DUBAI // Hundreds of people started their day yesterday by running a few kilometres, just for fun.
The Dubai Desert Road Run kicked off at 7am at the Rugby Sevens stadium, with almost 480 participants aged between 6 and 66. About 130 of them ran a 10km course, while the rest took part in the 3km run.
“It is difficult to find somewhere to run here, and with the roads, it can be dangerous,” said event organiser Dean O’Grady. “When this facility was built I thought it would be perfect for running, and being in the middle of the desert was a nice touch.”
Mr O’Grady started the Desert Road Run in 2012 with 200 people participating. “Now we generally get between 450 and 500 people at each event, we have six runs a year, with June being our last.
“It gets very competitive, everyone wants to improve, we have RFID tags for the 10km runners to accurately measure their times. Many of our runners participate in marathons, including the Dubai marathon. We also have lots of novices who do it for fun and socialising.
“Running can be fun. This is not about being the best, anybody can compete. We even have some who do it at walking pace,” Mr O’Grady said.
Brazilian Ronan Gaui, 31, is in Dubai on holiday and didn’t want to miss the chance to run. “I just googled for running events in Dubai, and I was lucky to find one. I’m only here for a week.”
Mr Gaui runs his family’s car-parts business in Sao Paulo but is an avid athlete, competing in running and cycling events in Brazil.
“I run about 15km almost daily, but this 10km run was fun and interesting because I’m not used to this heat. Luckily I didn’t have any breathing problems.”
Musician Dale Nichols moved to Dubai in February, this was his first time participating in a running event. “It’s a nice way to start the morning, 7am is not too hot,” said the 29 year-old Canadian pianist. “I think I did a personal best today. It’s different from any other run, the circuit is nice and because it’s laps you know what to expect.”
He said that the last 3km were the toughest. “You need to dig deep and you really push yourself at the end, especially when you see that finish line.”
Jet lag was not going to keep Elizabeth Driver from completing the 10km run. Ms Driver, 59, had just returned from running the Boston Marathon, which she completed in three hours and 46 minutes. “I just landed yesterday, I’ve got plenty of jet lag, but I’m very happy to finish,” said Ms Driver, who has participated in almost every Dubai Desert Road Run since it first started.
“I moved here in 1983 and there were no runners back then, now it is amazing, so many people, all nationalities, everyone is competitive but there is no aggression.”
Ms Driver, who started running for charity, has more than 20 marathons under her belt including running the London Marathon 10 times.
“The Boston Marathon was an amazing experience. It is the hardest run I’ve done. The organisation was awesome, and after last year we all wanted to show our support and say that this is not going to stop us. The camaraderie was amazing with more than a million people there. I wish more Emiratis would join us and start running,” she said.
But for the 12 women of Team Claire, the run was to raise money to pay for their friend’s medical fees. Mother of two Claire Stokes has terminal stage-four cancer, and has been an inspiration to many of her friends.
“She is so beautiful, her attitude is amazing, you’d never know that she was sick,” said Rasheda Khatun, who ran the 10km for her friend.
“She is always smiling, I’ve known her for two years and I just learnt about her illness a few months ago,” said Susana Saad.
“Just through this run we have managed to collect Dh15,000 for Claire,” Ms Khatun said.
Amanda Perry completed the 3km run pushing her 11-month old son Charlie in his stroller. “This was the first time for both of us, and it was for a good cause.
“Charlie was laughing all through the course, I guess he was the youngest competitor.”
malkhan@thenational.ae
