Saharamarathon

Last Updated on Wednesday, 30 September 2009 02:53 Written by The Virtual Runner Wednesday, 30 September 2009 02:53

I had a very very long “comment” posted on my site today but I didn’t approve it because it isn’t really a comment.  Technically it is spam, however the poster is legitimate and so is the site.  I’ve therefore decided to post it here for those of you who are interested and want to take part:-

I work for the arts and human rights charity Sandblast that facilitates the annual Saharamarathon in aid of the Saharawi refugees.

The Saharamarathon is an international sporting event to show solidarity with the Saharawi people and raise money for projects to improve the lives of the refugees. Organized by representatives of the Saharawi government and volunteers from all over the world, the first Saharamarathon was held in 2001. With the campaign “Running the Sahara” we aim to recruit 100 British runners for the February race.

For the 10th anniversary of the Saharamarathon, in 2010, Sandblast aims to recruit a minimum of 100 participants from the UK. As the official UK facilitator for the event, Sandblast hopes to raise a minimum of £50,000 for its Saharawi Artist Fund. Amongst other plans we would like to set up a mobile recording studio in the camps and train Saharawis to run it themselves.

Where is it taking place? The Saharawi refugee camps near Tindouf in Algeria. How do you get there? You will fly from London on Air Algerie to Algiers and then from Algiers to Tindouf.
Where will you be staying? You will be hosted by a Saharawi refugee family in one of the four camps
How long will you stay? One week, between Feb 19 to 27
When are the races taking place? The races will be taking place on Feb 22, 2010

Sandblast will take care of all the hassle of dealing with your visas, travel and accommodation arrangements. We will answer your questions about the camps; help you with fund-raising in the following months and accompany you to the camps and back.
Once in Tindouf, the Saharawi authorities and marathon organizers will be fully responsible for accommodating you and taking care of all your needs but Sandblast members will travel with the participants to assist and support.

In return for our facilitation, we are asking you to run in the Saharamarathon event on behalf of Sandblast, and help us reach our goal of £50,000. Your sponsorship money will go into the Saharawi Artist’s Fund.

Contact us via runningthesahara@sandblast-arts.org when you are interested and we’ll be in touch with more info. See also http://www.sandblast-arts.org and http://sandblast-arts.blogspot.com.

Thanks,
Cathrin

You can contact cathrin at:  cathrin@sandblast-arts.org

Mortimer 10k

Last Updated on Sunday, 27 September 2009 05:50 Written by The Virtual Runner Sunday, 27 September 2009 05:50

Sorry I haven’t blogged in a while.  I may have lost both my readers now!

I’ve still been running; however, there was a couple of weeks after the laser eye surgery where I didn’t really do anything except get fatter and allow my eyes to heal.  I started running as soon as I possibly could so I could keep the weight maintained.

What’s been happening:

Mortimer 10k – I thought that I’d do the Mortimer 10k today because it is pretty local and also because I haven’t done many 10k runs this summer (even though I intended to).  My wife was kind enough to push me along and make sure I did it as well.

It is a great race and put on by my running club (Reading Roadrunners).  They put on a bit of a Fair and there are things for the kids and stalls selling things as well.  It’s a great day really.

The race only costs £7.00 (on the day) and is a pretty gruelling 10k.  There are some short steep hills and from about 6km to 9km it is all uphill!  What a crazy and painful race.  There was some walking going on today by me!  I pushed myself on the hills as best as I could but there was no way I could run them all.

I think my race time was okay considering the hills, however I didn’t really time myself and there was no chip timing at the event.  They’ll post the approximate finish times (someone at the end notes your number and the time on the clock) and I’ll know exactly what I did then.  All I know at this stage is that it was under 1 hour and I’m happy with that.

Weights – I’ve decided to start doing some weights again and increase the amount of exercise I do in a week.  Previously, I was running on Tue, Wed OR Thu, Fri & Sun (long run) which was about 4 times a week (sometimes 5 because I’d do Wed AND Thu).

Now I do something everyday except for Saturdays.  I don’t run everyday of course but I’ve started incorporating other exercise on my non-running days. 

Eyes – I’m getting more and more used to having my new glasses-free eyes.  I know I’m getting used to it because I forget that I’m not wearing glasses!  In fact, it was nice to go running today at the Mortimer 10k and not be wearing any glasses.

I’m looking forward to going back to running club over the coming autumn and winter months and not having to run blindly because of steamed up or wet glasses! In fact, me and my mate Tony tried to go to running club this last Wed but the track was not opened.  The running club was running around the park instead.  Tony and I opted to do our own thing instead and did about 5 miles easy around the park.  The sign that was up at the venue said that the track would be open on 05 October 2009 so we’ll be able to go back to track sessions after that.

NFL UK – I found out that the Patriots are playing the Buccaneers at Wembley stadium on 25 October 2009 so me and my mate Tony are going!  It’s going to be great and I’m really looking forward to it.  I’ve never been to an NFL game before and it’s cool to be able to go to a regular season game without having to travel all the way to america!

Running & marathons – I’m still running but with a bit more focus on what I’m doing.  I’m conscious of the fact that my long runs need to be at a bit slower pace in order to cover 26.2 miles next April!  I’ll work out proper paces etc in a few more weeks when I really concentrate properly on training for the marathon.  Plus, I’m also hoping to purchase a Garmin Forerunner 405 in order to aid me in my training!

My Son – He is growing up way too fast and will be three next month!  He’s so cute and funny and a lovely little boy (when he’s not naughty).

I’ll try not to neglect my blog so much going forward.  I’m happy to report that I’ve been reading a lot of other running blogs though!  All of the running blogs listed in my “Best Running Blogs”.

Take care everyone!