I must say it was an experience of a lifetime for our family, which consisted of my husband and me, our daughter and husband and two children ages 9 and 11 as well as our second daughter and her son aged 3.

To say China was on our bucket list would be incorrect, however after having run on the Great Wall, it certainly was worth the trip just for that one experience. The structure of the wall and its history is incredible, the run was a challenge and the atmosphere running up the hill to the wall and through the villages with the children was awesome. Our family now has a new appreciation of what is achievable in life. Two ran the marathon, one the half marathon and four of us including the two oldest children ran the 8.5 klm, cheered along by the Chinese people. All this would not have been possible without Travelling Fit.

This is our second experience of running marathons with Travelling Fit, the first being in Iceland. Right from the start, nothing has been too much trouble. Craig handled our booking and was the easiest going person to deal with and was happy to, time and again answer our questions. Thanks Craig. We were fortunate enough to have Mari-Mar, the owner of Travelling Fit, travel with us on both occasions. She is a gem and very good as what she does, however she makes it look so easy. The organisation was brilliant with everything running on time which is not always easy when dealing with approx 60 people on a bus. Our three year old grandson fell in love with Mari-Mar.

Our Chinese guide Frank that accompanied us, spoke great English and was excellent, going over and above to ensure everything was attended too. I have a dietary problem being a Coeliac and this was organised by Craig originally, then Mari-Mar and Frank ensured each day that i was given the correct food and that this was no issue at all. All of our food was great, in particular the lavish lunches we had.

Make no mistake, it is a big day on race day, leaving the hotel on the bus at approximately 2.30am and returning just in time to shower and have dinner. I am sure that we were all still on a high at this stage. The only negative which we could comment on was the breakfast prepared by the hotel for the race day. We understood that it had to be prepared and packaged the night before, however it consisted of a Banana and a boiled egg which were fine. The remainder consisted of Pastries, Cake and Croissants which we felt were not really suitable to run on. Other people may not have felt this way. With that having been said our accommodation, meals and staff at the hotel were great.

An experience that our family shall never forget and can’t wait until 2020 when we will be travelling with Travelling Fit to South Africa for the Big 5 Marathon. A job well done. Thank you all.

Paul and Robyn Madigan and family.