Day 5 - Marathon Day!
Tuesday 25th
Only 6 people were walking (at this point) so we were soon left behind but the route was very obvious and marked with various white painted objects (tires, bottles, rocks etc)
. Great reception as we passed the houses with children running round us and shouts of “hola” and “ tiene caramelos?”
By the 10k start point Mel was feeling a bit tired so took a rest whilst I carried on, getting progressively hotter. Apart from the occasional marathoner passing me, and some first aid and police jeeps, I was all alone in the desert 🏜️. Quite amazing, and of course photos don't really do it justice. Just after the 5k start point I could see the outskirts of Samara -not a pretty site and in fact the area we went through was quite rough. By this time the sun was at it's fiercest and I can't begin to imagine how hot it gets in summer. I was walking quite quickly just to get out of the heat and the last half mile felt like 10 but I managed a little sprint to cross the line!
Got a big round of applause from everyone who was still there - I must have looked as red as the tomato I was dressed as! By this stage I was desperate for the loo but was barred from entering the building by the police- very sadly one of the runners, a 73 year old Algerian had collapsed and died.
. By this time I had started to develop a tummy upset so just had some couscous (and an imodium!). Lots of catching up on our adventures that day!
Alex left at 6.30 to get breakfast,and then bus to the start of the marathon, followed by Mel, Andy, David and I going to the start of the half marathon and the others later on for 10k and 5k.
At the start of our race there was lots of singing, chanting and ululating and some great photo opportunities.
Reasonably cool at the start and the terrain was mostly a stony track but there were a few sand dunes which were hard work. Not long after we'd started we were passed by the first marathon runner ( who actually came third) but everyone very spread out.
We waited for Mel who came in looking as cool as a cucumber, even though she was dressed as an aubergine, and then slowly went back to Fatumatu's where a lovely meal awaited
Back at Nadjma’s Ann W and I agreed to get our hands hennaed so we all sat around watching the elaborate ritual of preparing the henna, then the delicate work of copying a pattern from their phone. Our hands were wrapped in kitchen roll and cling film - and then the food arrived which we thought had been cancelled as we had eaten lunch at 5.30. I managed to plead tummy bug but Ann got spoon fed by one of Nadjma's daughters! We were all dying to get to bed but had to wait until the henna had worked and then it was rubbed off us to reveal the pattern stain underneath.