I ran my first marathon in 2010.
It was in San Diego as the course took runners through quaint public parks, around metropolitan stadiums and concert venues and then zigzagged through the downtown area, where it ended at a water park just outside of the city.
I documented all the shenanigans for the Virgin Islands Daily News
It was a 'Rock N Roll marathon', which meant there was a different musical act set up at each mile marker to keep runners entertained and energized. Live bands, DJs, performers and they even had a little girl playing the violin.
The Dubai Marathon had none of that.
Listen, I don't want to be one of those people that writes a bad review about an event on some blog just because he was grossly unsatisfied by the final product. Who really reads blogs anyway?
But in all seriousness, the course for the Dubai Marathon is essentially a point and back route, which means you basically run straight down a road for about 12 miles, turn around and then run back down that very same road. Yawn...
There was no music. There was no cheering.
Just a steady score of gawking day laborers, who loved to record all the action on their circa 1998 mobile phones as the sun came up on another day in Dubai.
Full disclosure: I was not a Top 10 finisher. Not even close. This race kicked my ass.
It took me more than five hours to complete the 42.2-kilometre (26.2 mile) run. But by the time I crossed the line, believe it or not: there was no water left for the runners. I even walked into the medical tent in search of some fluids. Still, no dice.
I'm sorry but it was just a pretty poorly-run event. The execution was not there.
Luckily, I had a great support staff with me. My wife Miranda was the best cheerleader in the city that day; my friend Anique was a solider and ran with me for the first half of the race; and my brother-in-law Kyle was the photographer.
Together, they provided a huge lift for me. More than they will ever know. On top of that, they took me to McDonald's after the race.
So after a full morning of running punishment on the asphalt of Dubai, it felt good to head back to Abu Dhabi. After all, I had bigger fish to fry. Less than 24 hours after crossing the marathon finish line, I found myself in the Abu Dhabi International Airport about to board a plane for Thailand.
Indeed, no rest for the weary...
Sorry to hear the race wasn't well organised. But the main thing is, you entered, and finished. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteYour post reminded me of a quote I saw doing the rounds last week (it's not from me; I only ran my first 5K the other week). It's the top rated answer to "How does it feel to be last in a marathon?" and you should adopt it with pride.
"I was third to last in a marathon of about 2000 runners. I came in less than 3 minutes under the maximum time. I got the medal.
And I beat about 6 billion people who have never run a marathon."
Link: http://www.quora.com/How-does-it-feel-to-be-the-last-one-in-a-marathon
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ReplyDeleteHey, that is an awesome quote. Good on you!
DeleteIt is important to remember that just simply participating in a marathon is a huge accomplishment in itself.
A few years ago, before my first marathon, my editor found out about my upcoming endeavor and asked me to write a column about "Why do people run marathons?"
You may like it:
http://virginislandsdailynews.com/sports/the-marathon-mission-1.833522