one idea list: New Taipei City WanJinShi International Marathon

Is Everybody Ready? Thumbs-Up at the Starting Line!

Las Vegas, NV. Salt Lake City, UT. Seattle, WA. Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan. WanLi, Taiwan.

What do these locations have in common? Other than they are all in the Northern Hemisphere, the commonality I'm getting at is I've ran in each of these places in the last three weeks! And it has been awesome! I've been traveling a bit for work lately, and I make an effort to get out and run at least once everywhere I go. Map-My-Run is having a heck of a time keeping up with the changing locales.

The first four locations on the list were just training and fun runs, but during my last run I was able to attend the New Taipei City WanJinShi International Marathon (hereafter NTCWJSIM). The NTCWJSIM allows runners to choose from distances of Full Marathon (42K), Half Marathon (21K) and 10K. I only did the half-marathon, as I'm not as fond of the strenuously long distances as are Sam and Steve. I hear the longer distances can leave one injury prone.

Me and my running mates, possessed and ready to run.
left to right: Little Gao, Winston, Erica, Selma, and 席文凱

Our morning began at 3:30 AM, as we had to catch the race shuttle at 4:00 AM to take us from downtown Taipei to the NorthEast Coast. Getting out of the big city is a good thing for aerobic activity, and good for breathing in general. Soon we were at the racing plaza, checking in, trying to stay warm despite the cool ocean breeze, getting some snacks in prior to the run.

Here's the start. And the Finish.

I heard some wonderfully infectious beats coming from the race stage, and thought I had better go check out where this catchy music was coming from. The entire race plaza was full of athletes getting ready for their run, with the Jane-Fondas on stage directing the crowd in aerobics and warm-ups and stretches! What a great idea! Why haven't they done this at any of the U.S. races I have attended? Are we too cool for this great idea? This is such an obviously wonderful program I hope it will be stolen and replicated at races across the West. Alas, I probably hope in vain.

The gun sounded for the NTCWJSI-Full-Marathon at 6:30, but by that time just about all the Half-Marathoners had already crowded the starting line. I made my way to my usual spot, looking around to find people who appeared to be a bit faster than me and hoped to fit into the sub 8 minute mile grouping. Although your guess would be as good as mine when trying to find this segment of racers, because appearances can be deceiving. It's usually that person that looks like they shouldn't be running at all that zips by me early, and similar folks passing me by at various parts of a race.

When 6:50 sounded the NTCWJSI-Half-Marathon began. Like every other road race I've attended, it was a bit crowded for the first mile. But the road was wide enough that it was never a real problem, even while we ran a mile in a man-made tunnel. After the tunnel, the rest of the run was along the Pacific Ocean shoreline. The largest major city in this area (Keelung) averages 214 rain days per year. Keelung receives approximately 147 inches of rain per year, for a comparison Seattle averages 38 inches annually. But on this day we were lucky enough to only have overcast skies and a slight cross-wind from the Ocean. The cross-wind pressed you diagonally, but never really was it fully a headwind or fully a tailwind, just a minor interference breeze. The only real climbs on the run were short, and you gained only 100 feet in less than a half a mile each time. But the downside (literally) of not having more hills is that there are fewer hills to run down. I guess it all evens out in the end.

One thing that always impresses me is how welcoming the Taiwanese people are to foreigners, and this race was no different. At the halfway point, there was a turn-around, and at that point you began running against traffic on the other side of the street. There were hundreds of runners who encouraged me with a thumbs up, cheering me on and being altogether supportive of me as I ran by. I'm sure other Westerners on this run had the same experience, as the Taiwanese people are incredibly polite and will often go out of their way to try to make visitors feel welcome. This race was no different, both the race support staff and the public on the side of the road. I gave high fives to the little kids on the side of the road, had my photo taken with some protestors, and chatted up the folks at the drink stations. Thank you for the love, all of my new found friends.

When I finished I was happy to have a new PR, besting my previous time by 2 minutes. Some of that, actually most of that has to do with running at sea level, but I hope that my fitness has improved a bit as well. We shall see after the next half marathon at altitude. All in all it was a good time, the race was well organized and well staffed, the road clearly marked, my friends and I all enjoyed a fun, well-organized and scenic race and I feel lucky that I get to do these kinds of things while traveling for work.