farmer plowing the field along the path |
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| One of the tunnels we had to run through..yes, I had to stoop..and it was near the end of the course, so bending down was not so easy! |
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| Another tunnel we ran through |
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| Yet another one of the tunnels we had to go through |
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| Oxen along the running path...no passing...had to wait to get to a little wider spot on the trail! | | | | | |
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| Not a bridge, but a rock path we had to cross..glad the dirt was dried up or this would have been really tricky to cross! This was towards the end of the course |
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| Rod came to escort me to the finish line, even after he had finished his race...what a guy! |
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| Sarah finishing the 1/2 marathon! |
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| Rod and Sarah after the race...medals on and happy to have completed it! |
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| Sarah with the Yi people hat after the race |
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| Rod's finisher certificate! |
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| Sarah's finisher certificate! |
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| Group photo after the race |
This was an adventure run...but so much more! This was a confirmation that there is life after a recurrence of prostate cancer. Rod and I enjoyed the physical activity, but most of all we enjoyed the fact that he can run, he can take a bus ride, he can enjoy seeing the sights and meet the kind and giving people of China. Thanks to all of you who have prayed for us...it is working and we are so grateful! The smiles on our faces are very genuine..we are still in love after all these years and so happy where we are in life!
Some parting photos of the beautiful Puzhehei area in Yunnan China!
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| Sunrise on the Puzhehei village and lakes |
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| Early morning mist on the Puzhehai lakes |
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| Farming paths turned running trails on the Puzhehai lakes |
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| Path at the base of the mountains on the Puzhehai lakes |
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| Beautiful mountains reflecting on the Puzhehai lakes outside of Qiubei |
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| Lotus plants in the Puzhehai lakes |
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| Sunsetting on the Puzhehei lakes outside of Qiubei in Yunnan province of China |
Thanks everyone for your continued thoughts and Prayers and a special thanks to Terry, Jenny, MJ and Oscar for organizing this great event! We highly recommend!
Rod and Sarah
