Ni Hao from Guiyang!
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| (Photo by Paul Merca) |
After a 25 hour adventure starting from my house in Seattle, I am finally here in Guiyang to cover the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
My trip from Seattle started with a 12 1/2 hour plane ride to Shanghai. Upon landing in Shanghai and going through customs, it was another 3 hour flight to Guiyang.
We were delayed leaving the Guiyang airport to our hotel, because the volunteers insisted that the Tanzanian team was supposed to be on our Air China flight. A Ugandan journalist who so happened to be on our flight told the volunteers that there was no way the Tanzanian team were on the flight, because, “There were only two black people on the plane.”
After some deliberation, we left the Guiyang airport around 1:15 am, and after dropping off the others at their hotel, I managed to get checked into the Jinyang Hotel and in my room by 2:15 am.
An interesting observation—about the time we were waiting for our bus, the Japanese team (above/photo by Paul Merca) rolled in, with nearly every athlete wearing a surgical mask. Robert Johnson of letsrun.com and I looked at each other, and shook our heads, then he made a reference to Galen Rupp, who several years ago, ran a race in Eugene wearing a mask.
It’s noon here in Guiyang, and I’m just getting my bearings together. Looking forward to getting some interviews in today.
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