Great Wall Marathon, Tianjin, China

great-wall-china-marathonWho wouldn’t want to run on a wonder of the world that you can see from space? A monument to human achievement just waiting to be raced on... but don’t get too ambitious just yet. This course is one of the most challenging scenic courses in the world. It is stated that runners should expect their marathon time to be 50% longer than their normal time. This is due to the extreme uphill and downhill running you’ll be doing, and this can make a huge difference in your endurance. The time limit is 8 hours and starts in the village of Huangyaguan, near Beijing, and leads straight to the 1,000+-year-old monolith. However, one of the best perks of this course is the totally uninhibited view of some of the most breathtaking, countryside sceneries that China has to offer.