 |
| My invitation letter |
Wow, what an amazing experience! I feel very privileged to have been invited to take part in the Fuxian Lake Highland Ultramarathon 50k in Yunnan Province, China on 30th September. The race included both a 50k and 100k, but on this occasion I opted for the shorter version, which was billed as a trial for the 2018 World 50k Championships. The Local Organising Committee (LOC) and Chinese Athletic Association are hoping that the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) will approve their bid to host the championships there next year and so they were keen to put on a well-organised event to demonstrate their capability. To that end they invited the best ultra-runners from around the world. Over 20 countries were represented, including USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, Argentina, many European countries and, of course, China itself.
 |
| Fuxian Lake |
The race took place around Fuxian Lake, which lies to the south of Kunming and north-east of Yuxi, in Yunnan Province. The lake is the largest freshwater lake in China in terms of cubic metres of water capacity (20.62 billion cubic metres) and has a surface area of 216.6 square kilometres. Together with other lakes in Yunnan it forms an ecoregion and is home to several endemic fish species, including the Kanglang fish. An ancient city, dating back 1750 years, has also been discovered submerged under the lake. The local people are very conscious of their environment and how precious it is and the local government has realised how susceptible the lake is to pollution. They are now taking steps to address this and protect the lake before it’s too late. Restaurants and hotels around the lake without waste water treatment have been closed down, eco-agriculture is encouraged and sewage treatment plants have been built. Many of the endemic fish species were becoming endangered due to the pollution and overfishing, but steps have been taken to address this. It seems that their efforts are paying off and Fuxian Lake still has first-grade water.
 |
| Fishing on Fuxian Lake |
There is one island in the lake – Gushan Island, which is home to various temples and pavilions.
 |
| Gushan Island |
 |
| This is what greeted us at Kunming airport! |
I arrived in China on the Tuesday before the race on the Saturday, hoping that those few days would be enough to get over the jet lag and acclimatise to the altitude, which was 1757 metres at its lowest point. I had an 11+ hour flight from Heathrow to Guangzhou and then a further flight to Kunming. It was immediately obvious that the race had done a good job with its publicity, with giant billboards at Kunming airport and along all the roads en route to our hotel.
At Kunming we were met by race volunteers and taken by shuttle bus to our hotel – the luxurious five-star Hilton Yuxi Fuxian Lake. On arrival we were met by Race Director Tao Xuyan, and a plethora of photographers. Tao and all the Chinese race volunteers were so friendly and helpful and made us feel really welcome.
 |
Arriving at the hotel Friendly race volunteers
|
I discovered I would have a room all to myself – with a massive bed and a big sliding window opening onto a balcony overlooking the lake. Wow, what a view! The hotel grounds were amazing too, with an outdoor pool, gardens and terraces.
 |
| A balcony with a view! |
 |
 |
| The hotel grounds |
Food was served buffet-style in a dining area, which meant you could go and re-fill your plate as often as you liked – perfect for hungry athletes! The choice was amazing, with a huge array of dishes varying from the more obvious noodles, rice, salad, vegetables etc. to the more obscure spicy chicken feet, lotus root, dragon fruit and various dim sum dishes e.g. lotus leaf rice, sesame balls and various steamed buns. It was all very delicious, although the trick the day before the race was to try and find the less-spicy options!
 |
| There was cake at every meal (yes, even breakfast!) |
I arrived at the hotel late afternoon and almost immediately went out for a short, easy run with one of the other GB girls. I was quite shocked at how difficult I was finding it to breathe – I knew we would be at an altitude of around 1757 metres, but having never raced at altitude before I didn’t know how much this would affect me. Maybe it was also the fact we were constantly chatting, or the jet lag and lack of sleep, but that first ‘run’ felt terrible and I was gasping for breath! My easy training runs over the next few days gradually improved, though, and by race day the altitude wasn’t quite so noticeable, although I have no doubt at all that I was working harder than I would for a similar pace at sea level. I also had the seven-hour time difference to get used to and I must admit that my sleep wasn’t great during the whole time I was there. But that’s not unusual for me and so I didn’t stress about it.
 |
My usual early morning training run route Dodging the traffic on training runs!
|
 |
| Being filmed by CCTV! |
First thing the next morning I was asked to do a media interview for the race PR and was then interviewed and filmed, along with two of the other GB girls, for CCTV. No, not the security camera type, but China Central Television! They wanted to film me doing my “usual warm-up routine” and then proceeded to tell me what they wanted – lunges and high knees! Usual warm-up routine?! Hmmm, perhaps not! I thought I’d come to race 50k, not have my core stability tested!
The following day the eight GB runners hired a couple of taxis to drive around the course. Unfortunately we failed to communicate to the drivers which direction we wanted to go, so ended up driving the opposite way to that which we’d be running. But never mind, at least it gave us an idea of what to expect, which was a lot of hills, a lot of hard concrete and very little shade. One section of the course was actually completely closed due to roadworks. Somehow our taxis managed to push their way through, forcing workmen to move themselves and their machinery out of the way! Unbelievably, come race day two days later, the work was finished and we ran on an immaculate tarmac surface! I did take the opportunity to do a bit of Landscape Architecture CPD though and was really impressed by the living 'sculptures'. It was also interesting to note that they were in the process of installing solar powered street lights along the route – again another indication of their regard for the environment. Amazingly these were also all in place by race day and, in fact, the work programme had been brought forward by a considerable time just to ensure that they were in place by race day as some of the 100km runners would be finishing after dark.
 |
| Landscape architecture Chinese style! |
The day before the race was, for me, a jam-packed schedule! But at least it meant I had no time to just sit around pondering the race and getting nervous! First of all was a technical meeting where we were taken through all the rules and procedures for race day. This included a warning that we may be hit by “rolling stones from the mountains”! Bother – I hadn’t thought to pack my hard hat!! The race rules also stated that “repetitive passing through the finish line for extra souvenirs” would result in disqualification! I was, however, pleased to note that environmental protection was again foremost in their minds, with a very strong warning that our discarded drinks bottles must be deposited on the side of the road, so they could be collected up afterwards, and not thrown into the roadside / lakeside vegetation.
 |
| Technical meeting - hard hats required! |
My next ‘engagement’ was a press conference, where I was one of only four athletes invited to attend. We listened to various speeches by Chinese officials and one by the man who had designed the race logos and medals, which was actually quite interesting to me as a designer. I was expecting to be asked some questions, but in actual fact we were just invited up onto the stage as we were introduced and were then photographed by the ‘Paparazzi’!
 |
| The pre-race press conference |
After this I had to get my drinks bottles prepared, labelled and handed in so that they could be transported to the relevant drinks stations the following morning. I was using my tried and tested High 5 and Tailwind drinks and GU Energy gels. I also had my usual trademark silver stars so that I could easily identify my bottles on the tables during the race.
In the evening I was invited to a gala dinner, put on for the race sponsors, Chinese officials, IAU members and a selected number of athletes. It wasn’t ideal pre-race preparation, but I felt privileged to be invited and wanted to make the most of my whole Chinese experience. Along with some of the other athletes who were going, I had dinner in the usual buffet restaurant first, just to make sure I’d fuelled adequately on appropriate food before the race! It was a shame the gala dinner was before the race as the food looked delicious and I would have liked to have tried more of it. We had a variety of dishes on a Lazy Susan in the centre of the table and I did sample some of the offerings that weren’t too spicy, including the Chinese Walnut Buns. Many of the athletes left early as we needed a good night’s rest before the race and the room was beginning to get smokey as the Chinese like to smoke whilst eating.
 |
Dai-style Crispy Roasted Chicken (complete with head!) Chinese Walnut Buns
|
 |
Good job I'd taken a dress with me! A string quartet played while we ate
|
 |
| Mizuno race kit all ready! |
I also needed to finish getting my kit ready for the next day – pin my numbers on my crop top and fix my timing chip to my shoe. I decided to race in my new Mizuno Wave Shadow shoes. I’d never worn them for a race before so it was a bit of a risk, but I had worn them for a few training runs to break them in and get used to them. In the event they felt great – lightweight and really comfortable, with not a blister in sight even at the end of a hot, sweaty 50km!
And so race day dawned at last! I’d had a few hours’ sleep, which is unusual for me the night before a race, and I woke early to have my usual pre-race breakfast. As I went down to the hotel lobby to catch the shuttle bus to the start I realised I wasn’t feeling particularly nervous. I think it was because I had no expectation for this race and I’d put no pressure on myself to run a particular time. For a start I’d had a less than ideal build up. A couple of months before the race I sustained a minor calf strain; a recurrence of one I had before the British 100km Champs. back in May. Although it was only minor it still kept me from running for 10 days or so, and then I had to build gently back into it again. Just as training was beginning to pick up I managed to land awkwardly on a sloping bit of pavement during a warm-up run and re-strained the scar tissue, resulting in another few days off! This was only a couple of weeks before I was due to head out to China! I’d tried to maintain as much fitness as possible through pool running and cycling, but with several long runs missed, hardly any tempo work or sessions, and absolutely no hill work whatsoever, I readjusted my goals for the race with a view to finishing as best as I could. I also didn’t know how much the altitude, lack of sleep and heat would affect me. It’s thanks to my brilliant physio, Mark Buckingham, that I made it to the start line at all. He did everything from deep massage, shockwave therapy, acupuncture and taping with Kinesio tape, to get me there in more or less one piece. I was also taking a double dose of CurraNZ in order to try and speed up the healing. CurraNZ not only help recovery, but also boost the immune system and improve endurance too so they’ve become an essential part of my nutrition (and they’re certified in relation to drug testing too).
http://bit.ly/2qBQoS4
 |
| At the start |
The race wasn’t due to start until 8.30am, but we’d been asked to assemble at the start for 8.00am for the opening ceremony. This meant depositing our kit bags before this, in order that they would be transported to the finish. Luckily the weather was warm and it wasn’t raining as we sat about on the tarmac whilst the opening ceremony took place. I must admit I didn’t see much of it as I was too busy thinking about the race and finding somewhere I could disappear off to for a last minute wee! Oh, and having endless photos taken with Chinese people, with the obligatory ‘thumbs up’! There will be hundreds of Chinese people with photos of themselves with me, and they won’t have the foggiest idea who I am!
 |
| Course map and profile |
Eventually we were off and on our way. The 50km and 100km started together, with the 5km runners just behind. The 100km was a full lap around the lake, finishing back at the start; the 50km was half-way around the lake and we were then taken by bus back again afterwards. Normally in a long distance race I have an idea of the pace I want to start off at and early pace judgement is crucial in the later stages. However on this occasion there were so many unknowns and I really had no idea what pace to aim for, which felt very strange. I set out at a pace that felt comfortable and hoped that I could get to 40km in reasonable shape and then push on from there if possible.
 |
| Looking along the course from the start |
Thankfully the weather at this point was overcast and there was actually quite a breeze which made it slightly less humid than it had been. The first part of the course was quite flat and there was a 10k out-and-back section through the town of Chengjiang, to add on the distance required for an accurate 100km measurement. Unfortunately there was a hoarding down the middle of road, I guess to stop people cutting across short and cheating, but it meant there were only a few places where I could see through to count where I was in the women’s race – luckily the 50km and 100km bib numbers were colour-coded! I’d started very conservatively as I wanted to warm my calf up gently, and I reckoned I was about 13th at 5km. During the early part of the race through the town there were small groups of spectators, but it was really quite strange as hardly any were clapping and cheering. I’m not sure if it’s just not the Chinese way, or if they were a bit bemused as to what was going on, or whether they were just on their way somewhere but discovered the road was closed! They were all, however, taking photos on their smartphones, which was definitely the ‘in’ thing to be doing in China!
 |
| Looking up the 'out-and-back' section of the course (taken from the bus on the way back!) |
There were some undulations over the next 10km or so, but I stuck to my rhythm of 7:15 to 7:25 minute miling and gradually moved up to 8th place by 15km. The first real incline came at about 20km, followed by the biggest hill in the race, which wound its way up a hairpin bend between about 25km and 27km. This took us up approximately 100m in 2km, to 1911 metres (6269.68 feet), the highest point on the course. At the start of this hill we passed the halfway point, which I went through in 1:55:51. Given my lack of any hill training I felt surprisingly strong up the hills and was passing people who were starting to pay for their earlier pace. The next 5km or so was all downhill – better on the lungs, but not so good on the quads and feet! At one point I ran past a Chinese woman having a massive argument with some Police Officers – I’ve no idea what it was all about, but it was a welcome distraction while I was running! The whole route was completely closed to vehicles so maybe she was angry that she couldn’t get to where she wanted to go! A large part of the route was on dual carriageway, often concrete which is even harder on the legs than tarmac, and in some parts quite uneven with potholes and cracks. By this time it was starting to get pretty warm and I was grabbing ice-cold sponges at the drinks stations to squeeze over my head and neck.
The next 10km was very undulating, but took us closer to the lake, with some lovely views looking down over it. By this time the sun was starting to come out and the temperatures were rising fast. I tried to seek out the small amount of shade by running at the edge of the road, which was a welcome relief, but the majority of the route was open with no trees to provide shade. For quite some time along this stretch I was also filmed by a camera crew on a motorbike! In some ways it was nice to have some company as my fellow competitors were quite well spaced, and luckily the motorbike fumes weren’t that bad. There was just once when they annoyed me slightly – as I was approaching a drinks station they were right in front of me and I wanted a clear run to be able to spot my drink. I waved them out of the way and, to their credit, they did move over for me.
I passed the marathon mark in 3:15, in 5th place, although I didn’t know that at the time as no-one spoke English and I had no feedback from anyone out on the course. Having felt surprisingly strong earlier on, by 45km my legs were starting to go and my whole body was starting to struggle. Whether it was the lack of training, the conditions, or a combination of any number of reasons I’ll never know, but that last 5km felt like the longest 5km in my life! I was just hanging on, but still managed to pass a Chinese girl who had been one of the leaders earlier on, but was now struggling even more than I was. I ran through the town where the roadworks had been and noted how good it looked now they’d all been finished. I could see the finish area ahead and kept thinking it would be around the next corner, and then the next, and then, finally, there it was. I crossed the line in 4th place in 3hrs 53:38, with very mixed emotions. I was exhausted and had given it everything I had in testing conditions. Part of me was over the moon to have finished 4th and dipped under the four-hour barrier. The other part of me was gutted to have missed a podium place by ‘just’ four minutes! Dominika Stelmach from Poland was the winner and Petra Pastorova from Czech Republic was second. Third place went to my fellow GB team-mate and friend, Jo Meek, and I was really delighted for her that she’d made the podium.
My 5km splits were:
22:50, 23:17, 22:52, 23:17, 23:25, 23:40, 23:29, 23:09, 23:34, 24:58.
 |
| At the finish (after I'd recovered and changed!) |
As soon as I finished I had race volunteers all round me making sure I was OK, helping me to lie down, fetching my kit bag for me, handing me water and bananas. They even untied my shoes and took them off for me! It seemed they couldn’t do enough to help me!
It didn’t seem long before the presentations for the top three men and women were done and we were making our way to the shuttle buses to take us back to the start area. That was probably one of the most nerve-wracking bus rides I’ve had – half of the dual carriageway was still closed for the runners, so the bus driver decided to drive us back the wrong way along the opposite side of the dual carriageway, with on-coming traffic hurtling towards us blaring their horns! It was slightly perturbing to say the least! Luckily before too long he found a gap in the central reservation and pulled back onto the right side of the road!
Back at the hotel we showered, ate and then went back out to cheer on the runners in the 100km. Another friend and GB team mate, Jo Zakrzewski, was in second place in the women’s race as she ran past the hotel. At that point a car dropped off some of the 50km runners at the hotel and four of us immediately commandeered it and asked the driver to take us the 5km down the road to the 100km finish. We got there in time to see the race winner finish, followed by Jo. I take my hat off to everyone who finished the 100km in the brutal conditions – the temperature just seemed to get hotter and hotter during the afternoon and two-thirds of the 100km field failed to finish. I must admit I was glad I had ‘only’ run the 50km!
 |
| Last minute Vitamin D topping-up! |
The following morning we relaxed by the hotel pool, swapping race stories and showing off our sunburn lines!
Before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye and catch the shuttle bus back to Kunming airport for the journey home. I’d had an amazing time, caught up with old friends and made plenty of new ones, and had the opportunity to race in a new country – my twelfth one outside the UK. It’s always been my philosophy to grab opportunities when they arise and I’m so glad I took this one. The race was extremely well organised, all our needs were met and we were made to feel very welcome. Who knows when and where my running adventures might take me next.
 |
| The sun sets on a truly memorable trip |
 |
| Plenty of race memorabilia to remind me of my adventures! |
