The Great Wall Antarctic Marathon: penguins, icebergs and the coolest race you’ll ever run
In this race organised by a Chinese company, the fun starts with a crossing of the rough Drake Passage, followed by a run through the Antarctic Peninsula and ends with a three-day cruise
Mao Zedong once said: “He who has never been to the Great Wall, is not a true man.” Swap “been to” to “run on”, and his one-liner still reflects the fascination the Wall holds – running events on the Great Wall sell out fast, attended mainly by foreigners. Early next year, yet another Great Wall run will be added to the roster, but its finish line is 18,000 kilometres away from Beijing, at China’s oldest Antarctic research station – called The Great Wall.
Marathons have been held in Antarctica in the past, but The Great Wall Antarctic Marathon slated for February is different. It is an international event organised outside China by a Chinese company.
The Antarctic Peninsula projects, like a rhino horn, from the circular body of the Southern Continent, and King George Island, where the marathon is held, lies a few miles from the peninsula’s northern tip. Serving as the gateway to the interior, it is, by Antarctic standards, warm and densely inhabited – bases of 11 nations have been built here, including China’s.
The stations are connected by a gravel road, the racecourse for the Great Wall run, where traffic consists mainly of strolling penguins. In addition to marathons, the island also hosts a sports event – King George Island Olympics, an annual contest between the staff from research bases.
“Of course, we [Chinese] would always win at table tennis. Football was decided between the Chileans and the Uruguayans, and the Russians would win volleyball and running,” says Liu Fubin, who goes by his English name Alex Liu.