Earlier this year, I saw the news about the Guiyang Marathon Southwest University League shared in the school running group.
It’s basically a competition where students from universities in the Southwest region form teams to participate in university rankings, without needing a lottery to enter the race. Our school is expected to have nearly a hundred participants in this competition.
I have some interest in running, and with the idea of using the competition to motivate my training while also participating in a group activity, I signed up for the half marathon of the Guiyang Marathon.
Before registering, I needed to have a record of completing 15 km, so with the encouragement of a friend, I completed the longest distance I had run at that time.
Registration for the Guiyang Marathon was around early May, and the race started in mid-June. During that time, I trained seriously for over a month, but just as I was excited to head to Guiyang, I caught a cold the day before departure and had to withdraw from the race.
Perhaps it was the competition itself that motivated my training, so I really wanted to participate in a race.
During the summer vacation, there were many races open for registration, like the Chengdu Marathon, the Changjia Hui in Chongqing, and even the Beijing Marathon organized by my company. However, at that time, I was confused about my future plans; I wasn't sure if I would continue interning at the company or stay at school, so I didn’t register for any of them.
Later, I confirmed that I would stay at school, but the larger-scale Chengdu Marathon and Changjia Hui had already closed registration.
Until September, I suddenly saw that the Fuling Marathon was still open for registration, so I immediately signed up and booked a hotel.
Speaking of which, I attended high school in Fuling, and back then, it took a three-hour bus ride from home to school, returning home once a month. I have some fond memories from those three years of studying there, so I was quite happy to have the opportunity to participate in the marathon in Fuling.
This semester, my schedule has been quite busy, and I haven't planned a proper training regimen. I just run 5 km when I have time, and on weekends, I might do over 10 km.
The Fuling half marathon starts on October 27, and I arrived on the 26th. I spent the day before exploring the city; the school is located in a relatively remote area, and during my studies, I usually spent weekends and holidays around the school, rarely going into the city. This time, visiting the city, I felt a sense of familiarity yet strangeness towards many places.
I went to eat at a well-known local burger place online and also tried the local specialty, the dujuanzi, which is quite rare in my hometown and in the city of Chongqing.
The night before the race, I was in the hotel and went to bed around 9:30 PM. I was a bit excited and kept tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep until around 1 AM.
The race started at 8 AM, so I got up around 5 AM. I had very little sleep but was even a bit excited.
At the beginning of the race, I caught up with the 2-hour pacer because my goal for my first marathon was to finish within 2 hours. I followed them for about 5 to 6 kilometers, felt good, and then decided to speed up and left the pacer behind.
I was satisfied with finishing the race in under 2 hours, especially since I hadn’t run much before. Compared to last year when I struggled to run 5 km, this year I managed to slowly build up to 15 km, and recently completed the half marathon, which is quite an improvement.
Looking forward to next year's season, running all the way and growing along the way, let’s go!