World Adventure

Marathon Cairo🐪

Published January 24, 2020

Singapore – Dubai – Cairo ✈️

Hurry hurry, rush rush. Luggage carousel. Does everyone have a Visa? Customs queue. Long line, bag inspection. Wait outside the door, count for 6. Busy, dusty, hot. Post-midnite transport. Big city on the Nile. 45-minute drive south to Maadi. 3 hour sleeps – race ready, tote packed/downstairs 5am. Continent #4.

Surprisingly not the legs, body adjusts. Lack of sleep. Brain turns off. You get strangely emotional, teary. Luckily, Triple 8 travels in a pack. Follow the leader. Dark streets and stray dogs. Scary, dirty on the outside. Today’s race however… its people-support & energy, would make it FAN FAVOURITE of all 8 ⭐

No bike path, no loops. 26 miles of actual road. Traditional marathon. Pace groups, race announcements. Thin guys lined-afront pushing to WIN. Pre-race Triple 8 pic, then a day-run with brand-new players – the 5 hour pace group. Whatta gift! Fresh energy, conversation, upbeat enthusiasm. FAAAANNTASTIC!

Four miles of city lights & runner head lamps. Maadi Runners – whatta conscientious group. Pot hole on your left. Outside-crowded us from cars. Volunteers held traffic as we crossed intersections, up/over bridges. ‘Ash’ [Go!] Shouts back-n-forth in Arabic. Encouragement, SMILES. ASH!

Same tight pack first 12 miles, ‘til the Halfers peeled off. New runners added. 4-hour marathoners who’ll try again next time. Great energy! ASH! ASH!

Tall city skyscrapers, crazy car traffic & exhaust. Windy, dusty. Folks riding donkeys, camels on the median – everything & more, I’d ever dreamt of Egypt (and 25 degrees cooler than Singapore). Traditional water stations. Maadi Group vans filled with FRESH FRUIT. Strawberries, dates, oranges, almonds, bananas. Whatta treat!

And… a long stretch along the Nile. YES!

Walked the last bridge incline at mile 23. Walk/jogged last 3 miles; gas left in the tank. Four more to go! Whatta life experience, literally running the streets of Cairo.

To my pacer Peggy, the Maadi Runners – and all Egypt – THANK YOU! ❤️

Fast shower & a quick walkabout Giza. The mighty PYRAMIDS. Trip complete.

First class/business, rest of my journey. Next up: Amsterdam 🇳🇱 Winter is coming.

: Royal Maadi Hotel

: Day 4 Start

: Maadi Runners

: Pharaoh & the Nile

: BEST pacer EVER!

: Day 4: Africa

: FAN FAVE ⭐

: pyramids of Giza

: trip COMPLETE ❤️

: the Sphinx

: 4 medals, 4 to GO!

Marathon Cairo

Posted in Africa, Marathons/Ultras, Triple 8 Quest | Tagged museo | Leave a comment

Singapore Beach Marathon

Published January 23, 2020

whether I run, walk or have to crawl…

I’ll set my goals and achieve them all.

Spacious, clean airport. Quiet, easy people. Luggage. Customs. Hotel transport.

Welcome to Singapore – the hottest, most humid place I’ve ever run 🔥

Hotel lobby 4am, short walk to our Day 3 Marathon. 5am pre-dawn Start on East Coast Beach. Registration, bib pick-up, meet n greet with couple local runners. Tunes readied. Bottle of water & 2 bags of salt-n-vinegar chips (purchased nite prior in Perth). Dragging, notta lotta sleep. Legs tight but body still strong. Singapore & tomorrow’s 26.2 in Egypt been in my head for a year. One foot in front of the other. Even if I have to walk, today’s the day. No more planning, no more self-doubt. Quick glance at my watch. 82 degrees.

6 out-n-back on a lit, pristine path ‘longside ocean. Could hear waves; warm breeze. At daybreak, I’d see folks practicing Tai Chi. Massive barges/cargo ships just off the shore.

Initial focus: not getting lost… and logging miles. Dropped off path a tenth-mile before seeing another runner. Quickly right’d my course. No sun for 2 hours. One foot in front of the other. Lap. two laps. Water. banana. Out-n-back thrice. High SUN ☀️

Path full of morning joggers. Push, push. More water. End of lap 4. Steamy.

Stopped. Handfuls of chips. Needed salt. Vinegar settled my stomach. Change of shirt & socks. Tossed both, soaked, purpose over. Walk/jog/slog. Video to document my Pacific surroundings. One bite at a time. How do you eat an elephant? Thanks Sis.

SUPER appreciative of Sis’ daily videos. Dangerous spiders to avoid. Ways to sabotage my mates (after finishing LAST every race). Coach. Sis marathons. She heat-suffers. She’s one I can talk freely – no judgment. Everyone should have a Sister. Complete trust.

WhatsApp messages updating the Group. Halfers complete – and crazy fast Brendan. Just me & Mika left from Triple 8. Dude focused. Eyes forward. No more high 5’s as he passed. And soaked. Biggest difference? 5 hours & Thor’s still running. Great job man.

One lap to go – pushed. Everything to the turnaround. Puke fest & dizziness last 2 miles but… last 2 miles. Finish temp 96 degrees. More sun than shade. Sidewalk vacant-free of exercisers. 3^rd medal in 3 days – on 3 continents. Asia!

Common room shower. Fresh clothes, repack. No eats, nothing staying down. Water and half a can of Coke.

Airport dash to our first flight. Even closer in Dubai. LAST CALL, plane DEPARTING – CAIRO 🇪🇬🐪

4th Annual Singapore Beach Marathon & 1/2 Marathon

Singapore — January 23, 2020

Keenan Haga Louisville, CO U.S.A. Marathon 6:00:16

: Welcome Singapore 🌴

: Village Hotel Katong

: SUNRISE 🔥

: 90° & STEAMY

: East Coast Park

: barges & cargo ships

: Triple 8 BESTIES ❤️

: Day 3: Asia

: 6 laps out-n-back

: thanks Sarah 🇨🇦

Singapore Beach Marathon

Posted in Asia, Marathons/Ultras, Triple 8 Quest | Tagged beachcombing | Leave a comment

Australia Day Marathon

Published January 22, 2020

Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, it marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales, and the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at Sydney Cove by Governor Arthur Phillip.

First impression? LOVE Australia 🇦🇺

Similar to the US, think they’re also crazy East Coast centric. What we know: Sydney, Melbourne, mass-destruction wildfires, kangaroos, crocs. Western Australia? Nada. Prepared for melting Down Under heat & desert. Oh it’s warm… but Perth, WA’s capital city – truly stunning. Manicured parks, multiple bridges, WA’s Swan River & the friendliest of people. Hidden gem. Continent’s best beaches too! So yeah – of all the crazy quick Triple 8 touchdowns, Australia I’ll return. Well worth the long cross-continent flight time.

Late nite touchdown (9 hours in the air). Crowne Promenade check-in, early a.m. Start.

5 o’clock hotel lobby. Short walk to Burswood Park. Day 2. Registration, bib pickup – & 2 hours of comfortable morning temps. Told today would be the prettiest of our 8 continent locations. Check. Absolutely! 6 laps. Bike path course with eye-candy scenery. Australia!

Tunes loaded. Focused/plugged in. Bang out the first half while it’s still pleasant. Push the next two laps, walk the last [one] if I gotta. 26.2 miles run, walk, crawl but finish. One day, this day. Live the moment.

First mile sore, 2nd mile slow. Change of tunes: old-school Abba. Oh yeah – run rhythm clicking. Day One stiffness gone; on the path/in the zone. Swan statue. Pedestrian bridge cross. Short section of nada – look right, focus on the River. Aid Station. Water sip, volunteer thanks… & keep moving! UP UP the BIG bridge incline (our only real Hill). Breathe, pace pick up. River loop back to the Start. Move, move, move.

3 laps done. Refueled. Feelin’ good – don’t overthink it, just logging miles.

THOR! ⚡ Bestest company for 3 loops. Mika from Finland. Strong runner, great conversationalist. Crazy amount of Wiki knowledge (‘though think some of his tales were ‘Mika facts’ LOL>). Comfortable pace, time went by quick. Dropped me Bridge Walk, lap 5.

FIVE warm miles left. Gal volunteer ran alongside most of my last loop. Trail angels are everywhere 😊

Faster FINISH than yesterday, best of the Quest. Right on target with my strategy. But last… again. Never been slowest & the oldest. Make peace, move on. Today I ran 26 miles in Perth, Australia – with some of the most amazing travel partners. HUGE GRIN.

2 marathons down, next 2 – no plan. Y’all know I fade in HEAT. Kept thinkin’ I’d figure out summer marathoning.

Live the moment. One day, this day. Don’t look ahead.

Day 3, the EQUATOR. Continent: Asia. Touchdown: Singapore.