I was invited to run a marathon across the Great Wall of China with only 3 weeks notice.
With very little training, no flight or visa and no running gear for the intense Chinese sun, I used the experience as an experiment to see if I could wing it.

I’m not sure how it happened but I completed the run in 10 hours 10 minutes and 11.5 seconds. That half a second is vitally important ; )
42 females entered the marathon and only 28 completed it. I finished 14th.

This experiment proved to me I do not always need to be as rigorous with my event planning and nutrition as I usually am.  I also certainly do not need the expensive running gear I usually buy.
I proved a bit of willpower, determination and a positive attitude can get me anywhere.

I wrote a daily blog in the days running up to the marathon documenting how I felt, which can be found here:

China Marathon Log 001
China Marathon Log 002
China Marathon Log 003
China Marathon Log 004
China Marathon Log 005 Part 1
China Marathon Log 005 Part 2