Racing to greatness

It was two days before the big race when Sue Haberl went through a mandatory walk-through of the course she was to run.

The Huntington Beach resident took mental note of the village she would pass on that 10K run. She later was awed and amazed at the ancient steps she had reached — more than 3,700 of them, each one built uniquely different from the next and many of which she would have to ascend and descend along the route.

The lay of this familiar site, yet unfamiliar terrain, caused her to pause as she questioned the difficulty and intricacies of such a course.

This race, however, had “greatness” written all over it.

“There was some fear after going through that inspection, and it really was right then when I realized what a challenging, difficult race this would be,” said the 37-year-old, who still was determined to run the 10K race along an unspoiled stretch of the Great Wall of China, near the northern city of Tianjin. “At the sight of it, I was in awe. I just had this enormous respect looking at this giant wall that people built by hand.

“I could have sat there and looked at the wall for hours. It was just incredible.”

Haberl, who had done some triathlons and half-marathons in the past few years, not only met the challenge, but she won the women’s 10K. It was her first victory in her years competing in running events.

What’s more, the trophy she received was her first athletic award, she said.

“It was a great, great feeling,” she said. “It was definitely one of the big highlights of my life.

“I was really thankful that we did have that inspection at the wall because during the entire race, there were so many steps that I don’t think I looked around much at the other surroundings.”

The 2007 Great Wall Marathon on May 19 attracted 1,300 runners from around the world for the four events the race offered: a marathon, half-marathon, 10K and 5K. Haberl said she was one of nearly 200 athletes who ran the 10K.

She, her husband, Chris and in-laws, Gene and Linda Haberl, went on a 10-day group tour excursion in China that was centered around the marathon event.

“It was a great trip because everyone on the trip was active and into running,” she said. “There were 120 people in our tour group and everyone got along. We would go out on runs at 4:30 in the morning. We had a great time.”

The race began with a 5K uphill run through village streets where local residents came out to show support for the runners. After completing the uphill run, runners next had to conquer hundreds of steps just to reach The Great Wall. Rolling hills with uneven steps, steep climbs and an ascent off the wall — where a single track down the mountain included hundreds of stairs on the descent — was the next leg.

The race ended back in the square where it began.

Haberl said that she and her husband had decided to stay together throughout the race. Her in-laws, she said, walked the route.

“We decided not to worry about the race, to just have fun,” Haberl said. “But at one point, I began to pull away and Chris encouraged me the rest of the way. When I thought it was too hard, that I’d need to take a break, I’d hear his voice encouraging me, ‘Run, Sue, run,’ or, ‘They’re catching up to you.’ That inspired me even more.”

Chris Haberl became his wife’s biggest cheerleader.

“I just didn’t want her to give up and not win,” he said. “You don’t get a lot of chances to win a race, let alone win a race at the international level. I was probably just as excited, if not more, for her than she was.”

Haberl was the first woman to finish, winning in a time of 1 hour 17 minutes.

“That doesn’t look like a good time but you have to consider the rigors of the course and what we had to do,” she said. “When I heard that I was the first female to finish, I couldn’t believe it. I never competed in sports when I was in school and since I began running a few years ago, I had never won a race.”

Haberl will be right at home on her next run, which will be the familiar course of the 5K race at the Huntington Beach Fourth of July run.

“I don’t know if I can top this one,” she said of her triumph at The Great Wall of China. “This one has a special spot.”