Running at Wadi Bih
I don’t like organised running events and it
had been eight years since my last one, a 100km group run through the hills and
forests to the north of Melbourne.
I don’t like the cost, the crowds, the overflowing portable toilets at
the start and the T shirt that they give you that you don’t want and you will
never wear again. My thoughts are that if you want to go for a run then just
put on your shoes, grab a water bottle and go.
I surprised myself when I felt some
interest in doing the Wadi Bih run in the Musandam Governate in Oman. In my defence there were a few extenuating
circumstances that helped to spark my interest. The first is that I like Oman and in
particular Musandam as result of my sea kayak trip around the north of the
peninsula. The second is that this part of Oman is normally difficult to reach
as the border at Dibba is closed for foreigners (i.e. not Omanis or Emiraties) which
means a long drive via Khasab. The
other alternative to cross at Dibba is the ultra-luxury and ultra-expensive Six
Senses Resprt at Zinghy Bay. The third reason is that the Wadi and terrain is
spectacular.
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| Our campsite near the beach |
An added benefit was that my neighbour, Paddy, had just completed the Dubai marathon and was keen to do the 50km solo run (there are 30km, 50 km and 72km options for individuals and teams). We completed the race entry form including all the paper work (passports and visas) for the border pass and packed our camping gear. It had been a long time since I had run this kind of distance so I put in a hard 85km week in Paris two weeks before the event and then rested my legs for the week before the run. Six gels and a new water Salamon water bottle belt and I was ready to go.
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| The view to the hills on our running route |
Paddy had booked the family into the Six Senses but we were camping he night before the event on the beach near the Tulip Star Hotel. Even though I left the fuel for my MSR at home, we were able to scrounge enough wood to get a decent fire going to cook a good dinner. Marissa, Paddy's wife, had packed food for a small Army so we were carbo loaded before we hit the sack. We slept well despite the Fillipino bonfire party next to us and Paddy's extra extra large mattress which squished me into the corner of the tent (the Fillipino community in Dubai are keen runners and represent probably half of the people you see of a morning on the beach running track).
The course climbs 600 vertical metres up
from the beach over about 12 km and then you have some up and down (with more up than down) to the 25km
mark then you turn around and head back to the Beach. We had a simple strategy given my lack of specific training
for the event, head out at 10 kmph and bring it home if we can. As a result we were at the back of the 46 runners in the 50 km event.
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| Feeling good! The photo doesn't do justice to the spectacular cliff line in the Wadi |
We stuck to our plan for the first 18km then, as we were feeling good we accelerated a little and turned around after about 2 hours 40 (we were not particularly efficient at the check points and Paddy was often keen for a chat and I needed a toilet break). We steamed home overhauling runners ahead of us, enjoying the downhill and really opening our strides and enjoying the scenery. We passed four runners alone between 7km and 4km from home. In the end, paddy finished in 5.06 and I finished in 5.08 which was 12th and 13th respectively and I finished second in my age group!
