MMEand1
11-15-2007, 04:07 AM
I don't have a lot of time to be online lately due to my current duty, but I thought since I have a little free time, that I would come over here and post my race report.
I decided that I wanted to run a half in Iraq right after I found out in June that I was coming. I ran a full in June and did not think I would be ready to run another one by November. Instead, I decided to work with a few RD's and see if they would allow me to participate in their race in an "off site" capacity. Mike from the Trail of 2 Cities was very excited about it from the beginning. We were able to e-mail several times and even though the actual race occured 2 days ago, he allowed me to run it this morning since it was one of my rare days off!
I tried to get others to run it with me, but most everyone laughed, so I was determined to run it by myself. About a week ago, one of my buddies decided that he wanted to run it as well. He was going to drive a truck to provide water, etc, and safety if needed (a good bit of the route was what is known as "Sniper Bait Ally"). Instead, he wanted to run it with me. He got it cleared through his head supervisor, who was training for a full before he ended up getting deployed. Two days ago, the supervisior decided that he wants to run it, too. The more, the merrier, right? We line up some folks to provide water, gatorade at the half-way point, but that was all the aid we were going to get.
My buddy and I started at 0630 and the first few miles were all fun and games. We were laughing and saying how we could not believe we were running a half in Iraq and how cool it was. I happened to need to use just about every port-a-potty in the first 3 miles. This equated to about 6-7 stops (there are port-a-potties at just about every guard tower, so no lack of them).
We started getting into the groove of things around 5 miles. It was here that we came along the back side of the flightline. As we were running, a mail plane flew overhead and I wondered if I would get mail today (I did not). It is also in this area that you can see the town and mountains. The oil fields are off in the distance and have thick black smoke that lingers in the air. You can not only smell the burning off of the oil, but taste it too. There's nothing like taking in a big gulp of gritty, dusty air and being able to taste it for the next several miles! When we were running, we saw a local (Iraqi) on one side of the fence. We saw one the other day, too, but he had a bunch of sheep. The one we saw yesterday had no sheep and we thought it was strange that it was just a guy standing around in a big field. We waved as we passed and he waved back. Well, guess what? We got attacked last night in that general area. Coincidence? Perhaps, but that will teach you not to go running back there at night!!
As we approached the half-way point, I got a rock in my shoe and had to stop at a bus stop to get it out. The roads are pocked with rocks, gravel and evidence of mortar attacks. It was here that the water crew saw us and provided the water/gatorade. We made it to the half-way and turned around.
Nothing really significant happened until we made it to the 10 mile point. As we were running, my buddy started to hit the wall. This was when he told me that he had never run more than 1.5 miles!! Crazy military people!!!
As he was hitting the wall, we ran past a huge convoy of about 25 vehicles. As they were passing, I felt the cool air rush around us and it felt great. My buddy, on the other hand, felt like the wind was going to knock him over. We walked a little so he could feel a bit better and it worked.
At the 12-13 mile mark, I hit the wall. By this point, my buddy was okay, so he pulled me through it. As we neared the finish, I was hoping that our water/gatorade "volunteers" would be waiting for us, but they were not. We walked about another 1/4 mile to get water and just relax. There was no place for us to get an ice bath, so we hooked up a water hose and just held it over our legs until we could not feel them anymore (the water was freezing!!).
All in all, we had a great experience and look forward to hopefully completing another one in January. We are really appreciative to Mike from Trail of 2 Cities for allowing us to "participate".
Happy running...where ever in the world you are located!!
Mariah P.
I decided that I wanted to run a half in Iraq right after I found out in June that I was coming. I ran a full in June and did not think I would be ready to run another one by November. Instead, I decided to work with a few RD's and see if they would allow me to participate in their race in an "off site" capacity. Mike from the Trail of 2 Cities was very excited about it from the beginning. We were able to e-mail several times and even though the actual race occured 2 days ago, he allowed me to run it this morning since it was one of my rare days off!
I tried to get others to run it with me, but most everyone laughed, so I was determined to run it by myself. About a week ago, one of my buddies decided that he wanted to run it as well. He was going to drive a truck to provide water, etc, and safety if needed (a good bit of the route was what is known as "Sniper Bait Ally"). Instead, he wanted to run it with me. He got it cleared through his head supervisor, who was training for a full before he ended up getting deployed. Two days ago, the supervisior decided that he wants to run it, too. The more, the merrier, right? We line up some folks to provide water, gatorade at the half-way point, but that was all the aid we were going to get.
My buddy and I started at 0630 and the first few miles were all fun and games. We were laughing and saying how we could not believe we were running a half in Iraq and how cool it was. I happened to need to use just about every port-a-potty in the first 3 miles. This equated to about 6-7 stops (there are port-a-potties at just about every guard tower, so no lack of them).
We started getting into the groove of things around 5 miles. It was here that we came along the back side of the flightline. As we were running, a mail plane flew overhead and I wondered if I would get mail today (I did not). It is also in this area that you can see the town and mountains. The oil fields are off in the distance and have thick black smoke that lingers in the air. You can not only smell the burning off of the oil, but taste it too. There's nothing like taking in a big gulp of gritty, dusty air and being able to taste it for the next several miles! When we were running, we saw a local (Iraqi) on one side of the fence. We saw one the other day, too, but he had a bunch of sheep. The one we saw yesterday had no sheep and we thought it was strange that it was just a guy standing around in a big field. We waved as we passed and he waved back. Well, guess what? We got attacked last night in that general area. Coincidence? Perhaps, but that will teach you not to go running back there at night!!
As we approached the half-way point, I got a rock in my shoe and had to stop at a bus stop to get it out. The roads are pocked with rocks, gravel and evidence of mortar attacks. It was here that the water crew saw us and provided the water/gatorade. We made it to the half-way and turned around.
Nothing really significant happened until we made it to the 10 mile point. As we were running, my buddy started to hit the wall. This was when he told me that he had never run more than 1.5 miles!! Crazy military people!!!
As he was hitting the wall, we ran past a huge convoy of about 25 vehicles. As they were passing, I felt the cool air rush around us and it felt great. My buddy, on the other hand, felt like the wind was going to knock him over. We walked a little so he could feel a bit better and it worked.
At the 12-13 mile mark, I hit the wall. By this point, my buddy was okay, so he pulled me through it. As we neared the finish, I was hoping that our water/gatorade "volunteers" would be waiting for us, but they were not. We walked about another 1/4 mile to get water and just relax. There was no place for us to get an ice bath, so we hooked up a water hose and just held it over our legs until we could not feel them anymore (the water was freezing!!).
All in all, we had a great experience and look forward to hopefully completing another one in January. We are really appreciative to Mike from Trail of 2 Cities for allowing us to "participate".
Happy running...where ever in the world you are located!!
Mariah P.