Marathon 5 - Cairo
We left London in good spirits for a short 4 hour flight to Cairo. This gave us a less than restful 2 hour sleep. But, Cairo was the race we were most curious about. With more than 1000 people signed up to run with us, we were eager to see what awaited. The answer: one of the best running experiences of our lives.
We were greeted at the airport by the ever friendly Emad and whisked away to the race start. The race was organised with input from at least 4 of Cairo’s local running teams and special thanks go to all that made it happen. It evolved and expanded over the weeks before the event and became Marathon Cairo - Cairo’s first marathon. We will always be honoured that we were the catalyst to help with creating such a momentous occasion in Cairo’s running history.
The race took us through several of Cairo’s districts starting in Maadi, taking in the river Nile with a finish on Zamalek island. It was well marshalled by volunteers who also provided water and fruit stations. This was critical for us. Without such help, we would never have been able to navigate the madness that was the busy roads, find our way or keep hydrated.
The fact that we are still churning out marathons at a pace similar to how we started is testament to how the human body adapts. But what we experienced today was testament to the human spirit and how a community embraced a group of outsiders as if they were their own and made today’s experience far more than just running a marathon.
There isn’t a member of the team that isn’t struggling physically now. Hardly surprising given it was marathon 5 and we are 211km in. We all have variations of injuries typically associated with running: ITB, achilles, ankle, blisters, severe chaffing and just general weariness. And to top it off, we have the two hottest marathons awaiting us - both locations looking like they’ll give us temperatures in the 30’s. Lovely.
Results:
Dan Honour: 3hr32
Rob Bell: 3hr36
Ben Goodburn: 3hr56
Gareth Williams: 4hr20
Steve Vials (Road Captain): 4hr20
Pete Bocquet: 6hr15
