We arrived at Yin Yang square and had our fist incling of what the wall would be. After a briefing by the organisers, we were bussed up to see the wall. The bus ride up was a 5km climb, with the buses in low gear. And we knew that this would be the first 5km of our run on race day!
The wall was awesome. An unbelievably great expanse. Beautifully crafted over many years and with much blood, sweat and tears.
The stairs were many and varied. They went from deep set with low rises, to incredibly high rises (that got your gluttes groaning) and hardly any space for the ball of your foot, let along your whole shoe! And they seemed to go on and on. Up and down, up and down, down and up, and up and down! Parts were so steep and with so many steps you had to cling to the wall to stop the vertigo. And half way down you realise that although you are doing okay, all it will take is for some idiot behind you to slip and fall and you'd all turn into skittles!
The flat bits between the ups and downs were few and far between, but mostly they had drains running across them, and so you had to watch your step so as not to step into a drain and lose an ankle. And walking on the flat bits gave you a sense of walking backwards! Very strange.
And then their were the very scary bits. Steep hills with wholes chopped out of the rock, instead of steps. More like foot holds. Only wide enough for one person, with a sheer drop on the side. And a hand rail in some cases, or a bit of old rope.
By the end of it all our legs were shaking uncontrollably. And we still had a goat track to negotiate followed by another staircase descending into yin yang square. How were we going to do this running? and after the 5km hill from hell? Whose stupid idea was all of this anyway?
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