Marathon #2: January 2020 – Doha

I ran this marathon for Caleb:

My biggest concern about running Doha marathon was the heat, turns out that was the least of my worries!

A few months ago Tracey (not just my great marathon/adventuring buddy but also my boss), asked me to work from the University of Aberdeen’s campus in Doha for the start of term to support our new colleague in the Careers Team who is based there. Then we realised that Doha marathon was happening the same weekend – it was meant to be!

Whilst packing I considered the possibility of my luggage not arriving and thought about putting my running gear in my hand luggage, but Tracey assured me it would be OK and I really didn’t have the room in my handbag nor did I want the hassle of an extra bag so I put my trust in BA – big mistake!

Yep, you guessed it – our bags didn’t make it to Doha with us. We arrived at 5am, bleary eyed and looking forward to some sleep before heading into the office. We made it through immigration relatively quickly and it soon became apparent there were very few bags coming off our flight. We then spent the next hour and a half with the baggage services, along with another runner in the same predicament. We were told our bags would be put on the next BA flight arriving at 5am the next morning – but the marathon started at 6.30am so it would be too late. The day was spent trying to get BA to put our bags on a Qatar Airways flight, of which there were several that would have arrived on time, but nobody would help. We spent the afternoon in the office in our travelling clothes, then went to register for the marathon before hitting the shops!

OK, so never run a marathon in new gear right?! Looks like we weren’t going to have a choice. We headed to the enormous Villagio shopping mall and Decathlon sorted us out in matching socks, shorts and vests. The hardest part was sourcing a suitable running bra and Tracey needed trainers (I was travelling in running shoes that I used to run in so decided I would be better to wear them than a brand new pair). We also needed some toiletries, underwear and some kind of marathon fuel since my gels and shotblox were also in my bag. I had to settle for some sweets as I couldn’t find any gels and I this was the part that worried me most – trying out an untested fuelling strategy on race day!

All kitted out we tried to get some sleep but had to be up at 4.30am for a 5am taxi to the start. We got organised, took some pics, told many people the woes of our kit and lined up at the start.

The route takes you around the corniche (5.25km) to the business district and then back again – four times! There is also a half marathon, 10k and 5k and kids races so lots of turn around points for all the different distances.

The half marathon and marathon started together so there were a lot of people. I ran the first out and back with Tracey, during which the heavens opened, the thunder and lightning started and the road very quickly flooded. We were wading through giant puddles and I would not have been wetter if I had climbed in the bath in all my clothes! But I was absolutely buzzing and grinning from ear to ear – I couldn’t believe I was actually there, running the Doha marathon, despite all the dramas on the way!

At the end of lap 1, Tracey wanted a walk so I went on, I felt so good! The next few hours/laps passed surprisingly easily. I loved the out and back as you got to know the route, saw lots of the same faces coming the other way (Tracey and I had a high-five each time we passed) and it never felt that you were running very far before you turned again. At some point the 10k and 5k races joined the route and it got a bit congested but the rain had stopped, the roads were drying up and the views were spectacular.

Soon, the last lap was upon me and it was very quiet now – most of the half marathoners, 10k and 5k runners had finished and there were just the marathoners left (you could tell by the colour of the bibs which race people were doing). We all recognised each other now having passed each other many times and there was lots of camaraderie and encouragement, especially among the ladies as it seemed there weren’t that many. Towards the end of the last out I met a man called Mohamed from Egypt, I had passed him then stopped to take a picture of the final turn around so he caught me back up. We then ran the last 5.25k together, barely speaking but silently encouraging each other to keep running.

I crossed the line just behind Mohamed in 4:07:20 – 7 minutes quicker than Malaga! No marathon is easy but I was so surprised this one went so well, in old shoes, new kit and a completely new fuelling strategy – the sweets worked well and I had Gatorade on the course too, I only really had one low point towards the end of the last out but this passed once I had my buddy to drag me along and I knew the last section so well!

I had barely crossed the line and stopped my watch when I was surrounded by several ladies and asked to follow them. I noticed they had ‘doping control’ vests on and thought it was ridiculous they wanted to test me but then decided it must be random checks throughout the field. A lady then proceeded to follow me around the field, collecting my medal and some food and taking me to the doping tent. She wouldn’t let me out of her sight! I found Mohamed though and grabbed a picture then settled down to drinking lots of fluids so I could provide my sample.

I have now learned that after a marathon I cannot pee! Or perhaps I cannot pee when there is a lady standing watching me. I thought I needed to go so went through the whole interrogation part, during which I was asked who my coach and physio were and whether I was a professional athlete, I actually laughed out loud – turns out it wasn’t a random test, they test the top 10 and I had come 10^th lady – in a big city marathon!! OK, so there were only 29 ladies but I was still chuffed, however it was ridiculous that they wanted to test me, I was 1 hour and 27 minutes behind the winner, hardly professional! Without going into too much detail, I produced all of 10ml and they needed 90ml. Back to the tent to wait and drink more by which time Tracey had finished. I was getting quite cold as I was still quite wet so my minder and I went to get my bag with my jacket in (I didn’t have anything else to put on of course) but thanks to the biblical rain, my bag was soaking and you could have rung my coat out. I think I almost cried at this point, I just wanted to go back to the hotel for a bath but had to wait to produce a sample when really did it matter if I was taking drugs when I was so far behind the leader?!

Tracey joined me in the doping tent and I drank some more. By now I was really desperate so my minder and I went to the loo but I literally couldn’t produce a thing – stage fright or something but I couldn’t encourage the right muscles to relax. I was starting to consider just disqualifying myself but I really didn’t want to do that. Back to the tent to wait, then another try and finally I could go – hurrah! BUT (and honestly you couldn’t make this stuff up), they now decided my sample might be too dilute!! Oh FFS! They performed several tests, phoned the lab, spoke a lot of Arabic and then decided it was OK – thank goodness for that!! By now we were almost the last people at the race and my sense of humour had taken a leave of absence but at least they gave me a mug and t-shirt for my efforts!

Finally, back to the hotel for a bath and a sleep and our cases had arrived – hallelujah! Thankfully we had survived the drama fairly unscathed and the new kit worked surprisingly well!

I am writing this on the plane home after a week of working and exploring Doha. We went to the desert for a jeep safari, we did a lot of shopping in the souk and on the last evening we went for one final run along the Corniche to say goodbye. I finally got a picture with my medal and my neonatal t-shirt.

I absolutely loved this race and would highly recommend it, just don’t finish in the top ten (unless you are actually professional!). Doha has become one of my very favourite places to visit – it is so vibrant and clean and the people are so kind, we could all do with being a bit more Qatari! I can’t wait to go back!