The Pearl of Arabia, Will it Be Fun in the Sand?

It was a sad time leaving my fav country of Singapore, however it was time to start our long and slow journey in a home ward direction. Thus ending my Asian/Pacific region part of the adventure. At the time of writing this I've less than 2 months left to go and I can honestly tell you, I am glad to be heading home. 

Don't get me wrong I've loved running in every country we've visited and seeing the sights they provided, tasted the wonderful food and drinking the lovely drinks each one has provided. Being able to create new memories whilst re visiting old ones and been amazing. It is though time for me to go home as I am a little fed up of being away from family and friends now. 

As I said it's not over yet, I've still got a while to go. So as our trip across the Indian Ocean became a little uneventful, I have kept myself busy with work and going on the treadmill. 

Our ship did allow for one of it's oldest Naval traditions, with a "Hand's to Bathe" this went back to the days of sail, no doubt to the days when personal hygiene was a luxury. Fresh water was a precious commodity, so captains dropped anchor in a calm sea and ordered all hands on board to jump ship and get clean. So for us, this is where the ship's company can go for a dip in the sea as the ship drifts along. I've done it a fair few times in the past, however I decided not this time, as I've done it in the Indian Ocean before and we were greeted by Tiger Sharks or Nobby's as we call them back then. So for me I went and had a gander at those experiencing it for the first time. 

First sunset after our arrival into Duqm

After a period at sea, it was time to go alongside in Duqm, Oman. I love Oman having been to Muscat a few times as well as Shalah, this would be my first trip to Duqm. Originally a fishing port, it's building to be the next Muscat. However so far for us all it is a make shift village on the jetty out of cargo containers and a bit further out two hotels. So not expecting much to be honest, but I am looking forward to running in the sand. 

I've done a few times before out here in the Middle East in the various countries, it's good this will be a new place to stretch my legs. It's going to be the first of a few stops here as we're being part of a major Exercise with Omanis that is quiet important to the UK. The Omanis are the nicest Arabs that I've come across in my opinion. Every time I've come here I've felt welcome, and to be honest I recommend those who fancy a trip to the Arab States to visit places like Muscat. 

So we got told we couldn't transit the dockyard by foot, so we had to use the transport laid on. This included the 500m journey to the Container village. So we'd have to get a bus which drove at 2mph to the made up village. Such a joke, it's so we'd have to pay for the transport laid on. 

The village is alright, it had a pizza hut, some bars, kebab stall, souvnier stall, barbers, basketball court, some dart boards, toilets, a little dance floor. What more really do you need for a Matelot apart from beer and food? 

Yep Pizza Hut not sure it's geniune however it's bloody good pizza!

So my plan to get a least a run in sand will have to be via getting transport to one of the two hotels that's being laid on, and run from there. It will happen!!!

Tide was out?

Just so happens a friend from back home out here working with a maintenance company for the ship happened to be staying in the one of the hotels. I arranged to meet her at some point in the morning at the hotel. I arrived just after half 10 in the morning and the temperature was already quite hot with no humidity. 

We soon made our way up the road from the hotel heading towards the rock desert area in the distance. The roads were quiet, there is very little traffic that passes through the area currently so it's ideal for those who just like roads. 

Having fun in the sand. 

We got to the end of the road we were on and notice a trail going in a round toward the rock desert area we wanted to go play in. The heat was draining, and with my friend Flick suffering also a little from the night before, it wasn't going to be an "easy run". It was a pleasant one though for sure. When we got to the top, the views was amazing. From one side you could sea the coast, from the other nothing but sand! 

Flick taking in the views

We decided not to go back the way we ran up. We decided to go a different way down, and that became a challenge itself. Fun but still a challenge we had to scramble down sharp drops, trying to slip under the loose footing. It became a point it was better to press on than it was to go back. Although not very runable, it didn't matter at all, we both had smiles on our faces. 

On our way down

Once we eventually got back to the trail, we headed back the way we came to the hotel. We had spent a good hour out in the heat, I definitely felt it. Although I was used to heat, I wasn't used to dry heat. It does make a big difference.

The hotel soon was at our foot steps and it brought an end to our run. This became my only run on dry land during this visit. It's not the easiest to do for logistics but it was do able. Hopefully get another in next time. Otherwise it has been the usual visit to the treadmill around this run sadly. 

It was great to have company and the the fact it was a run with someone from home made it better. It lifted my moral of being away so long a little. At the time of writing this I have 45 days to go! 

Thank you for continuing support and to those who read my blogs. It really has kept me motivated. Also thank you to Tailwind Nutrition UK for their continued support, Lemon was my choice this time round, hydration was definitely key. 

So until next time!





#GoTailwind #Tailwindtrailblazer

Golden Sands - St Ives Bay 10K Event 18

End of May and the weather is warming up. It's half term here in the UK and surprisingly the roads were pretty quiet considering I was driving down through Cornwall from Plymouth around rush hour.

It's been a while since I last ran in Cornwall and a few years since I ran along the beautiful beaches. I had entered the St Ives Bay 10K only a few weeks ago, having never ran this event before I have only heard a few stories about it. I have run a 5k event in the same place but this one was a little different.

Event 18 of 37 - St Ives Bay 10K (Beach and Sand Dunes)

The Course

 The race was in it's 3rd year, and I have only read that it was tough and had one big sand dune towards the end of the course that was literally a climb up. I arrived around 5.45pm and picked up my pre registered race number. It cost me about £10 to enter this 10K so to be honest I wasn't expecting much. Registration was in the Hayle Surf Life Club, where I was able to get changed and leave my bag.

Outside they had BBQ going as well as a cake stand too. The start was at 7pm so had plenty of time to get myself down to the start line which was on the beach it's self just down from the Surf Club. It starts on the beach at Hayle Towans. This beach is known as 3 miles of Golden Sands to which they're not wrong. It's a lovely flat sandy beach (not shingle or muddy colour like a lot of beaches outside of Cornwall).  I met up with Jason (who finished Paris Marathon with me) from my club the Plymouth Musketeers RC, as well as my good friends Craig (my support crew from HOPE24) and Zoe his wife (who was running this event too) and some more of the crazy (in a great way) Carn Runners club members.

Me and Jason

 The Race Director gave his safety brief and start the race using the megaphones "Orlay orlay orlay" tune and we off. A field of probably no more than around 80 runners I reckon at the most (the official results have yet to be published so do not know exact numbers) crossed the start line.

Within seconds the soft sand made sure you knew it wasn't going to be an easy 10K. With the sea rolling in to left we headed down the beach towards Gwithian. There was a strong head wind as we ran down the beach mixed with the soft sand it soon became an energy zapping first half of the course.

I wasn't out for a record breaking time, so it took a lot of worry away that it was going to be tough. Soon the first mile tick off and the sand became less churned up but still soft under foot. Wind was strong but I tried to keep at a comfortable pace so not to ruin my calf muscles (beach can be a killer on calf muscles).

The long first part on the beach

The beach seemed to go what seemed like an eternity. I couldn't wait to get off it and get in the dunes, just for the different terrain. That's when I started to think about my friends like Elisabet Barnes (Female Winner MDS 2015), Colin Barnes, Susie Chan, Shaun Marsden, Pete Drummond, Matt Bisco and Danny Slay to name a few who all have conquered the might Marathon Des Sables. How to crack sand and dunes in soaring heat over 6 days, it gave me a very tiny insight to what they achieved.

My thoughts soon came back to task in hand as I eventually turn towards the dunes and headed up a flight of steps on to the cliffs of Gwithian Beach. I did think about pausing and taking my top off for a brief Poldark moment (those who have seen the show know what I mean), but thought I best crack on.

The Steps

 At the top of the steps I turned right and made the journey back at about 3 miles. It then became a narrow footpath, this is the main reason the organisers don't want the race entries to get too big. The foot path was a mixture of hard trail and soft sand as I weaved up and down and left and right around the dunes. teh view across the bay was beautiful. The shelter of the dunes kept the wind off me but this lead then to the heat now being an effect on the run. Since the steps there was a marshal every so often, each marshal could literally see each other. This was a well marshaled sector (including a water station) and it definetly prevented anyone getting lost. Which could be easily be done with so many paths across the dunes.

The dunes

 Then not about 4 and half miles you hit "the Dune" or "Big Dune". I have read and heard about this dune, that it's one that gets a big mark of respect if you can run up it. It's not just that it's a steep climb but the soft sand doesn't help. As you press your foot down, you slide down almost as much. My idea apart from obviously walking the dune was to use already foot places by the previous runners who got. Unfortunately my mistake was that they had longer legs compared to me and it made extra work on my short legs hehe! As I progressed up the climb, the female runner a little bit further up was still in ear shot. I did giggle hearing all the swear words coming out of her mouth.

The "Big Dune" from the bottom

 Once at the top is was a quick decent down toward the beach with a small drop on to the slope to the beach itself. Before just over a mile to the finish to go, back along the beach through the soft sand. I picked up the pace slightly the best I could in the sand.

The view from the top

 The sun was going down and tide coming in (some parts of the beach get fully cut off when the tide comes in all the way to the cliffs), I went passed the 6 mile mark and soon not long after the finish line which was drawn in the sand I crossed and received my finishers medal.

Back to the beach!

Final stretch back to the finish

The race itself suprised me. It was a well marshaled (the marshals were great!) event through out and well organised. They laid on a good drink station just after 3 miles on the dunes, there was a BBQ and Cake stalls at the Race HQ. Water station at the finish. I really nice finishers medal as well.  So for £10 and for a tough challenge and different type of 10K event it was worth the money. Definitely worth the travel down from Plymouth for and if you were in the area it's a must.

Finisher

 To top it off, the reason I am smashing out all the events, my good friend Phil was down from Haywood Heath (nr Brighton) visiting his mum and family. This gave me a good opportunity to catch up with him. It is moments like that which make all this running worth while.

Me and Phil

 So a good evening all together. I got to complete another good event and catch up with a good friend.

Thank you for the continuing support!
Owain