2005 Great Wall Marathon Race Results...

The Results are in!

Thomspon came in at 5h 42m and raised over $2000 for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Service Center in Salinas. Thank you for all who supported Thompson on his journey and we all thank you, Thompson, for your perserverence and philanthropy.

...directly from Thompson,

"Well it's done and I've lived to tell the tale. I'm still trying to decide what I think of the experience. It was WAY more difficult than I imagined and I sort of feel like a failure...though I came in at almost the exact time I predicted from my Carmel Beach stairs runs.

I finished in 5 hours and 42 grueling minutes of non-stop suffering. (Which, as we know, is a TERRIBLE time for a normal marathon...but this one was distinctly abnormal I keep trying to tell myself as justification).

Don't get me wrong...I know I had fun (I'm still processing so I quite don't know yet how much). The first part of the wall was really incredible, but the preceding 4 miles of uphill running was NOT.

Sadly at about mile 13 of all things I got kind of sick of it and had to do a walk/ run combination. By the time I got on the wall again at mile 20 I had charley-horses in both calves and I literally (and it sounds like a pun but it's not) now know what the "hitting the wall" thing means.

I kept thinking "should I cry", "should I vomit" "should I sit down and not move until crows pick at my bleached bones"? It was indescribably painful. I was absolutely shocked and disgusted with myself for not training right. But somehow when it started to rain and I got off the wall I was able to start running again and ran my way to the finish line.

It's kinda hard to believe I did this just this morning (and with having to wake up at 2 a.m. to catch a bus to boot.)

I'll bore you to tears with the video and endless recountings when I get home. I'm off to a massage, but surprisingly for all the agony, I don't hurt at all (yet). More later."

read the official blog entry for "china fun run"

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