Legend about this marathon is following: in the times of the Pharaoh Taharka there were marathons organised for his soldiers in exactly the same route, the best runners could cover this distance of the 100 kilometers in just 8 hours.

8 hours for such a long route is a very good result, in the Pharaonic Race this year, they were few teams and even individual runners who ran this marathon in only 7-8 hours (i.e. every 10 kilometres were done in about 40-45 minutes), this result can only be achieved by very experienced runners. From my own amateur experience I can say that running 10 kilometers is possible in 1 hour (during this marathon i put my efforts to maximum and finished first 10 km in only 56 minutes, but the second 10 km I could only do in 1 hour and 15 — i was unbelievably tired and could’t make it faster). Our team of 5 people (all amateur runners, 3 of which including me were running marathon for the first time) completed the race in 10 hours and 30 minutes. So it’s really hard to believe that some solo runners managed to run all 100 km without rest, at a pace much faster than ours, these people are true running machines ;)

I ran this marathon in the relay category, which means that a distance of 100 km could be completed not by one person, but a team of five, so everyone had to run 20 kilometers, the route was divided into sections (relays) each equal 10 kilometers, and after each relay team could  change the runner, which means that every runner could run 10 kilometers then have a rest and then run another 10 kilometers. During such break you could restore your breath and pulse, but if the break was too long, muscles got too tired, so maybe it’s better to run all 20km at once. Besides that, the heat was really strong during the day, which made it even harder to run such marathon.

To run a marathon in Egypt is a special cultural experience. First you run in the desert along the road, it’s very hot, bedouins are passing by in pickup trucks and cheer you up with something like «ya-mozza» («Girl») or «I-wanna-marry-you» or just «yalla, yalla» («go-go»), some other bedouins with rifles are standing along he road every 500 meters being a convoy of the marathon and altough they look as very tough warriors they greet you with the reassuring smile. Then you run through the villages along the Nile, all the village people are on the streets, staring at all these strange foreigners running through the countryside, kids greet you with loud «hallo-hallo» and «wokeest-your-name» (their way to say “what’s your name”), giving their hands to get a five from you and even following runners sometimes. When you are running at the highway there are trucks and donkey carriages, from time to time slowing down to offer you a ride. You are not only running the marathon, but you are also discovering true Egypt, which gives you a very unique experience of the whole event.

Those who run marathons are usually divided into three main groups — those who run the marathon in order to «finish», usually newcomers, then the second group, a bit more experienced runners: those that run it for a time record, improving their previous record, and third group — veterans of the marathon, which run for first place. So participation in a marathon (especially the first time) does mean you should die but arrive first. For those who participate in first marathons, participation is the main goal. So although our team was far away from the first place, we really enjoyed this experience.

As of marathons and running for long distances, I have to admit that I never was that type of people who were doing any professional sports since childhood or were jogging or doing fitness every day. I was always lazy to do so, so even when i started jogging i usually quitted after few days.

So how it happened that I suddenly started to prepare for a marathon, sometimes I do not understand it myself. On the other hand, being a downshifter, I realized that i have lots of time and energy to do completely ‘strange’ things i would never expect from myself before. So when I heard about this marathon from my french expat friends, I realized that I really want to do something challenging like this.

And there is one more important motivation in all these marathons. If one day you finally realize that you are going to hit you 30th birthday soon and it’s probably the time when you should start caring more about your body and start doing any kind of regular sport exercises, marathon is the best thing to ensure that your regular jogging exercises will really happen on regular basis and for a long time. Because every time you feel lazy you know: you have to run this marathon. And it’s impossible to run it if you don’t train yourself. So as it comes closer to the marathon you get so scared not to make it, so you really don’t stop practicing.

By the way, I always had the wrong perception that any kind of marathons is something for very special people and an ordinary person is not able to make it. I thought that preparing yourself for a marathon is such a difficult thing not for everyone. But actually it turned out, that, in fact, it is not that hard and quite everyone can do it. An important factor is the preparation time — if you have something like six months before the marathon, then consider that it is easier than to go for a walk. I had about three or four months, half of which I frankly didn’t train as regularly as it was needed, so my preparation was more like 1,5 before the marathon, and at the last workout before the marathon I suddenly realized that i became a good runner and could easily run 11km or even more without stopping.

And what was even more unexpected, I started to enjoy running. First of all, it is such a nice feeling when you see how your body is gaining endurance, and how in the beginning it was difficult to run even 30 minutes non-stop and how it is now so easy to run an hour and even more. Secondly, I realized that long-distance running, is the best meditation I could ever have: it was easy to run and didn’t feel any problems with breath, heartbeat or muscles anymore, so your brain and body gets somehow relaxed and your brain actually enters a special ‘alpha mode’, in which it’s falling into a meditative state and begins to generate ideas enormously (about this brain theory I’ve heard at one very good creativity training). And since it was so easy to run, the whole hour while running, I could talk to my running mate, we could discuss many things and for us running because a new way of doing our business meetings.

The question now, after completing my first marathon, is what next? Shall I start preparing for another marathon (maybe a semi-marathon), or should I just continue my regular jogging exercises? As of another marathon, I still do not know yet for sure, but it’s really makes you so curious of you can run 20km in a row or not? and 40km? So probably yes, preparing for another marathong is really a good motivation not to stop running now, but continue it. So I plan to continue to run, 2 times per week, one time as a long distance run (starting from 10 kilometers, and adding each month 1 kilometer), and the second time — as a speed training, to improve my breath, endurance and heartbeat for a better pace — I guess i will start from 2 km of very fast run growing the distance each month.

By the way, if you ever decide to start running for long distances, or suddenly decide to prepare for a marathon, then below I want to tell you some secrets of how to make the process much easier, many of these advices really have opened my eyes to the fact that it’s very easy to prepare for a marathon. And if you by chance care about loosing some weight, you have to know that fat burning starts in your body only after 45 minutes of running! So choose long distance running!

Secrets how to run long distances much easier:

• Run slowly. The secret of running long distances — it is your speed: to run a long time, you must run slowly; if you feel like you can’t breathe anymore or feel really exhausted — then slow down, it could be almost a walking speed, but only like this you will be able to run for a long time and and there will be more results from such training. To check if you are at a good speed, just try to talk — you should be able to talk without any problems, otherwise you still need to slow down more.
• Walk breaks. The most important secret of the marathon: if you can not run for a long time, it is necessary to break running with walking, you make a walk break for a short time (few minutes) to recover your breath (if it does not happen, that means your running speed before was too fast). Walk break give good rest to your body so you can extend your training to gain better endurance.
• Regular, but not nesessary everyday, training. In order to run a marathon, it is not necessarily to run every day, if you begin to prepare in advance, it is enough to run 2-3 times a week. In each training you are not supposed to run for 10 or 20 km, you first start with a 30-minute workouts (combined with walking), and when you feel ready, one of the weekly workouts can be gradually prolonged in time (i.e. you can add each week 2-3 extra minutes to your workout). As it will come closer to the marathon you should be able to run 10 km or more, but enough to do it once a week, others 1-2 times a week can be a short 30-minute workouts. Do not run every day! Allow your muscles to rest.
• Start with easy workouts. When you just start jogging, and you feel that your physical form is not perfect, don’t worry, do not run at all! just walk! walk quickly, without stopping for 30-40 minutes. When you start to feel comfortable, add running breaks into walking, alternate running with walking. Even people with poor physical form can run a very long time, if they are running slowly.
• Run normally. To save energy for a long race, run normally, do not make long steps, don’t wave your arms, don’t jump — do not waste your energy. You must run normally.
• Warm-up and recovery after run. The best warm-up before running is walking. Do not start running right away, first walk at least few minutes. Stretching or any other fitness exercises do warm actually warm up your muscles before running as quick walking does. By the way, after running it’s good to walk too — to restore breathing and heartbeat.
• Right food. Right before the marathon it’s necessary to drink a lot of water. Drink a lot and often. Salty food, coffee, alcohol and cigarettes should be avoided 1-2 days before the marathon, all heavy food should be avoided 24 hours before and during the marathon. Just before running try to eat something light, ideally something like energy bars.
• Do not torture yourself. If at any time of your workout or marathon, you become really exhausted the way you can’t continue, there are two things you should do: first, slow down, second, take breaks to walk, so you have more chances to reach the finish line and not feel pain in the muscles several days after the marathon.

/ / Marathon — a long distance running race, 42 km 195 meters (26 miles 385 yards). Usually marathons are held on asphalt roads, but can also be carried out on rough terrain and in extreme conditions.

Semi  Marathon — half of the  marathon distance, 21 km 97,5 m, is a popular distance in running

Where did marathons come from? According to legend, the Greek warrior Fidippid in 490 b.c. ran without stopping from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory of the Greeks at the Battle of Marathon.

Why is 42 km and 195 meters? Initially, the distance was not fixed, and since marathon was included in Olympic Games distance was always approximate. It was around 40 km (25 miles), but at the Olympics in 1908 in London, start line was moved to another location, where the royal family could have a good view on the race, so the distance became 42 km and 195 m, and in 1921 it was decided to make this distance as the standard for the Olympic games.

Stella Vassilieva    |     svassilieva@gmail.com |     http://photo.stellav.ru