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Reports 2017 |
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7EmiratesRun - 497 km from Abu Dhabi to Hatta in 7 days, United Arab Emirates |
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| <Pre race> <1><2><3><4><5><6><7> <Post race> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
About two more weeks till the start to the 7EmiratesRun. It is more than just a multi day race though all seven Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Adschman, Dubai, Fudschaira, Ra`s al-Chaima, Schardscha und Umm al-Quaiwain) of the United Arab Emirates. It is a charity run to raise funds to „help children back on their feet“. The money is used to pay medical support for kids with leg proteases and make it possible for them to walk. Further, the run promote „Health“ by showing a healthy live style and „Fun“ by having a great time together and discover the United Arab Emirates. The race starts on 11/18 at the south in Abubu Dhabi and passes Al Samha, Bab Al Shams, Dubai, Um Al Quwain, QuestFor Adventure Camp and Fujeirah till it finally finishes near the border to Oman in Hatta. The 497km of the race are split into seven stages with an average of 71km. Besides, there are also stage runners and additional short distance events. These short distances partly are integrated into the race. 2010 the race was initiated a few years ago as a solo run of Wendelin. Over the time it change to a stage run which becomes international now.
This afternoon I received a call from Wendelin, the organizer of the 7EmiratesRun, called me. He had received a call from Adam Essam which is the organizer of a local running group. Adam asked him to join for a run. His running group also collects money for social purposes and some of the runners want to join for a short distance at the 7EmiratesRun. My wife and me did not have any plans yet. So we agreed to met up with them at the Dubai Marina Mall. After Adam had spoken some welcoming words, Wendelin talked about the 7EmiratesRun. He outlined his motivation to do it and explained the difficulties an organizer faces. Next, I had some words and told them about my experiences at stage races. Finally we started. Wendelin and me had decided to run the long distance (14k). The short distance (9k) was one loop around the harbor basin. The long distance had to run another half loop. This was easy to organize since there are plenty of bridges across the basin. I was thinking to have a relaxed run. But it turned out that the speed of my running guide was quiet high. To run a personal best of 2:30h for marathon this speed was necessary for him. So I took a speed training. After an hour we returned to our starting point. Only a few runners from the 9k distance had finished before us. I was very surprised to see such an international group with more than 30 people. After the run we had some small talk. In this Wendelin and I was asked a lot of questions. But that was what we came for. Finally, Adam, Wendelin, my wife and me had some dinner. Then my wife and me went back to our hotel. We already felt the short night and the long day of sight seeing.
Things slowly headed. The days since we had arrived in Dubai we took for acclimatization. Tuesday we had a ride to Fujairah for scuba diving. Wednesday Günther Guderley and Klaus Neumann had arrived and since then we had visited some attractions of Dubai together. Today at 12:30pm all helpers met up at the Health Care Center to pick up the cars. The runners had to be there at 1:30pm. It made no sense to drive there separately. That is why Klaus, my wife and I went together there and arrived just after 12pm. Shortly after Pat and some other helpers arrived. Just after 12:30pm my wife and the other helpers left to pick up the rental cars at Hertz. Actually, it was wrong to call them rental cars since Hertz had provided them for the race as a sponsoring. And not only that. They gave us brand new cars, unfortunately without navigation systems. When the helpers had returned to the Health Care Center we loaded our luggage. Luckily we could storage luggage which we did not need for the race at Wendelins office. Since two cars already got lost on the way back from Hertz, they organized two convoys to Abu Dhabi. When we arrived there, the staff of the hotel unloaded our luggage and brought it to our rooms. We only had to check Âin. After we had arrived at the hotel, they brought our luggage to our rooms. We just had to check in. Therefore, for each room we had to select a responsible. Four of us always shared one room. We had about 30 minutes before we had to met up for the first briefing. At this meeting all race rules are presented and the route for the first day was explained. In the end, everybody receives his T-Shirt. After we all met up for dinner. It took some time, before someone had an overview what was offered. They had a huge variety and it was very delicious. At about 11pm we finally went to bed. It was a short night, since the breakfast stated at 5am and start was at 7pm.
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