TRIP REPORT
Bahrain & Dubai
2/2 – 2-6/15
Race Results:
Fri, Feb 6/15
Manama, Bahrain
Bahrain Marathon
5:18:35
Marathon # 374 – Country # 123
Now where were we? Oh yes – we left Oman and were heading
to Dubai for some R & R.
Jurgen and I departed on the same plane but he was
meeting and staying with a friend/German expat working in Dubai and I had
booked an apartment hotel in the Dubai Creek area. As we departed the airport I
wisely bought a 12 pack of Fosters beer in Duty Free because beer/booze is
difficult to find and expensive in Dubai. Basically you must go to a Western
hotel if you want to drink alcohol. We agreed to meet at the Burj Khalifa the
next morning. I managed to walk and explore the neighborhood along Dubai Creek
and surmise that it would be difficult to run in the morning because of
traffic. I last visited Dubai 15 years ago and this is the only section of the
city that I remembered? The city has more than doubled in size and there are
new districts such as the Downtown/Financial and Marina districts that didn’t
even exist then? There is a new elevated Metro that is modern and fast.
Jurgen and I met the next morning at the entrance to the
Burj Khalifa inside the Dubai Mall. The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in
the world at 2717 ft. We visited the observation deck to enjoy the panoramic
views and take photos of the city. Later we purchased a daily pass for a hop
on/hop off bus to tour the city. This bus tour has three routes and if you stay
on the bus for all three routes the tour takes 7 ½ hours! It visits every part
of Dubai starting at the Dubai Mall. At first I was amazed at all the new
buildings and skyscrapers – it seemed that each new building tried to surpass
the next one in height/majesty and architecture. But quickly I felt that I was
looking at a huge real estate and economic bubble that has to collapse when the
oil money dries up? It has reached a level of opulence and decadence that could
only be achieved with unlimited (oil) money! Everything has to be the BIGGEST
and Best in the world. A new tower is being built in China that is taller than
the Burj Khalifa so they are already planning a new tower in Dubai to surpass
the one in China? The Dubai Mall is no longer the biggest so they are planning
a new mall that will be so big that it will include a 7Km nature trail inside
the mall! It just goes on and on? The malls are huge and filled with
high-end/exclusive shops that could only be supported with oil money from
neighboring oil countries such as Saudi Arabia who consider Dubai to be a
‘playground’.
We toured by the Downtown/Financial district to Dubai
Creek where we visited Dubai Fort and Museum and the Gold Souk. The Souk has
been updated and modernized since my last visit and lost all its charm. We took
a 1-hour Dhow cruise on Dubai Creek for another perspective of the city. Then
the tour took us along Jumeirah Beach and past the Burj Al Arab (the only
7-star hotel in the world with rates starting at $1500/night) to Palm Island –
a man-made island in the shape of a palm tree with expensive homes and hotels.
The tour finished with a drive through the new Marina District with its
towering skyscrapers trying to outdo each other? By then we were in rush hour
traffic and the 10-lane Sheikh Zayed Road was a parking lot! To make the delay
longer the bus had to drive through the Mall of the Emirates with its indoor
ski hill before returning to Dubai mall at 8 pm! The roads were still parking
lots so I took the Metro back to my hotel. I was in desperate need of a cold
beer. My 12-pack was now looking like a wise decision. But I also wanted a
steak/beef with a glass of wine for dinner and that could only be found at a
Western hotel so I walked a few blocks before finding a Western hotel and
enjoying a great dinner.
I enjoyed my short time in Dubai but I am not in any rush
to go back!
On Wed morning I returned to the airport for a short
flight to Bahrain. I was surprised to find Jurgen waiting for me at Arrivals.
In Bahrain. He had flown in earlier and rented a car and was waiting to pick me
up. The rental car was a wise decision because it gave us much more freedom and
flexibility to explore Bahrain. After checking into an apartment hotel we drove
to the north end of Manama to the Seef Mall to meet up with two friends/runners
from the Netherlands and pick up our race packets. The RD had reserved Bib #
123 for Maddog.
We had one full day (Thu) to explore the country. Bahrain
is small island country located near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It
is 34 miles long and 11 miles wide. The population is only 1.2 million with
less than half being nationals and the rest foreign workers. The capital city
of Manama looks like a small version of Muscat and Dubai – modern skyscrapers
are soaring to the skies in many new areas of the city. However the old part of
the city has not been updated or modernized and looks like a typical city in a
3rd world country. We explored the old city first and visited the
Souk to buy my mandatory souvenirs – souvenir teaspoon, silver charm and
postcards. I stopped at a Post office to buy stamps. There were three female
workers but only one working and two male supervisors? It took more than 15
minutes to buy stamps with five employees and only three customers?
Then we decided to drive to Saudi Arabia. Both countries
collaborated to build a causeway and bridge between the two countries – mainly
so the Saudis could drive to Bahrain which they consider as a playground since
“Allah can’t see what happens in Bahrain”! There are many
casinos/bars/entertainment rooms in Bahrain but they are not evident? All are
located in Western hotels and are not advertised but you just need to go to any
Western hotel to be ‘entertained’!
We had a coffee/coke at a MacDonald’s located on the
Saudi border – the closest I will ever get to Saudi Arabia since their Embassy
refused to even acknowledge my enquiry about a visa a few years ago? After
‘relieving’ myself across the border into Saudi Arabia I felt vindicated and we
proceeded to find the start/finish area for the marathon at the Sofitel Hotel
located on the west coast. It is a beautiful luxury resort located on the
Persian Gulf about five miles from the Formula 1 race track. We drove the
course – a 10.5 Km loop along a highway in the desert that we would have to run
four times. Then we visited the Formula 1 track and stadium – a lot of money
invested for a few races each year? Later we ventured into the interior of the
country where all the oil wells are located. Talk about UGLY! I have seen oil
wells before – but never with the miles of pipes laid across the surface of the
desert to collect and pump the oil to storage tanks. Our last stop was the
‘Tree of Life’ – 400 year-old Prosopis Cineraria tree near Jebal Dukham. On the
way back to Manama we got lost since there are few road/directional signs in
Bahrain (or Oman and
Dubai?). We had to stop at a military base to ask for directions. Thankfully
they didn’t shoot us!
After a long day we ate an early pasta dinner since we
would have to leave around 5 am to get to the start line. Jurgen was under some
pressure because he had to finish the marathon under four hours to get back to
the hotel for a quick shower and return the car before noon since the rental
agency closed at noon on Fri. They agreed to drive him to the airport for a 2
pm flight. That meant our two friends and I would have to find a taxi back to
our hotels after the race.
Fri was ‘M’ day. The race started at 6 am. When I left
the hotel at 5am I was dressed only in a singlet and shorts. It was ‘cold’ - high 40s F so I had to go back to the room
for a throw-away T-shirt. The race started on time – it was still cold and
windy so I kept the T-shirt on. The race started out bad right from the start
for me! First my heart monitor was acting strangely. Somehow a button had been
pushed that turned on an ‘Alert’ tone signaling my HR was below the range I had
set. I never activate that tone and it was annoying. It should have gone away
after the first mile but it didn’t and it messed with my mind because my HR was
lower than it should be? I didn’t want to stop and try to reset the monitor
while running in the dark so I tried to ignore it! When I passed mile 4 in
47:52 the damn monitor was still beeping and I felt terrible. I knew it was
going to be a long, painful race! Finally the monitor stopped beeping which
indicated that my HR was above 120 bpm but it continued to act strangely – or
my HR continued to act strangely – throughout the entire race? There was
nothing I could do about it – I wasn’t going to quit – so I just tried to ignore
it. If I died – I died!
I stayed with two old farts in my AG (one from Italy and
one from Sweden) for the first 10K but then I had to let them go because I was
struggling. I had already decided to walk through every water station located
every 4 Km but even that didn’t seem to help. And I felt I was under pressure
because there was a 5 ½ hour time limit on the race! I passed 15 Km in 1:45:32
and started to worry about the time limit? However I passed the Half back at
the Sofitel in 2:29:27 and felt a bit more confident that I could beat 5:30. I
finally discarded my throw-away shirt and began the 2nd loop. But
now I was staring to run between water stations – I tried to run 2Km and walk 1
min. By the time I reached 32Km in 3:52:21 I was struggling to run1 Km and walk
1 min! I had no choice but to suck it up and keep the old legs shuffling even
it meant more walking. Only when I reached 40Km in 4:59:31 was I confident that
I would break 5:30.
I crossed the finish line in 5:18:35 to complete marathon
#374 and Country #123!
All I could think about was “This is no longer easy and
no longer fun”! Maybe it is time to quit? But then the RD called me over to the
podium at the awards ceremony to present me with a special award – a
“Certificate of Appreciation” for achieving a new World Record of 123
countries. Maybe I can run two more countries???
As my friends and I were searching for a taxi several of
the local runners kindly offered us rides back to our hotels. A group of lovely
young ladies asked Maddog to pose with them for a photo and then offered to
drive him back to the hotel. As always the local runners were gracious and
friendly.
After a quick shower I headed to the airport and a flight
back to Dubai. I believe I am now an expert on the Dubai airport. I had four
hours to go through Immigration/Customs (again), change terminals via taxi and
go back through Immigration and security in the main International
Terminal. I made it with lots of time to spare but I did note that I seemed to
be coming down with a sore throat? Unfortunately that sore throat became a
sever sinus cold by the time I arrived home 28 hours later.
It has taken two weeks for the cold to go away and my
running/training has sucked for those two weeks. I am blaming it on the cold but
after the ugly/pathetic race performances in the Middle East I am discouraged
about the lack of improvement in my heart/health. I have some important medical
tests in the next few weeks to determine if there has been any improvement
since the heart procedures and pacemaker. I am not optimistic because I believe I know the answer but I will wait for the results! At this point I must say I truly
regret the decision to have the pacemaker implanted. My running has actually
deteriorated since the procedure! I was running faster before the pacemaker? I may
be faced with another decision – whether or not to remove the damn thing! I
know it is not a simple procedure to remove it and the cardiologists will keep
telling me that it is necessary/important to extend my life - but I keep reminding them that I am not
interested in extending my life if it does not also extend my ”quality of
Life”! Who knows what will happen?
Stay tuned!
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