Wildflowers and Firs: A Journey of 1000K Begins With One Muddy Step In China
The Chinese philosopher Laozi famously said, “A journey of 1000 miles begins with one step.” I discovered this to be true when I realized I had run 1054k of races and climbed a total elevation of 5.7 times the height of Mount Everest since the start of 2024. Except for one race, all were run in China.
My ninth race of the year was a 168k trail located near Zhangjiakou around 200k north of Beijing in the scenic area of Chongli, the main location for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Situated in the mountains and best known for skiing, the highest point is around 2100m. In winter, temperatures can drop to around –30C and in summer it is around +30C. With a very dry climate, the arid brown hills from the winter are transformed into lush, green meadows covered with wildflowers in summer. For this reason, I am excited to return to Chongli.
But Chongli is also where I completed my first 50k and 100k races, so the area has a special place in my heart. Returning this time for the 168k, I notice that the town has expanded due to the Winter Games and there is a high-speed train station nearby, plus a highway direct to Beijing.
Early in the afternoon before the race, rain starts to fall and as puddles form near the race start, I contemplate running in waterproofs. Thankfully, just a few minutes before the early evening kickoff, the rain stops and over 600 runners move forward. After running through town, the road turns to a mud track and we start heading up into the hills past cattle. The path becomes narrow and this section forces the runners into a single file. Darkness falls around 8.30 pm so we have around 8–9 hours of darkness ahead of us, but this isn’t the challenge.
During the past few weeks, there has been torrential rain and we frequently encounter deep, slippery mud on tracks and steep hills. Everybody is slipping as they make their way down the slopes. It is impossible to go fast and nobody escapes without muddy clothing to the point of hilarity. My shoes are heavy as I run.
The hills of the route are all around 2000-2100m. At night, the temperature cools to around 15 degrees and I wear a hat and gloves because the air is damp and it is windy. It isn’t cold but I shiver each time I stop at a station to refill my water and grab some warm food such as rice congee.
The next morning, the sun rises and the temperature rises. The combination of mild altitude, humidity, and strong sunshine affects many of the runners and over one-third pull out of the race.
It is late afternoon and I feel as if I have been moving slowly all day. I reach checkpoint 11 (out of 16) and see another runner, Eric, whom I met during a previous 168k race. We don’t know each other well but finished our last race together. He has just finished a nap. He looks at me and says let’s run together and keep moving. I know I need somebody to help me as we move towards the second evening.
I lead and we head downhill. For me this part is easy but tiredness is starting to set in and I know I will have to stop several times to rest. I opt for short 5 or 10-minute naps to revive me enough to keep going, although in retrospect I should perhaps have had longer rests. Through silver birch forests, down ski slopes, up over hills of wildflowers and fir trees, we work as a pair to motivate each other. Whilst I am faster running downhill, Eric is steady uphill and keeps me moving whenever I am thinking about slowing down. He is particularly good at cajoling me on flat ground. Our approach seems to work — we maintain a steady pace and overtake many runners who are visibly tired but nervous about stopping to sleep in case they can’t wake up.
As the sun rises for the second time, we find a paved road at the top of a hill and join runners from the 70k race. Compared with our muddy clothes, they look incredibly fresh, and clean and exude energy. We run together on the paved road then let them pass when the route changes to narrow paths and try to absorb some of their energy to reach the finish. The sun is becoming fierce, and we hug any shade that we see. Eventually, we see our final hill overlooking Chongli. We go down the hill leaving the wildflowers behind, and head back into town along a flat road. With encouragement from locals on the street, we arrive after 41 hours, 40 mins, 168.1k, and 8788m total elevation.
From the 600-plus runners, 423 finished including 85 women. I finish 8th in my age category and 200th overall. Am I satisfied? Well, eight is a lucky number in China!
