Doha College 10k

Friday 22nd November Aspire Park,  Doha , Qatar
Within 2 hours of arriving in Doha on holiday I had entered a 10k. In years gone by I would more likely have been booking a pedicure but I am an athlete now! Besides, running is turning my toenails black with alarming regularity so pedicures are a bit pointless now.
I hoped that having a goal would encourage me to continue training throughout my holiday, albeit on a treadmill due to the heat and humidity. I did a reasonable amount but have to admit that my focus strayed more to the wealth of amazing eateries at my disposal.

The race started at 7 am in order to beat the hottest temperatures. I awoke early to the amazing sunrise over The Pearl, the man-made island where my family live.
 My wonderful brother and sister-in-law arranged for their friends to pick me up as they were also running that day so we all arrived bright and early to pick up our race pack. Aspire Park is an amazing facility with a 5k perimeter (handy!) There is a state of the art air conditioned football stadium, an indoor running track, cutting edge physio and sports injury unit and a 300m tower in the shape of a torch among much more. This is where Premiership football teams come to train.  The park was built for the Asian games in 2006 and at the time the tower was topped by a flame. The whole park is incredibly impressive and it was a real thrill to run around it....twice.

The race was two laps of the park with a single lap 5k race starting at the same time. I didn’t have my club vest or a watch so had to run as a civilian, incognito, under the radar. The sun was already high and the temperature was steadily rising so I thought I would take it easy and see how it went. No pressure. I thought I had done a reasonable job of keeping hydrated throughout the preceding days but within 500m of starting my mouth was completely dry. Imagine my delight when I encountered the first water station at 1k, hurrah! These guys know what they are doing. Doha is completely flat so I knew there would be no hills as such, just gentle undulations with a good portion on spongy running track type surface. Running round taking in the sites with an 80% ex-pat field, I noticed very few spectators but hundreds of stewards and helpers who had obviously been encouraged to cheer us on enthusiastically. They were going nuts! Fabulous entertainment for the runners and a grand wee boost in the energy sapping heat. Running into the centre of the park to start the second lap, the sun was blinding on the white polished road surface and buildings, the heat increased and it felt a bit like running in a ceramic oven.  It was nice to exit again to the perimeter and benefit from a nice breeze. I didn’t get lost once, shocking I know, and ran in to the finish area feeling quite good and pleased that I had managed to run in the quite different climate of the Middle East. My time was 53:57, not my fastest but pleased nonetheless. I was 264th, 57th Female and 7th in my category from a field of 547.  I made the cut in the official video as well so that satisfied the entertainer in me. My Sister-law Nicola tells me that things like this 10k are notoriously difficult to organise in Qatar but I have to say that this was one of the best organised races I have entered and was a real credit to the city. If you happen to be in the area I would definitely recommend it!

Ruth