A Seven Continent Journey

I have finally come around to give my first hand experience running the Marrakech Marathon. Contrary to the last marathon, I ran in Rio De Janerio, arriving at the start lineup was relatively easy, a short yellow cab ride from my hotel brought me to Mohammed Hasan road, located behind the grand Sofitel Hotel. It was slightly cold, although for me going from Green Bay, this was a perfect weather to run. The sky was overcast, rain was predicted for later in day. Yes rain, unusual in Marrakech, apparently it has been a wet winter. The backdrop to the run were the snow capped Atlas mountains. Planning for the run I had not envisioned such a beautiful sight. I had not recovered from the cold, and every now and then coughed, hoping that it would not be an issue during the run. The start was on time at 8.00 am, few thousand runners, common start for Full and Half Marthoners, it seemed almost every second runner was French. The first few miles were a gentle downslope, a run towards the International airport and then a swing towards the Atlas mountains, the initial jitters seemed to be gone and I settled into the run. I have to admit that I did'nt feel as strong in the first half , as I would have liked too, probably the effect of the cold, I was recovering from. The long sleeve Sport Hill top was perfect. I wore gloves, at least I had opted for the right gear. Getting through the half mark I knew that second half was going to be tough. The course is well planned, we ran through some very varied neighbourhoods. There was some feel of running in Africa, camels and a small patch were I got a feel of running in a desert. Crowd support was good, traffic crossings were very well manned by the local police. Water stations were well stocked. The last miles were hard, made only tough by a gentle incline towards finish, there was a gentle drizzle and a winds to tackle, I have to say I was glad to cross the finish line........ 3 down, ....4 more to go.