Shanghai'd

Marathon.

Last weekend, I again ran the Shanghai ma la song. Actually, just the half marathon, but since until recently I didn't know how to say "half marathon" in Chinese, I've gotten in the habit of just telling people "marathon". Amongst a community of mostly non-competitive runners, "marathon" is an immediately recognized event and makes the conversation much easier. Besides, for someone who's never run outside of the occasionally sprint to claim an open taxi on a rainy day in Shanghai, the extra 21.1 km are irrelevant. Apologizes to any runners out there for such blasphemy.

This year I was forced to bandit the race. I had every intention of legitimately registering, but by the time I got around to it, I found the on-line registration was already closed - a full 3 weeks before race day! Not to worry. A few days earlier I had serendipitously come across my race bib from last year and figured it would serve as a passable disguise. Amidst a sea of 20,000 runners, I was confident no one was going to trouble themselves over some foreigner with the wrong color bid.

Perhaps I should consider banditing more often, as this was one of my most enjoyable races ever. With no timing chip, relatively no training, and absolutely no pressure I was completely free to soak in the surroundings, which were a palpable mix of fan-wielding octogenarian tai chi troupes, drummers, and inappropriately shoed competitors. I saw two barefoot runners and one dude running in his soccer cleats. Ouch! The kilometers easily ticked by with such sensory distraction.

The course is a pancake flat east to west stroll through some of the less noteworthy streets in Puxi. Both the full and half marathon courses start and finish at the same points, with the full course splitting off at about km 17 to add the extra distance before joining back up right near the finish line. Aside from the heavily fan-supported start on Nanjing lu, it is a completely unspectacular course. The race organizers could do the event a huge favor by re-routing it through some of the more interesting Shanghai landmarks. My suggestion would be to start in Pudong at Century park, cruise down Century avenue to the Lujiazui CBD, then across one of the bridges into Puxi, down the Bund and through a few old Hong Kou neighborhoods before finishing in People's square. Okay, good for the runners maybe, but bad for the traffic cops.

I digress. Back to the race. At the split off point, I of course took the shorter half marathon route and kicked it up a notch for the last few kms. Nearing the finish line, my little counterfeit bib almost caused some major embarrassment. It turned out the 2006 half bibs quite resembled the 2007 full ones. Approaching the line, I could see the race organizers starting to get very excited presumably thinking I was the full marathon course leader coming down the stretch (in what would have been world-record obliterating time, no less). Sprinting in the last few meters I waved the welcoming party away and convinced them I was merely finishing the half marathon in a rather pedestrian time of 1:33.