TRIP REPORT
Vietnam
8/25 – 9/11/13
Part 1
Race Results:
Sun, Sept 1/13
Da Nang, Vietnam
Da Nang Marathon
6:05:45 (PW)
Marathon # 364 -
Country # 117
Vietnam had been on my ‘wish’ list or bucket list for a long
time but there had been no marathons for many years. So when a friend informed
me late last year that he was running an inaugural marathon in Da Nang I was
very interested - but not sure I would be able to run the race. At that time I
was suffering major health issues and didn’t know if I would ever run a
marathon again? However when my health started to improve and I was able to
struggle though the St Kitts Marathon in May/13 I figured I could ‘struggle’
through another marathon in Vietnam in Sept.
I started to plan the trip and decided that if I was going
that far I might as well stay and visit the country for a few weeks because it
was unlikely that I would ever go back. I managed to find a travel agency in
Australia that was offering travel packages for the race as well as optional
extended tours. I bought a 10-day package. When I checked air fares and learned
that it cost $2K to fly in economy I decided to check 1st Class
tickets using air miles. I booked 1st
Class but had to extend my trip by 5 days to get return seats on free miles. I
decided to fly ‘by the seat of my pants’ for those extra 5 days.
Nicole & I drove to the airport together – she was going
to visit the kids & grandkids while I was in Vietnam. After 30 long hours –
even with flat beds in 1st Class I arrived tired in Ho Chi Minh City
(Saigon) late Tue night. The tour started Wed afternoon with
a city tour of HCMC. I met my sole tour mate – Colleen – from Aukland, NZ.
Colleen had booked 4* hotels and cheapskate Maddog booked 3* hotels so we only
saw each other during the tours. Luckily we got along very well and in fact
enjoyed each other’s company and conversation. I believe we both enjoyed the
tour much more by having a compatible friend/companion to share the experience
with. And we essentially had private tours – just Colleen & I with a driver
and guide – for our 10 days in Vietnam.
The first city tour of HCMC included the major tourist and
historical sites: Reunification Palace, the French Quarter with the Cathedral
and Post Office and the Ben Thanh Market. (Lots of photos with captions on my
website www.maddog.smugmug.com). The traffic is horrendous in HCMC (and all VN
cities). There are 12 million people in HCMC and 6 million scooters. It is
scary trying to cross a street until you quickly learn the rule of survival “Be
bold and deliberate”! If you hesitate or change your mind you are dead!
The next day we travelled North West of HCMC to the Binh
Duong province to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels that were used by the Viet Cong
during the war. There are three levels of tunnels stretching over 200 km: the 1st
level (about 8 m under the surface) are small to prevent a bigger enemy from
getting in and were used for fighting and access to the larger tunnels in the
next two levels at 11m and 15 m where the VC and their families lived. The
tunnel system is very complex and still unmapped. We crawled through 50m of one tunnel in the 1st level
and I had to fight claustrophobia to get to the exit!
On the 3rd day we travelled north to the Mekong
Delta for a cruise on the Mekong River. We were transported by big boats, little
boats (sampans) through small natural canals and horse cart to visit villages
along the Mekong River and experience the life of the people living along the
river. For lunch we were treated to a great meal including a local delicacy –
deep fried ‘elephant ear‘ fish along with some fancy puffed rice bread that
looked like a soccer ball? To be honest the fried steak and French fries that
were also served were a bigger hit with both of us.
On Fri we flew from HCMC to Da Nang. After being picked up
at the airport by our private guide and driver we were taken to lunch. By then
both Colleen & I were tired of rice and stir-fried anything and we were
also a little sick (HCM revenge) so we told the guide that we didn’t want to
eat any more Vietnamese food. There are very few ‘western’ restaurants in VN and
none were included in our tour package so we compromised. We would go to an appointed
VN restaurant but would select what we wanted to eat rather than just accept the
typical 5 or 6 courses that were provided at a meal. We rejected any salads
(hadn’t been eating any anyways) and anything stir-fried. We stuck to plain
steamed rice and meat that had been baked or grilled.
After lunch we toured Da Nang including the Cham Museum and
Marble Mountain. Da Nang is the 3rd largest city in VN and is much
different than HCMC and Hanoi. It is modern, clean and new with shopping malls,
movie theatres, etc.! The infrastructure is new with wide 2-lane roads and
several new bridges across the Han River. There are miles of great beaches on
the East China Sea and all beach front property has been reserved for luxury
resorts. Except for the scooters you would almost think you were in an American
city? Only the Old Quarter in the center of the old city looks like the rest of
VN. After the tour we joined a few other runners who had just
booked a race package with the Tour Agency for drinks and conversation. Thankfully
the tour agent, Fran, had picked up our race packets to save us a trip to the
expo on Sat in the grueling VN heat. The race organization had kindly reserved
bib # 117 for Maddog.
Sat was a rest day to pick up race packets and prepare for
the pasta dinner. I had asked the six members of the Country Club to meet at
the pasta dinner for a group photo and discussion on some club matters but only
three of us showed up? The others went on a tour and claimed they waited in the
lobby for us since they weren’t attending the dinner?
Sunday was M-day! It was 84 F and humidity even higher at 4
am when a bus picked us up to take us to the start line. The heat index was
already in the mid-90s. It was going to
be UGLY! I managed to collect all six members of the Country Club together at
the start line for a group photo since I figured some would not be able to wait
at the finish line? The course was a half-marathon loop that ran along the
beach, crossed a bridge into the Old Quarter, along the Han River and back over
another bridge to the beach. Surprisingly there were 400 in two races – 200 in
the marathon and 200 in the Half. The race started on time at 5 am. I started
out slowly at an 11 min/mile pace knowing that the heat and race would get
ugly. I had hoped to run the 1st Half and then start to walk/run. I
didn’t make it that far! By the time I reached the 2nd bridge on the
1st loop at 12 Km in 1:26:55 and a split of 7:57/Km I was already
overheated and struggling so I started to walk. My goal was to break 5 hrs. I
knew that wasn’t going to happen! When I passed the Half/21 K in 2:45:05 and a
split of 8:44/Km I was hoping I could break 6 hrs? By now it was almost 8am and
the heat was soaring as well as my body temp and I was wilting. I started
dumping a bottle of water on me as well as in me at each water station in a
futile attempt to cool down and prevent dehydration. When I reached that 2nd
bridge in the 2nd loop at 33K in 4:32:30 and a split of 8:43/Km I
was still hoping to break 6 hrs but after climbing the bridge and reaching 35K
in 4:49:52 I knew that wasn’t going to happen – and I didn’t care! I went into
‘survival’ mode! The best I could hope for was to finish – ALIVE!
It got real UGLY fast. My splits increased to more than
10min/Km as I was forced to walk more & more. I couldn’t run more than 1
min before my body would shut down and refuse to run. When I passed 40K I thought
I might have to walk the final 2K when Fran drove by on a scooter and gave me
two bottles of ICE-COLD water – one on my head and one in my gut. That helped
to revive me enough to struggle across the finish line in 6:05:45 - a new PW (Personal Worst) for a road marathon.
The second I crossed the finish line I knew I was in
trouble. I felt nauseous and light-headed. I tried to walk it off but I was
dizzy and light-headed and thought I might faint so I laid down. And I couldn’t
get back up. A few friends and medical staff started to worry and then I
started to worry that the doctors might carry me off to a VN hospital. I tried
to drink water thinking I was dehydrated but that didn’t help. I asked for a
coke because that has worked in similar situations but there was none so I
drank a few sips of an isotonic sports drink. That stayed down less than one
minute and then I puked for several minutes until I purged my stomach. That
fixed the problem and I started to feel better immediately and a medical
volunteer rushed across the street to buy me a coke. After a few sips of coke I
was able to sit up and then stand? Coke does it every time for me? I recovered
quickly and gathered a few friends to take the mandatory finish line photos
before returning to the hotel.
After a hot shower I still felt tired and weak so I skipped
the gala awards dinner. I tried to eat my usual greasy food but even that
wouldn’t go down well so I went to bed with nothing to eat for 24 hrs and slept
for 12 hrs. I felt fine the next morning. It had been UGLY – one might say it
had even been SICKLY – but I finished marathon #364 and Country # 117 – the new
World Record. I hope there aren’t (m)any more like that. But that wasn’t the
first and it won’t be the last time I was sick at a finish line – especially
since I only have tropical countries/marathons left to run.
But the race was over and now I could enjoy the rest of my
VN tour. And I will leave that story for Part 2 of the trip report.
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