We are now two weeks on from the Burj2Burj, the half marathon in Dubai. I had booked this back in May last year, a good excuse to see friends Amy and Col and their two daughters. It was also a nice bit of warm weather training in the middle of my London Marathon training block.
I flew to Dubai Thursday night and arrived 7 hours later, 11 hours later with the time difference at 7 o'clock in the morning Friday. Col was there to pick me up and we caught up, before I left him to get some work done whilst I went for a 5 mile run to get acclimatised. Running in 24 degree heat mid-morning was a big change from the 2 degrees, wet, windy runs that had been my staple diet in recent months. I was pleased to get it done so soon after the flight and having only grabbed 90 minutes sleep on the plane.
I then got to enjoy the weekend with the Rowlings family, a beer at an Irish bar, followed by a Friday night curry, then up early for the girls football tournaments. I fully immersed myself in proceedings, and we debriefed at the golf club after the tournament over a couple of pints in the sun. I then got out for a 5km run, this time with the temperature at 28 degrees in the heat of the day. Amy and I also picked up our number from the expo enjoying a Corona Cero before picking the girls up from a party. The day ended with a BBQ and something of an early night, the race start was half 6 and our taxi was booked for 5am.
I got up at half 4, but time soon evaporated. I move slower at that time of the morning/night but Amy and I were kitted out and ready to go when the taxi arrived. Col and the girls would see us at the finish around half 8 in the morning.
We got to the start in plenty of time and tried to get our bearings. There was a good hype man at the start, offering us a drink if we broke the half marathon world record, and putting forward the offer of a Lamborghini from his colleague. I'm not sure it was a legally binding offer, but I was confident we wouldn't be collecting.
There wasn't a great deal to do at the start and so Amy and I got ourselves into position early. I was about 2 stone heavy and considerably slower when I signed up for the race and so had on a pink 2:15 bib, Amy and I were now targeting a 2 hour time. There was some effort to get people into their correct pens but it didn't work at all, the paid security might as well have had the morning off for all the good they did. By the time we eventually got over the start line at 6:45 it was a real fruit salad of bib colours, pinks and oranges and greens.
The race started on a wide road that was able to accommodate the large number of runners. The organisers proudly announced that this year's entrants were a record 15,000 runners, 5,000 more than last year. Money talks but I think they may have gotten a little greedy, as there was congestion on the course at points.
As I said, our target time for the race was 1:59:59 so around 5:40 a km. I was hopeful that I was in 1:45-1:50 half marathon shape and so would be strong enough to help Amy along. As it was our 2 hour target was about right for me in the Dubai heat. 19 degrees and 85% humidity meant my shirt was soaked through after 8km or so and it remained that way for the rest of the run.
I will split our race up into quarters. Here are the first 5km splits:
6:05, 5:37, 5:30, 5:30, 5:42 = 28:24
The initial km was a slow one with all of the crowds, I was surprised how quick it was. At points I thought we were going to run a 7 minute km so bad was the traffic, but just over 6 minutes was perfect. Amy and I were running relaxed and working our way through the crowds. Amy had those 5:40 splits in her head and although there were a couple of slightly quicker splits early, she ran to that pace beautifully. I barely looked at my watch and we just slipped into a rhythm.
5:40, 5:35, 5:35, 5:39, 5:39 = 28:08
The second 5km was when the road narrowed. Where we had initially got a nice wide motorway it was now split over both carriages, but keeping a lane open either side so cars could still use it. It definitely felt a little dicey when running by the cones on the edge, and it wasn't always possible to run stride for stride with Amy due to the crowds. I found myself on the other side of the road and had to leap some roadside foliage but successfully landed the jump without injury.
5:38, 5:44, 5:48, 5:48, 5:48 = 28:46
We had now got away from the narrower lanes and were on one straight road to the finish. This course is not interesting or scenic. It is a get it done kind of course. The one positive was the road was slightly wider and so gave us more room, you did still feel pushed along by the other runners, it never really thinned out. The crowds at the side of the road were ok, far from wall to wall but there were good numbers out. Lots of signs referring to brunches missed and the early start.
Amy had said her legs were struggling from 10km and she did really well managing her efforts throughout. In this stage she just asked to take the pace down 10 seconds a km or so. By the end of the 15th km we were just a touch ahead of 2 hour pace but I could feel we were in manage it territory and so the sub 2 hours would probably escape us.
6:01, 6:17, 6:18, 6:07, 6:21, 5:55 and 1:19 (final bit).
It was in this last 5km where we had our first walk breaks. How Amy kept them to just 90 seconds total I do not know. When I am on my own and decide I am cooked and need a walk I can hemorrhage time. It would just be a little 10-15 seconds to stretch it out, get the heart rate down a touch and then getting going again. It was during this period I made myself useful and got Amy some orange. She was running with a CamelBak and so didn't need any liquids at the aid stations.
We saw Col and the girls approaching the finish and that was a nice cheer to get us to the line. There was a right hand turn and so the finish line only came into sight at the very end. Our hard earned medals were received and we then found Col and the girls. Some quick sweaty cuddles and it was onto the next thing. A Mcdonald's breakfast at 9am, one of the joys of the early start. Then into the car and a race across town for some more girls football watching.
The girls had play dates with friends and so Amy, Col and I headed for a beautiful roast in the sun at Joe's Backyard. The day didn't end there though, I decided in my wisdom to get a taxi booked for 2:30 in the morning to get me to the pub for the start of the Superbowl at 3:30 am Monday morning Dubai time. I had a few beers and some food watching a rather uninspiring Superbowl and decided to cut it short at 7am with half of the fourth quarter remaining and the result beyond doubt.
I managed to run Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to end the holiday. Nothing too quick or too long but it was good to keep up the momentum. A massage on Tuesday evening helped to relieve the post race aches and pains.
The race itself might not have been the most beautiful or inspired race, but it is always a pleasure to run with Amy and it gave me a great excuse to come and share an incredible five days with the Rowling's family. Same again in 2027?
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