Not to be confused with the Marathon des Sables, in Morocco, the Saharamarathon takes place in the Algerian Sahara in the Saharawi refugee camps near Tindouf. It is organized by the refugees and volunteers from around the world and helps raise the visibility of the plight of close to 200, 000 Saharawis, as well as funds for projects to improve the lives of these long term refugees, who have been stranded in harsh desert camps since 1975.

The first Saharamarathon took place in 2001 and every year has been attracting growing numbers of participants from around the globe. In 2010, 27 runners participated from the UK (the highest number yet). They raised over £20,000 for our Saharawi Artist Fund, which finances arts and cultural development projects in the refugee camps. In total, over 400 runners came from 22 different countries. The event is professionally organized and draws top athletes as well as amateur runners.

Participants can run a full marathon, a half marathon, 10km or 5km. During their week in the camps, they stay with a Saharawi refugee family and get a unique chance to learn their story and experience the legendary hospitality of this exiled desert culture.

Sandblast’s role is to take the headache out of organizing all the logistical aspects of the trip and the stay in the camps. They deal with the flights, visas, accommodation etc. They also organize a special (and optional) educational/cultural programme for those wishing to enrich their experience while in the camps. This includes an evening on the dunes listening to live music and having a traditional desert feast.

Sandblast has had glowing feedback from runners of previous years so if anyone interested would like to speak to past participants, please let them know and they will be glad to put you in contact.

For more information on Sandblast and our Running the Sahara campaign, visit the website at http://www.sandblast-arts.org/ and www.sandblast-arts.org/projects/running-the-sahara respectively.

Email address to respond to: runningthesahara@sandblast-arts.org

Follow Sandblast’s tweets | Join Sandblast on Facebook | Donate to Sandblast

Overall it was a great day out and Bupa spares no expense on their events.  Well worth the additional money you pay for one of their events as opposed to others.  Lots of toilets (always important), loads of runners, loads of supporters, well marked, well organised with a great goody bag and a quality-feel medal (I love the medals!).

If you’ve never done the Bupa London 10000 before then I seriously recommend you register for the 2011 event because you won’t regret it.  I got my personal for a 10k at the 2009 event so I’d give it a high personal best potential rating (I mean, if I can do it then so can everyone else!).

I previously mentioned that a work contact of me managed to get me last-minute entry to this event.  Unfortunately he wasn’t able to run with my friend and I as he has been ill the past few days.  Frankly, having not been able to complete the marathon because of illness, I can relate.  We just told him to stay home and chill out; there are always other events.

My super supportive wifey also came along to cheer us on.  She is such a great supporter and she was at the start line as we went by yelling and cheering us on (and even ran beside us for a few metres) and she was at the finish on the Mall to cheer us on again.

I think my friend was quite nervous about the event because the last event he took part in was the Santa Run which was 5k and over off-road terrain.  He thought he would make it to about 4k before he needed to take a walking break.  Nope.  He made it 6.2k before he had to walk the 1st time.  Overall, we only stopped to walk 3 times.  For his first 10k, that is a fantastic achievement and I think he felt that too.

I tried to explain that 10k is a great distance because it’s over before you know it and you also get that fantastic feeling when you cross the finish line.  Whether you’re first or last!  (Note:  I’ve never been either – yet.)

You can check out our route and split times here:-

Overall a great morning out and a great event. Like I said, if you haven’t done it before then give the Bupa London 10000 a go!

I had missed the chance to register for the Bupa London 10,000 and the online registration was full.  The Bupa 10,000 takes place in London on Monday, 31 May 2010 and it’s a great event.  I did it last year and had a great time.

My job means I am in regular contact with various insurers and Bupa is one of them.  It just so happens that our contact at Bupa has also done some running and he is taking part in the 10k as well.  When I met him the other day he said that he had VIP passes to the elite/celeb starting area and I told him that I didn’t have entry.

Well, he pulled a couple of strings and I’m in!  Had to send a last-minute cheque for £25 off to the organisers but I’m in and I’ve got access to VIP area!  How cool is that?  My wife will also be coming with me to cheer me on and she gets in as well.

I might actually have something interesting to right about after that event!

Here is the route as recorded by my lovely Garmin Forerunner…

13.1 miles of pain.  Actually, as the second half hurt it was more like 6 or 7 miles of pain.

Next year my time will be back under 2 hours!  Mark my words!

My third attempt of the Reading Half Marathon certainly wasn’t my best.  I had a good first half and at the 10k mark my time seemed pretty good and I was at about the 58min mark.  However, the whole second half was much harder and I was experiencing some major tiredness in my legs and feet whilst running.  I had to stop and walk many many times during the second half and my overall finish time was more than 2 hours 16 mins!  Even worse than when I ran it for the first time.

My split times were as follows:-

5K – 00:29:20

10K – 00:58:33

15K – 01:32:26

20K – 02:08:24

When the pain was really bad I just kept focusing on getting finished.  Even if I had to walk the rest of the damn thing, I was going to finish! That is the one big positive out of all this, I finished it even though my body and brain were telling me I’d had enough.  For me it was a serious mind over matter moment.

I must admit that when I finished the run I was quite upset/disappointed with myself.  My wife was very helpful though and reminded me that I had finished the run in the first place.  That’s why everyone in the audience cheers so much, not just because they have family/friends running, but because they’re proud of all of us for doing it in the first place.  So, even though it was a “personal worst”, I’m proud of me for doing it as well.

The one big lesson out of all of this is that I need to train more.  I’ve been a bit slack lately and with a full marathon coming up in 7 weeks I just can’t afford to do that anymore.

Of course, this finish time and the pain has made me wonder how many days (kidding) it’s going to take me to finish the marathon.  The good thing about the marathon is that I don’t actually have any previous finish times to compare against in my head.  I just want to finish it… and I will.

So the main focus over the next 7 weeks is training and dropping a few pounds.  I think it was a combination of lack of training and being too heavy this time.  I need to trim down a few kilos in order to be better prepared for the full marathon.

Today I’m hobbling around and having a very hard time going up and down stairs.  My calf muscles and quads are killing me.  My quads!  Why?  Usually it is my hamstrings that are sore after running or training.

My wife was kind enough to give me a leg massage today and although it was an extremely painful experience (which I’m sure she enjoyed) it does feel a bit better.

I wonder if it’s safe to go to the gym tomorrow and do a little bit on the cross trainer…

For the hour or so before the event there was music which was all halloween themed as well as refreshments.  Your entry fee gets you your race number, chip timing, free skeleton t-shirt, headlamp and a mug at the finish line.

It was really good fun and everyone had a great time.  There was a lot of chatter amongst the runners during the whole event and you don’t normally get that in the daylight races!

You can find more photos by clicking here.

I had my time at about 27 min and 13 secs according to my Garmin.

Well done to my wife for coming out and supporting me again.  She’s a fantastic woman!

And my little boy was there too… way past his bed time!

The Mortimer 10k is put on by my running club the Reading Roadrunners.  I’m sorry I forgot to mention it (it was in Sept) but I have been waiting all this time for someone to put the finish times on the site.  They only recently went up!

Anyway, it wasn’t chip timed or anything but they had my finish time this year as 00:55:59.  That is a pretty good time considering I felt like I was in more pain then last year.  I also managed to shave time off from last year’s 00:57:09!  Pretty impressive considering all of the hills.

I did my long run today with Garfield and it was slightly painful for quite a few miles.  I had shin splints for about the first 4 miles and I had to stop an stretch a couple of times to get the tightness out of my lower legs.  This always seems to happen to me when I get new trainers which are nice and cushioned.  Why is that?  If they aren’t cushioned I get other types of injury… I can’t win!

For today’s long run I started at my gym (Pulse-8) and ran from there to Dinton Pastures and back again.

I got to Dinton Pastures and tried to mix it up a bit with regards to the direction I ran around the lake and it was a bit difficult.  I think I’m getting bored with the scenery of Dinton Pastures!  All those people walking dogs…

Overall the run was pretty good (even with the pains) and I managed to keep an average pace of around 6 mins per km.  That is the sort of pace (or a little bit slower) that I would be happy with in the Brighton Marathon.

Now after my long run I am drugged up with Ibruprofen to help with the horrible “puffy” knee feeling that I’ve been getting lately.  I think I’ll need to concentrate a bit more on let weights/exercises on my non running days to build up my quads.  I think they’re getting a bit weak from all the running and it’s causing me a bit of knee trouble.  Jeez, if it isn’t one thing with running it’s another isn’t it?

I’m off to put my Santa suit on and lounge around the house…

The organisers must be very keen as the pack also included sponsor sheets and 5k training plans.  I’m impressed with their organisation, however I wonder how many people will ruin their suit before the event?  I mean, the temptation to just put it on is pretty strong (or is that just me?).

No race number or anything and that is absolutely fine.  This event is just for a bit of fun and it should be a good laugh; that is, if it is possible to laugh whilst running, out of breath and being smothered by a fake santa beard.

Long run tomorrow!

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!

Outside Buckingham Palace

What a great day out.  My wife and I caught the train from Reading at about 07:30 and after a train journey to London and a couple of trips on the Underground we arrived at Green Park which was the assembly area for the event.  We actually arrived in really good time and we had about 1 1/2 hours to roam around and see what was going on.

The whole event was really well organised and everthing was clearly signposted and there were loads of marshalls everywhere directing people where they needed to go.  I didn’t have any baggage to store (my wife carries it all) so we meandered through past the huge collection of porta-loos (absolutely no queuing anywhere either) towards Buckingham Palace.

The roundabout in front of the Palace was more cordoned off than usual because of the race finishing on the Mall.  The Mall is the main road that runs straight out in front of the Palace, and this is where the finish was.

It was quite a long walk down the Mall to where the finish line was set up but we had lots of time to kill.  When we got there we saw that there were loads of TV cameras set up everwhere and the VIP/Elite runner area was also there.  We could see the media taking photos of people in one of the tents accross the road but I’m not sure who they were photographing because they were all in the way.

My official photographer and wife

We then opted for a walk across St James’s Park towards the start of the race.  There were TV cameras located around the start line and we also noticed two helicopters hovering above the city which we assumed were also filming the event.  The starting area was split into three different coloured zones (Red, Blue & Green respectively) and those were again split into three sections (A, B & C respectively).  Each runner was assigned a colour and section depending on their predicted finish time when they registered for the event.  I couldn’t remember what my predicted time was but I was slightly concerned to be in the Blue A area (first of the blue sections) right after the red numbered runners.

By this point we had about 45 mins before the start of the race so I starting jogging around St James’s Park while my wife looked on in amusement.  I warmed up really good this time and stretched out my calves and quads to help reduce the tightness and potential shin splints during the race.  I was then forced by my wife to proceed to my start area so I didn’t miss the start (although the start wasn’t for another 10 mins).

I was adamant that I wasn’t going to be pulled along by the other runners this time and end up doing the first half too fast.  I wore my running watch this time (forgot it for the Woodley 10k) so I could keep a record of my splits and ensure I was running at an easier pace this time.

My splits are as follows:-

01km – 05:53
02km – 05:30
03km – 05:31
04km – 05:46
05km – 05:45
06km – 05:29
07km – 05:29
08km – 05:18
09km – 05:20
10km – 05:09

Me with my finishers medal

After three kilometres I thought I would slow down for a bit because I didn’t want to injure myself again and I was paranoid about shin splints again.

After the halfway mark I thought I should speed up a bit and did a couple of kms at a 05:29 pace and then sped up even more for kms 8 and 9.  My last km was done at a 05:09 pace which is pretty fast for me.

The atmosphere during the event was really great and along with the thousands of runners there were thousands of supporters along the route giving their various brands of support.  It was really great and the things people were shouting were very supportive.  It was what everyone needs during one of these events to help push them along.  Sometimes I wonder how much the atmosphere actually contributes to finish times because of the positive feeling it can give runners which helps to spur them on.

By my watch I had my finish time at about 00:55:15 but my official finish time, according to the Bupa 10,000 website, shows a finish time of 00:55:13 which is even better!

My wife's vantage point where she waited for me and missed me.

After I got past the finish line it was a long walk through the ramps where people removed your timing chips for you and on down to Buckingham Palace.  My wife and I had agreed a meeting point in front of the statue outside the Queen’s house.  I didn’t see my wife anywhere near the finish (which was odd because I always see her at the finish of a race) so I headed for the agreed meeting point.  An hour later (I’d completely cooled and dried off by this point) I finally asked a stranger if I could use his mobile/cell phone to call my wife.  She showed up seconds later.  She said she was near the arches (at the 400m mark) waiting for me to come through towards the finish.  She said she was getting worried because she didn’t see me come through!  I thought it was quite funny and reminded her that if it gets to about 1 hour and 50 mins into a 10k race (and I normally finish in about 1 hour) and she hasn’t seen me, to head for the meeting point.  She was really disappointed because she travelled all that way to support me and see me running and never saw me run once!