Rabat Half Marathon Race Report 2013

  A couple of weeks ago I traveled up to Rabat for the 9th annual Rabat Semi-Marathon (or the Rabat Half Marathon). Although I lived in Rabat last year, because of a nagging injury resulting in a lack of training, this was my first year running this race. I had decided not to train specifically for the Rabat Half this year but just to use it as an aggressive long run in my training. As such my personal goals for the race were not very high. My first goal, as it is with any event I participate in, was to finish having had a good time. I run because I enjoy it and if I stop enjoying races...well that would not be fun. Second, I wanted to set a new P.R. (personal record) for the distance. Seeing as how I have only ever run one other half and did not train for that either I went into the race thinking I had a good chance of accomplishing my goal.

  On the Rabat half marathon website (which is of course in French (Google Translate does a good job with making it readable) there is a page that allows you to sign up online. However, unlike the when I ran the Marrakech Marathon back in January I decided not to do the online registration but rather just sign up on race weekend in Rabat. Interesting side note: if you are in Rabat anytime in the few weeks leading up to the race there are certain places you can go to sign-up in person in advance of race weekend, like the park near the Sofitel Hotel or the Marjane in Hay Riad. 

  So, we arrived in Rabat on the Friday before the race, checked into our hotel, and headed to where the starting line would be on Sunday hoping to find an expo, a race village, or somewhere I could register. This was the one thing I could not find on the website, information about a packet pick-up. Luckily we saw a lonely white tent set up about half a mile from the Rabat train station. I filled out the registration form, paid (50 moroccan dirham), and was given my bib. That was the entirety of the race packet, nothing else, but when you only pay about five U.S. dollars you can't ask for much. (The website said that the fee for foreigners is 20 euro but I wasn't going to argue with the lady). 

Race Day

  On race morning I headed down to the starting line from our hotel in the old medina (market). It was about 3/4 of a mile walk to the Rabat train station where the starting line was. Once we made it to the starting area I said goodbye to my wife and son and worked my way into about the middle of the crowd of runners. Unlike some races there are no starting corals or people with signs saying where people going for certain time goals should meet. Instead there was just 1,500 runners all mingled together. Some slow in the very front and some fast in the very back.

  As race time neared the pros came out from somewhere and entered the starting are in front of us age groupers and began their last minute warm-ups. Remember that unlike many races in America, races here do not have elaborate pre-race speeches or countdowns. It normally goes like this; the music on the PA system is turned off about five minutes before the start (if there is music), then the pros line up for a few minutes (normally the crowd is big enough that you can't see them), and finally you hear a gun go off and the race starts. This year at the Rabat half there was almost a stampede when the pros lined up and then took off doing some extra stretching, causing the age group runners to think the race had begun. That was an interesting experience.

  Eventually the race began and we headed out on our 13.1 mile run.


  The first few miles lead us out of the old city walls and up toward the part of the city called Agdal. From there the race turns back toward the old market and the gate Bab El Had. This was, in my opinion, one of the neatest sections of the race because after you reach the gate you turn around and follow the same road for about a mile or so. Since it was still early in the race I was able to watch the pros and all the lead vehicles and camera crews coming back up the road. It is not a group of people I get to run with everyday. After the turn around the race heads out of town toward the soccer stadium.

 The Pros

 The Pros Again

The Turn Around Close to Bab El Had

  Other than a quite a few rolling hills there are really only two hills of any significance in the Rabat Half-marathon. One comes almost immediately after the half way point. After running past all the car dealerships in the city, the race route turns and you have to run up quite a large overpass that goes over the auto-route and the train tracks. It is not a long climb it is just steep and comes out of nowhere if your not expecting it.

 The climb up the overpass

The view down to the auto route 

  The other hill is actually a down hill section that leads the race back into the old city walls and to the finish line. I mentioned about a hill section in an earlier post Places to Run: Rabat part 3 this is that area just down hill. It begins going down at Chella (the old castle that has Roman ruins inside) and really does not stop or return to flat until the finish line. I mentioned this because for me it was one of the hardest sections. I was chasing a PR and had been pushing myself so to then see this steep down hill was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it was not an up hill but a curse because as I picked up my pace my quads began screaming at me (I have done NO hill training recently).

 Chella 

City walls at the start of the down hill section

  The finish line is about a quarter mile from the starting line but in the same area as the train station. As I crossed the finish line I was surprised how many people were still hanging out watching people come across the line. After catching my breadth for about 30 seconds I was given my finishers medal and directed to get in line for some water, a finishers t-shirt, and a hat.

Finish line area

Finishers medal

Post race thoughts

  I had a great time running this years Rabat Half Marathon (Rabat Semi Marathon). While the half is not my favorite distance, it is races like this that I enjoy running because they take you places in the city you normally could not run or could not run without risking being hit by a car. Will I run it again? I'm sure one day I will but like I said the half is not my distance and so I do not know when that day will come. However, I can say that I would recommend this race to others.

Getting Back to Cycling in Marrakech

  It has been a long time since I spent any quality time riding my road bike. A few years ago, before I came to Morocco, I was training for my first ultra marathon. I quickly realized that if I did not start doing some cross training I was going to be in trouble so I started cycling. I really began to enjoy cycling both solo and in group rides. So, almost immediately after arriving in Morocco I went to a bike market, bought a used bike (notice the emphasis on used), fixed it up and then realized finding somewhere to ride away from lots of traffic was very difficult. Due to this fact the bike was set aside. 

My old steel frame road bike I bought for $35

  Well, since I recently discovered the Palmeraie area of Marrakech I decided that I had no excuse not to get back on my bike (that and an old knee injury creeping up on me). So I cleaned up the bike, got a new inner tube, put my kit on and went for a ride. 

This was going to be an awesome picture but the camel would not look up

  As I mentioned in a previous post the Palmeraie really is a great place. I love to run there and so do lots of others, and now I can say it is an excellent place to go for a medium length ride. It is not pancake flat but since it is in Marrakech there is by no means any great elevation change and there is very little traffic. Probably the best part of riding out there was having to dodge all of the sheep and goats hanging out either in the road or close to the sides. The first flock I came up to I almost hit one of the sheep because I was ridding into the sun looking for cars and was not expecting sheep.

Video I took while riding of camels and goats

  I can not say how great if felt to get back on the bike and after that first day I went back out there the next because I had such a good time. It was a great feeling getting back out there even if there is a noise coming from my old bike that kind of terrifies me. If you have ever ridden in Morocco or know of any good races or rides here let me know below in the comments and then get out there and go for a ride.

Another Tall Truck Sighting

  As proof to substantiate my claim in my last post that the highly stacked van phenomenon was not exclusive to our neighbors, here is another sighting. Just after I posted my previous article on this topic I was down near Jma El Fna and I was lucky enough that a traffic light stopped this van for a photo op.

The Van

  The material this van is carrying is used to stuff the cushions on the Moroccan style couches. 

An Unconventional Move

  Things in Morocco are often done differently. This is not a bad thing it is just different. Like in the U.S. other than pizza or burgers we really do not eat food with our hands and never from a communal dish in the middle of the table. However, because of this we do not have Tajine or Couscous. 

  So, I cannot say that I was surprised when I looked out the window of our apartment and saw that our neighbors, who were moving, didn't have a U-Haul but were taking a different approach. They were using the tempting physics approach with a van.

The moving van

  It is always interesting driving down the road and seeing trucks piled so high occasionally tall trucks will even have cows, sheep, or goats on top. 

"Running" Errands

  Recently I have read several blogs discussing cyclists, not commuters but guys who really only use their bikes for exercise, using their bikes to run errands rather than just for training. I love this idea and have even occasionally run errands on my bike. However, as I was reading these blogs I began to think why can't I do this with my sport. Yeah I walk to the grocery store occasionally and walk to buy our fruits and vegetables from the guy who sells on the street here but why not actually do what the phrase says you are doing, "run errands?" I mean throw on my Sauconys, my shorts, dry wick shirt, grab a back pack, turn on the Garmin and run some errands. There have been occasions when my wife knew I was heading out for a run and she would ask me to pick up some things during my cool down but that’s not what I'm talking about here.

  So the other day I had something I needed to pick-up from a store on the fringe of the old market here in Marrakech and I had a six mile easy run to do but not enough time to do both. As I was thinking about whether I could put off this little errand one more day, I realized why not just run there buy what I needed and go home? This would be the perfect opportunity to try out my new excuse to go for a run.

  When I got home I grabbed a small running back pack that I bought last year in Spain (something like this), some money and headed out the door. I knew a route that would take me three miles to get to the store so off I went. One of the places I occasionally run is down by the old market, there is always so much to see. What I don't normally do is run down there after 5pm when everyone is driving or riding home. Traffic is nuts! But that is about what time my run was.

 This is the kind of traffic I have to deal with all the time. Buses, taxis, cyclists, and donkey pulled carts.

One of the entrances to the old market

  I made it down there taking an easy pace and without any problems. After about a minute of looking for the store then explaining to the man what it was I needed I secured my purchase in my bag and headed off back home.

The store where I bought what I needed

 An old gate

Bab (Gate) Doukkala

  So how would I say my little experience in "running an errand" go? I'd say it went great. But I have come to realize the limitations associated with this kind of endeavor. Let me list a few:

1. Just as with a bike you are limited by the size of your bag. It is unlikely that you would have a pleasant experience doing this kind of shopping with a 35+ liter hiking pack (like this).
2. Carry something liquid and your likely to have problems especially if that something is a soda... think about that for a second.
3. People in the check-out line will think you're crazy, but many people already think that about your running already so who cares what they think. Just don’t use a towel in the store to wipe your sweat unless you plan to buy it.

  Well, I hope I've given you something to think about. Now get out there and run some errands.

Running Motivation

  Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of doing something big, like your first half or full marathon or maybe your first ultra marathon. This is great but never forget that the process of training is a huge part of the experience and will either make or break you on race day. Miles upon miles (kilometers upon kilometers, for anyone outside the USA) you will spend more time training than you ever will racing so enjoy it. Now, get out there and run.

Exploring on a Seven Mile Run

  Since I am currently on a build up cycle in my training, my mileage is beginning to ramp up and I am constantly looking for new places to run so as not to get bored. This past Wednesday I had an easy seven miles with just enough time to fit them in over lunch so I did a little exploring in a farming area close by the city.

 Sheep!

Horse!

  As is the case with almost all of Marrakech, the route was pancake flat which is a problem I am going to have to find a solution for or suffer later in some of the events I would like to participate in this year. Sadly, it was still close enough to the city that I was running on pavement and not trails but although there was no sidewalks there was (as usual) a large shoulder. Also, as usual the cars and trucks passing gave me plenty of room. The sites I got were awesome, even if the smells were not. This was due to the amazing amount of donkey cart traffic on the road taking vegetables to the city and their byproducts. 

 

A Farm and Farm House

An Empty Field and Mountains

  This week, if you have the time, go out on your run, ride, hike, or walk and do some exploring in your area. I remember that when I was living in the States and started running I began to discover parts of my city my friends, some of whom had lived there much longer than me, had never even heard of. So, go out and find something new or interesting. Try out a trail or bike path you have never done before, you may find your new favorite route. If you find somewhere new or interesting tell us about it in the comments below. Now get outside and enjoy!