Places to Run in Morocco: The Palmeraie Marrakech

  I started this series of posts a few weeks ago describing several great places to run in Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Now, I return to the topic of the best places to run with the Palmeraie of Marrakech. I do not know the formal name to this part of the city but when ever I talk about it people know exactly where i am talking about.

Name: The Palmeraie in Marrakech 

Location: on the right while driving North out of the city on the N9 before your get to the stadium

Points of Interest:

• The view over the golf course is spectacular
• There are bunches of camels along the side of the road
• Not a lot of traffic and exhaust 
• Nice and flat (good for a speed workout)

  The Palmeraie is one of the beautiful resort areas in Marrakech. I have never stayed in any of the many hotels in the area due to their prices but from the outside they look very nice. There is also a nice golf course that the hotels overlook. I would not recommend running on the course due to the nice security men that politely ask people to stay off the course. 

Golf course

Nice security man preparing to do His work

  I discovered this part of the city while running the Marrakech Marathon back in January, around mile nineteen, and I was glad a did. On the few runs I have done since the marathon I have ran here twice. There has not been a time I've been on the street and not seen people out running in the area. That is always a good sign. 

  You can really divide the road into two parts. The first, is the section where the golf course and all the really big resorts (Holiday Inn, and the Golf Palace and Spa, to name a couple) are located. This part has wide sidewalks and and the road is really well kept. 

Hotel Entrance and the Moroccan Flag

 Hotel Entrance

 Hotel Entrance

  The second part, is just...different. There are hotels and spas but most of them you can't see because they are behind large walls. There aren't sidewalks and the road is not as well kept. However, all of this is forgotten once you see the camels. About every half mile there is another group of men with 3-6 camels waiting for the tourists to come and spend their money. We asked the price and I think it's cheaper to ride them here than some of the other areas in the city.  I know that camels have nothing to do with running but I think they are cool and definitely worth mentioning. 

 This camel came right up to us on the road

 Camels just hanging out

 Another camel, sorry

Last camel

  The road is about 4.1 miles long if you stop at the last resort and don't go back into the city. It really is a great road to do some intervals on or a medium length long run. One side note is that there really isn't any where to buy water from on the main road. On the opposite end of the area from the golf course are a few little convenience stores that will definitely have water but its a good ways from the resorts.

  Also, as always in Marrakech you kneed to keep one eye open for the scooters, mopeds, and motorcycles. They are everywhere in this city. It is actually quite entertaining. 

Two people on one scooter is not uncommon

 Two ladies on a scooter getting close to the camels

 They are everywhere

Sadly, three people on one scooter is not uncommon either

Directions:

  If you are driving north out of the city heading for the auto-route there will be a roundabout about 1/2 a mile from the bridge (before the stadium). After going through the roundabout you will see a sign indicating that Casablanca is straight ahead and the Palmeraie is the next right. Take that right and about half a mile after you turn you should see parking on the street outside the hotels. 

Road sign

  If you do not have a car you can ask one of the many taxis in the city to take you to the 

Palmeraie and you will be there sooner than you know it. There are plenty of taxis waiting outside the resorts so you wont have to walk back to the city... on the other hand you might want to.

  Well, that's it for this installment of 

Places to Run in Morocco. 

 I hope that if you're ever in Marrakech you will not only enjoy all of the normal tourist things there are to do but also get to know the city a little by getting a good run workout. As always if you have a question or comment don't forget to leave one below. Thanks for reading, now get out and run!

The 2013 Marrakech Marathon Race Report

    It has now been four days since I ran the Marrakech Marathon in Morocco.  Normally in the first few days after a marathon or some other big race, people tend to kick back, relax and take it easy. That has never been the case for me. This is not because I didn't want to but because I just could not do. So between work and family obligations, this year was no exception. Now that I am not quite as busy and my body is out of the soreness stage, I am ready to look back and share my experience from this past weekend. 

    I guess I will start with packet pick-up. I wrote a detailed post last week about packet pick-up and the marathon village so I will be brief here. The marathon village was set up in front of the big post office near the center of town. After I registered online for the race, I got an email from the French company that did the registration saying that the race number pick-up would begin on Friday afternoon, two days before the race. This ended up being nice because my Saturday was already looking to be quite busy. 

 The marathon village

    So, Friday afternoon we went over and got my race number and it turned out online registration included a t-shirt, nice! I had heard that you could register at the village on race weekend, but everyone that told me had never actually ran the race. It turned out that you could. From what I saw the price seemed to be the same as it was for online registration, but I do not think I would have received a t-shirt. With race number in hand, some flyers about future races, and the excitement building, I was ready for the Sunday morning race.

Race packet

    It doesn't seem to matter how much training I do, how well I prepare the night before, or how confident I feel the days leading up to the race, when I get up on race morning I always feel under prepared and this year was no different. My wife and son came along as my cheer squad. As we parked behind the big mosque, Katobia, I was confident that I'd finish but unsure of how I would arrive to the finish line.

    We walked the half mile to the starting line, getting passed by people warming up the whole way. Seeing as it was about 40 degrees out, I too should have been warming up, but I was just to cold. We arrived at the starting area about 30 minutes prior to the race, which turned out to be a good thing because there was no rhyme or reason to the way people were lining up.

Lots of people

    As the starting time drew closer and I became colder, the starting area filled up. The elite runners came out of a side tent and did their warm ups. I was standing on a curb talking to my wife, on the other side of a barricade, and enjoying the exciting race atmosphere when my said, "Wasn't that the starting gun?" and we were off. The age group runners began about 100 yards back from the start but since this race has chip timing it wasn't a big deal.

The starting line is under the red tunnel thing

    After we went across the starting line the course goes about half a mile before turning to the right. This is really nice since it is also the last half mile of the race and its good to see the final stretch before hand. The route then goes to the Marrakech train station and then takes the runners through one of the side entrances to the popular Menara Gardens. It was here in the gardens that the race provided its first water station. The stations were placed about every 5 km the entire race. The water stations provide you with an average sized bottle of water which was good because I was carrying a small Nathan water bottle and it made it super easy to refill. After running through the gardens on a nice paved path we exited through another side gate. 

Running past the Marrakech train station

Exiting the Menera Gardens

    The race then proceeded south, out toward the city's race track and the Agdel Gardens. Let me take a second to describe the aid stations. As I said every 5 km from the start was an aid station. These always had water bottles and starting at the 10 km aid station they began offering whole oranges and little baggies of dates.  I was carrying my own energy gels but I probably in the last three aid stations ate four whole oranges. It gave me a surprising boost. Also, every 7 km were sponge stations, at the first one since it was cold I thought the idea of a sponge station was crazy but by the last few stations, as the day heated up quickly, I was very thankful for these soaking wet sponges.

    OK, back to the race. As I got close to the Agdel Gardens I began to chat with a "65ish" year old man named Mustafa. He lives about a mile away and was running a strong pace when we met. We talked for a while, he told me this was not his first race. After a few miles I realized he was speeding up. I began to worry that if I couldn't keep up with this guy maybe I should not be out here. I decided to stick to my plan and not chase him down. This ended up being a good call since at the next aid station I passed him as he was walking and eating an orange. He looked strong so I'm sure he ended up doing well. 

Mustafa is the guy in white on the right

    After the gardens the course loops around the back side of the old city and then follows the city wall back into town. At about the 15 mile point, the half marathon course which started an hour after (9am) the full (8am) met up with ours and we ran with the other runners for about two or tree miles. At the Bab El Khemis the half turned to the right to head to the finish line, as the full went right back out of town. 

    Up next the race took the runners up to this small back road that I did not even know existed but is apparently a major road. This is the road that leads to the Palmeraie Golf course and a bunch of rally Fancy hotels. There were also lots of camels for the tourists to ride here when they are not running a marathon.

    Finally came the last big road, 5 miles down the Road to Casablanca,  before turning after the train station for the finish line. This 5 mile stretch and a little bit before is where my race fell apart. Looking back at my training I realized that after doing several shorter distance races in December in the States I did not give my self enough time to build up to some good quality long runs before the race.  So, about the 20/21 mile area my feet began to just feel awful. So, instead of giving up i adjusted. I finished slower but I finished and to me that is always my primary goal.

I crossed the finish line in 3:58 and had a smile on my face. I had enjoyed my first marathon in Morocco. At the finish I was given a little finishers metal and met up with my wife. It really was a great race and I really am looking forward to next year already. I would recomend this race to anyone looking for a destination race whether it be the half or full marathon, this would be a great choice.

A couple of side notes:

• There were lots of police and security on the race course keeping traffic at bay and providing general security.
• The city turned out in force to cheer on all the runners not just the pros. All the way to the end of the race there were kids wanting high fives and cheering us on.
• Although there were some things I would like to see improved (like at all races), this race was very organized.
• There were 662 full marathon finishers and 3,675 half marathon finishers.
• The race winner was Tum Stephen from Kenya with a time of 2:06:35.
• Very flat and fast race route.
• While I was running the race my wife went to a cafe in Jemaa El Fna and watched the race leaders on the TV.

My wife's view of the race

Here is a list of the Marrakech Marathon posts I wrote leading up to the 2013 race this year:

The International Marathon of Marrakech: An Introduction

Marrakech Marathon Race Poster

Packet Pick-up at the Marrakech Marathon Village

Big Day in Marrakech and Website Update

    Today was a big day in Marrakech, the 2013 edition of the annual Marrakech Marathon and Half Marathon. We had great weather for running and the city showed out with enthusiasm along the course to show their support of all the runners. I ran the full marathon and set a new personal best for the marathon distance. If you check back later this week I will be posting a full race report, going into all the details of this great run.

Sunrise just before the start

A few seconds after going across the starting line

    Also, one quick website update. I had been told that some people have tried commenting on some of the posts here at runninginmorocco.com and have been unable to. I did some investigating and I think that the problem is fixed. So, please go back and try again.

   Well, that is all. I am going to go put my feet up and hopefully drift off into a nice sleep and dream about my next race.

Packet Pick-up at the Marrakech Marathon Village

    Alright, the day is almost here. We are less than two days out from 24th annual running of the Marrakech Marathon and half marathon in Morocco. I will not admit that I am starting to get those pre-race jitters, nope I won't admit it. 

    Today was the first of two days that the marathon village was open, it was in the center of town near the main post office. This is what in America is called the race expo or packet pick-up. So, after lunch I decided I would try to beat the crowds and head on down to get my race number. I choose to do my race registration online through the link that was provided on the race website (marathon-marrakech.com). I had heard that there was a possibility of doing registration on race weekend at the marathon village but no one could tell me for certain.

Marrakech Marathon Village

    When, we arrived at the village there where quite a few tents set up in the plaza. There were the sponsors, traditional Moroccan crafts, other races advertising their events, a stage was set up for some live entertainment in the evening, and two other important tents. The first of those two tents was the main race organizer's tent. Here there was a place for foreigners and a place for Moroccans to register for the race. So it turns out that what I had heard was correct, you can sign up on race weekend. Also, at this tent you can buy several official race t-shirts, key chains, and pins. 

 Moroccan Registration Table

 Foreigner Registration Table

Marrakech Marathon Key Chain and Pin

    The second important tent was a tent that a few days ago I got an email telling me about. The email said that because I registered online I would not find my race number at the official tent but instead at the "Escapades"/sport-up.fr tent. Escapades.fr is some sort of French travel company and sport-up.fr is the website that the Marrakech Marathon uses for online registrations. At the tent I showed my passport and was given my race bib, with timing chip attached, and a technical t-shirt. The t-shirt was a nice surprise. On the registration form they asked for shirt size but never said that one was included. I do not know if a shirt was included with race weekend sign ups since they were selling shirts at that tent.

 The tent where I got my race packet

    When all was said and done I was very happy at how organized the marathon village was. I got what I needed, received a shirt, and I found out about some races to look into, a 10k in March and a four part stage race in the mountains in May. Well, all that is left is to "toe the line" in a couple of days. After we left the marathon village we drove a large part of the marathon course and confirmed that this really will be a flat course. I did my last training run today and tomorrow is pasta and rest. I can not wait for race day.

Race Packet (the key chain I paid for)

    Do not forget to check back next week for the full race report of the Marrakech Marathon. Also, if you will be running this year please leave a comment below and good luck on race day. 

Marathon Training with a European

    Yesterday I was out for my last long run before race day. The Marrakech marathon is this coming weekend. It was a simple, nice and slow 14 mile run and as I set out I had no real route in mind. I normally like to map out my route and know where I am going to run so this is unlike me. As it turned out, this lack of planning turned out to be a good thing. 

    About three or four miles into my run I caught up to a a guy who is from Europe and we ended up running for about six miles together. While running, I found out that this new European friend of mine 

was on vacation in Marrakech for a week. He said that he came to Morocco for a short vacation and to be able to do a weeks worth of longer runs in a warmer climate as he trains for a 100 kilometer ultra marathon in Europe. Being an ultra marathoner myself made our conversation even more fun.

Check out my awesome photo skills

    Since I have started running I have learned that it is very easy to make friends while out on a run, whether that be a long training run or a race. Some of my favorite runs of all times are the ones where I started off by myself and ended up running for a long time with someone I met on the run. In a half marathon I ran this past December I ran for the last 6 miles with a guy from California who flew across the USA only to run that race. Over a year ago in my first ultra marathon, a 50k, I ended up running for about 4 hours with a husband and wife couple from Alabama. My point is this, i

f you are new to running, one of the things you will learn quickly is that it is easy to become friends with someone out on a run. And, if you are in Morocco who knows where some of those people will be from.

    Running by myself is fun, but running with someone even if you have just met the person can often make a run very enjoyable. Morocco has given me the opportunity to meet many people while running and something I have discovered is that for the most part the people that share this hobby/addiction/healthy lifestyle are some of the nicest people out there. 

    If you are living in a colder climate like the friend I met yesterday, I do recommend a getaway to Marrakech! Not only will you enjoy the warmer weather to run in, you can explore the exotic culture of Marrakech!