The story
Beijing Great Wall Marathon Festival in Great Wall/Beijing
An internationally organized marathon run directly along the Huangyaguan section of the Great Wall in Jixian district, Tianjin, east of Beijing, founded in 1999 by organizer Albatros Adventure Marathons. The course crosses 5,164 stone steps of varying height across steep wall sections, widely rated among the most physically demanding marathon courses in the world, with a full marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K distances typically held on the third Saturday of May.
The Great Wall Marathon starts on a section of wall most runners never expect to actually run on: the Huangyaguan pass, part of the Great Wall east of Beijing in Tianjin's Jixian district, where the course crosses 5,164 individual stone steps along steep ascents and descents built for defense rather than athletics.