On December 4th, I got up early, like many a half marathon mornings. Walked into the kitchen, made some coffee, had some bread with peanut butter, pulled on my CWX compression capris, donned my running shirt, pinned on my bib…. all the paces I go through for getting ready for many a race back in the states. Except, instead of getting ready to run The Strip like I did in 2010 on the same weekend- I was getting to run the Bund- the main strip in Shanghai.
I have been attempting to keep up with the running, but between working late and wanting to explore the city I have been less than strict with myself. Gone are the days of taking a long lunch and banging out 4 miles in sunny Carlsbad, or waking up early and meeting my running buddy for a seaside run. Now, get up early and dodge and weave through crowds of spitting, smoking and slow walking Chinese to log my miles. Yeah… sleeping in after going out with friends always sounds like a better option, now doesn’t it?
In order to sign up for this race, I needed to have a doctor sign a release form, stating my blood pressure, heart rate and that I was in good enough health to run the race. In order go to see the doctor I had to pick one, make an appt, take time off work, etc, etc. This lead to me procrastinating and not getting it done… which lead to me missing the deadline to sign up for the race. Luckily, a friend was able to put the word out and found a girl who couldn’t run the race! He brought me the bib on race weekend, and I was good to go.
I stepped out into the frigid December air and walked to the metro… briskly, receiving the normal amount of bewildered looks – ‘what is that crazy white lady doing at this time of day in that outfit?’ – and the runners started to make themselves apparent. Just like other races in the states, they gave up gear check bags- which I opted not to use- but many people did. You can always tell a runner heading to a race by the bag on their arm- filled with dry clothes for a post race change, food, water, etc. Given the balmy 39 degree start to race day I opted to wear my wind proof jacket and a long sleeve running shirt. The jacket ended up being a great butt warmer as I tied it to my waist at the start of the race.
The start took place on the Bund, right next to the Huang Pu river. The start was like many a start in the states- crowded- people jostling and bumping- runner nervously chatting. Waiting for the starting bell- wondering if it’s nerves or do you really need to pee again before the race starts….. finally, we count down “San, Er, Yi” ‘3,2,1’ and off we go. Just like other races, my gun time and chip time were about 5 mins apart- takes that long to cross the starting line.
And the runners are off! Down the street, dodging brightly colored garbage bags that people wear to stay warm, random gloves, clothes, jean jackets (no, really jean jackets too). About a mile into the race, we come upon a large wall and I hear hooting and hollering. I look my left, and startled to see no less than 50 dudes, lined up, all taking a leak… and more runners joining them. Guess they did decide they needed to pee. I laughed and almost wanted to stop and take a picture, but I kept on running. Along the route, there were many Chinese cheering- mostly upper middle aged folks, but man, where they enthusiastic! There were the just run of the mill on lookers, but then there were the ‘drum gangs’ as I call them. In the AM, you can pass by any square and happen upon a group of 10-20 50+ women doing some type of synchronized dancing or drum beating, or fan dance or tai chi…. some days they are all dressed in matching track suits- which they decided to wear for the race. I must have passed over 20 such ‘gangs’, some with drums, others with pom poms, or fans…. cheering and waving. It made me smile, and when you waved back, they cheered harder. The best was the group of middle aged MEN, wearing black track suits, waving silver pom poms. They looked like some acid trip cheer leader squad…
The route was point to point, meaning start at the Bund and run into Pudong. That means crossing the Huang Pu river. Than means the Nanpu Bridge. They shut the traffic along the route- so we got to run up the cork screw entrance ramp of the bridge- what an awesome sight to look up it and see almost a mile of runners before and after me. Very inspiring, even if it was an incline.
NanPu interchange
Run run run… and run some more. Until I say a porta potty and decided since I wasn’t running for time, I would take a pit stop. 7 mins later and a few ounces lighter, I head back out. I decided to wear my Amphipod running belt, fill it with gatoraide, and in the GU loops stash some single serve honey packets. I didn’t know where to buy GU, so I figured some honey would do the trick. It did, and I was happy to have my own water/gatorade supply. The water stations were erratic, and instead of electrolytes, they had tea- no joke. Some of the aid stations they handed out water soaked sponges (um, it was like 50 degrees out). Run run run some more… play list hitting all the right songs at the right times to get me through the tough spots. I see the finish line, look to the left and right and see if I can locate my co workers Danielle and Dom who came out to cheer me on… not seeing them, I focus in on the finish line and use up what I have in the tank… run run run, sprint…. cross, finish, stop Garmin. It was not my fastest race, but it wasn’t my slowest. And it was my first international race. I’ll take that.
colleeninshanghai 
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