China Great Wall Marathon REVIEW & Race Recap - GoJo Runner

[@nhart8390]

Best review of the overall experience!

[@wkszeto]

Thanks for your generosity. This video is excellent ! The best one I have ever seen for marathon.

[@JolieHales]

+wkszeto Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it. :)

[@aerobicdiver]

Don't know how I missed this gem of a review until now, but well done Jolie. You truly captured the elements of the Great Wall Marathon quite nicely and with great humour. It took me two tries to complete this Marathon, having suffered from heat exhaustion the first time back in 2012, but was much more successful the following year and your review brought me back to the event as if it was yesterday. Anyway great review and recap and I loved watching it so much I now have to find some of your other GoJo Runner videos. I note that you gave a mention to the Big 5 Marathon in Africa which I also completed and now I have to see if you also travelled there for a GoJo Runner Review and Race Recap. In order to enjoy another flashback I sure hope so.

[@fleurchapin7202]

Thank you Julie for this video! You answered some of the questions I had about the race (especially the bathroom during the race!!!).I signed up with Albatros Adventure to do the full marathon this May and I am already getting the jitters. Your video helped me calm down a bit, after seeing other videos on KZbin that scared me a lot! This looks like a combination of fun, scary, challenging and beyond your limits experience and I can't wait to get to it! Thanks!!! :)

[@JolieHales]

+Gabriela Sandu No problem! Glad I could help! You'll have a great time -- let us know how it goes!

[@maffbuckley600]

Fleur Chapin how was it?

[@sharks501]

outstanding job on the video, it was great meeting you and your family at the Beijing airport.

[@bethaniestar1]

Great info and review. Thank you for posting it.

[@MelissaHo0202]

Great video! Beautiful shots, great narration, and super informative. I'm doing the same 21K in May, and your video was the most helpful of all the ones I saw on KZbin. I feel more confident knowing what to expect on race day! Thank you! When's your next race? Looking forward to more vids!

[@JolieHales]

+Melissa Ho Thanks Melissa! I really appreciate your words! My next race will be the Salt Lake City Half Marathon, but I just finished the SoCal Ragnar, so hopefully I'll get some clips up on KZbin in a bit!

[@mattjames5362]

Great video, I am planning on doing this next year. I did not like the idea about having to buy a travel package to do the race but the tours look amazing and I love meeting new people. Thanks again for sharing your experience!

[@JolieHales]

+matt james Yeah, the tour aspect is unique and I was skeptical at first, but it ended up being pretty cool. Probably better than attempting to see China on my own.

[@mattjames5362]

Hey, So what hotel did you stay at? Also, did you book the 6 or 7 day package? I was gonna book mine soon and I am just really excited. Hoping to get some booking advice lol

[@JolieHales]

+matt james Hi Matt! We just did the 6-day package and stayed at the Park Plaza West hotel. Worked out great for us! Best wishes on your trip planning!

[@abhishekk716]

Wow, thank for this video. Glad to know more people from SoCal have run this. I'll be there in 2 weeks for the full. Thanks for the helpful info and tips.

[@JolieHales]

+Abhishek Kumar Glad it was helpful! Two weeks sounds awesome -- have fun!

[@scottgriffith22]

Jolie, this is an excellent review! Your video is done very well. I'm excited about my upcoming trip for the marathon.

[@JolieHales]

+Scott Griffith Thanks Scott! You will have a great time!

[@JolieHales]

+Scott Griffith Thanks Scott! You will have a great time!

[@scottgriffith22]

Jolie, was curious how you managed your smartphone coverage while there. Any suggestions?

[@JolieHales]

+Scott Griffith I just turned my phone off all week. :p But my dad contacted his provider Verizon and signed up for international coverage to go with a SIM card -- He says the cost varies from country to country, but wasn't too expensive. Then he canceled it when he got back to the states.

[@JolieHales]

+Scott Griffith I just turned my phone off all week. :p But my dad contacted his provider Verizon and signed up for international coverage to go with a SIM card -- He says the cost varies from country to country, but wasn't too expensive. Then he canceled it when he got back to the states.

[@snehadeepkayet2402]

This is an incredible video! Thank you so much. I am doing this race next year :)

[@nachomike87]

Amazing video!! and such a nice person. I'm going this year and have seen many video. This one is the best one! Sincerely, so funny group. Hope to see you in a race somewhere :) Good luck in everything

[@JolieHales]

+Ignacio Rodriguez Aedo Thanks Ignacio! I hope we run in to each other at a future race!

[@nachomike87]

+Jolie Hales put in your (and your family) bucket list some race in Chile! Maybe trail running would be an amazing experience in this side of the world

[@JolieHales]

+Ignacio Rodriguez Aedo I love the idea!

[@maffbuckley600]

Great video! I’m happy that you did it with family - also a little jealous as none of my relatives run :( nor my friends... looks like il may be doing it alone... so scary - I don’t even speak Chinese!

[@guymace9796]

doing it this year. such a positive, helpful vid.. Feeling better now!! :) cheers

[@JolieHales]

+guy mace Glad to hear it! You'll have a blast!

[@MiaCatAdventures]

Hi I am doing this next year, either half or full, not sure as yet - but doing plenty of training for it x

[@sdcnl]

Love this video. Awesome experience !

[@escoacorrere]

Great video. I'm planning to run this in 2021.

[@jpdxfiveo]

Great Video!!! Looking forward to going this year myself. Mind if I ask where you got your shirts done, I love that idea! Thanks!!

[@JolieHales]

Thanks Joe! You will have a great time! Glad you like the shirts -- my husband actually designed the graphic, and then we had them printed at logosoftware.com. Good luck!

[@runchar3754]

Loved this! Best Great Wall Marathon video I've seen!! Hoping to do it in 2018 :)

[@JolieHales]

Thank you! Good luck! It was awesome!

[@jochemw30]

Nice movie you make. You pull me over the line to go run the wall.

[@colonellKurtz]

great video,thanks for sharing.

[@thaisdemedeiros]

Did you do the Great Wall Marathon with Albatroz or the Great Wall of China Marathon? :) Thank you in advance for your reply!

[@MinOei-m8d]

Awesome video

[@CrossynMeags]

Ive just booked for the full and watching your video both petrifies and excites me. Any training tips?

[@abbyv6832]

Thank you for this! It was very helpful! :)

[@valasi85]

For a person who has never done a marathon, would you suggest a half marathon? Or should i go all out n do the 42km?

[@klymillekeilahrodriguez6423]

I'm an ultra marathoner from the Philippines. Aiming to join the GWCM 2016 full marathon :) awesome review. made me want to surely join. what camera did you use?

[@JolieHales]

+klymille keilah rodriguez Thanks so much! Just used a GoPro Hero4 black. :)

[@ProChoiceJesus]

Think I could bust my 3:56 PR here? : )

[@JolieHales]

Hahahaha...mmmmm.... probably not. ;)

[@TheBunnyHeals]

Great review..thanks (y)

[@valentinabevilacqua2701]

Hello Jolie, thanks for sharing your experience! I have a question which might sound a little stupid, but im thinking of doing the half marathon on the wall as i live very close to it, and i need to buy new kicks...as this will be my next race, do you have any suggestion about shoes? more less grip needed because of the steps...i actually have been to the area in winter and i know is a little slippery, like i would not have run down the stairs with the nike i was wearing that day! Thank you for the help, and for the great video!!!

[@JolieHales]

Hmmm.... that's a tough one. You cover all kinds of terrain during the race -- brick, dirt, rocks, pavement.... if you have some all-terrain running shoes, maybe even some trail running shoes, maybe opt for those. I always run in Newtons (great shoes / I love them -- but not perfect for everyone), and I brought some old ones with worn tread that probably weren't as safe as they could have been. But I made it through! Looking back I probably would have brought trail Newtons.

[@scottclemmons2973]

Are any of the steep inclines scary?

[@JolieHales]

@Scott Clemmons - On the wall itself, a few are steep enough that you need to slow down and proceed with caution, but not scary enough that you'd need ropes and gear and such, I would say.

[@scottclemmons2973]

@@JolieHales thanks! I was asking because I have seen some people crawling up the stairs and was wondering if they were crawling because their legs were tired or because they were afraid of standing. Thanks for sharing your video!

[@JolieHales]

@Scott Clemmons - It's a good question! In my experience, they were crawling out of exhaustion since there are soooo many steps, especially on the full marathon course.

[@scottclemmons2973]

@@JolieHales thanks for the info! Hope to run it in the next couple of years!

[@39andore]

thank you this Video it's Great Fun

[@JolieHales]

+Tamotsu Tokai Thanks Tamotsu!

[@guangxidavidliu]

You really need to visit other places in China.

[@JolieHales]

I totally agree! Any recommendations?

[@ritulmishra3240]

Difficult run a marathon