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Luxor Marathon
Soup Dragon
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Hi, we are planning a trip to Egypt next month - a last minute thing to enjoy a bit sunshine in Luxor and OH has noticed the Luxor marathon is on at the same time. So being a marathon addict he's enquired about entering. I'm a bit worried about running in the heat though. Just wondered if anyone else had been mad enough to do this and what sort of temperatue it was, organisation re: water etc. Looks an amazing course.
Thanks.
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Looks like its a goer - anyone else up for a bit of madness? OH doing the full marathon (4 laps) and I'm doing the half (2 laps). If its too hot I'll just do the one lap - it is a holiday afterall!
Egyptian marathon
I'm so jealous....soupy
I love egypt and can't imagine a better marathon....they say the drinks station is every 1.5 miles so that should keep you hydrated.............
can you please do a race report when you get home for both of you............
and I recommend the balloon flight over luxor at dawn if you haven't done it before
have a great race both of you
Will do seren nos - sounds like I could be putting my uv pirate buff to good use too!
And yes, we've done the ballon flight - we were there about 4 years ago and loved it. Can't wait to go back. We thought about a nile cruise but then thought again as we like to do our "own thing". We even got our own guide and taxi driver last time so no bus crowds. The marathon will be a lovely addition and I'm getting really excited now. Just have to work out how to pay for the entry!
Ooh very jealous!! Now there's another one to go on the 'list'
Def look forward to hearing all about it.
soup dragon. first time I went on a nile cruise and the next time I just stayed in luxor and did our own thing...much better doing your own thing...........the cruise was good to see so many things but I prefer to do this at my own pace......
have a great time...
Jealous too!!!!, went to Egypt last year, in june, did a few short runs while I was there, but BOY OH BOY was it hot, couldn't imagine running far in that heat!!.
Should be a bit cooler in Feb though.
Got a bit more information on this now from marathonguide. Mixed reports, some even suggesting that it shouldn't be run by females! This is because you are hassled throughout the course by children begging but its the same whenever you step foot onto the streets in Luxor so I don't see that as a reason for me to to run it. There's only about 50 take part and at times you have to dodge the tourist buses so its going to be quite a different kind of race experience, and perhaps not with slick organisation. The medal is given at a dinner that night rather than at the finish line. We are still up for it and will definitely do a report at the end.
Danowat - I'm really hoping Feb will be much cooler than June! 
Well, we survived and had a great time. The weather is normally around 25 degrees in Feb but Egypt is having a heat wave with temperatures at 32 degrees or higher. Thankfully my trusty UV pirate buff gave good protection to my head and back of my neck. It was an eventful day – as promised here’s my race report. I did the Luxor run of 22k.
Race Report - Egyptian Marathon 12 Feb 2010Comprising:
Full marathon (4 laps)
Luxor run 22k (2 laps)
Ramses run/walk 12k (1 lap)
In line skate (4 laps)
RegistrationArrived at the registration desk the day before to find that our bank transfer hadn’t been received and that our entry had been cancelled. After much confusion made worse by an email recieved last week to say that our bank transfer of early January had “not been received until now”. In our understanding this meant they had recieved it but after a delay, only to be repeatedly told by the race director that they didn’t have it at all. It took a lovely American (and member of 100 marathon club) to work out that what the Egyptians meant to say was they still hadn’t received the transfer so we had to pay again at £50 each and now have to go back to the bank to find the money floating around in cyberspace. Ouch! The best advice I can give if you do this event is to just pay on the registration day as its never full. At least we met some lovely people in the process – another American and a Belgian who has run the marathon for the last 10 years.
Race DayArrived at the start at 6.30 am for a 7am start. There can be no better start for a marathon than this lovely temple with the dawn rising and hot air balloons just taking off to catch the sunrise. There is no formal baggage tent but the people manning the finish line water station were more than happy to keep our belongings safe. Music was playing and after a short delay we were off at around 7.08. The route took a slight downhill along the temple service road to start a 10k loop. There is absolutely no truth that the race is unsafe for women or that children hassle you and beg. There were children running alongside in numerous places but they just wanted to be part of the event. They didn’t beg but wanted to know your name and run alongside a little while. Tourist police also patrolled the route and offered good support too. It was perfectly safe and I never felt threatened or intimidated. There was mineral water and bananas every 2.5k and I stopped to drink at every station. Although there were no toilets on the course I managed to use a toilet next to one of the tourist sites that I should have paid for but the lady at the door kindly let me go in. A good top tip is to put a couple of Egyptian pounds in your pocket for this purpose. The scenery was stunning – past temples and sugar cane fields on the edge of the desert and through a collection of houses with some good local support and more excited children all wanting high fives, before heading back into the desert landscape. The second lap got tough as the sun got hotter and my slow steady 11.5min mile pace slowed further to 12 then 12.5 for the last couple of miles. Then the lead marathon runner lapped me for a second time.
(cont)......
My second lap was also much quieter as the 12k runners had finished but it was still a friendly event and fun to watch the skaters come past all lined up one behind the other. I thought it might be hazardous to share the same course it but it was fine. The biggest hazard was dodging some of the tourist coaches. The last mile back up the service road was tough and as I started to walk one of the children who ran alongside me at the start offered some encouragement and got me going again before he went running off with a very polite “bye bye”. Then I turned the corner and saw that wonderful temple straight ahead about 1k in front of me with the finish line and I picked up my pace again to the end. I met a lovely elderly Egyptian man on the course who I sadly lost when I went to the loo but he waited for me at the finish line and cheered me in then gave me a big hug. I then had a 2 hour wait for my OH to finish the full marathon. The heat was intense by now and all the full marathon runners were struggling. The fourth lap for them was a real test of endurance and full respect to everyone who finished. I was happy just to complete the 2 laps. But a nice touch was the podium for the winners was open to anyone to have a photo taken on it.
Evening Banquet
The entry fee included a celebratory banquet (hence the high entry price) where were presented with a medal and lovely papyrus certificate. Everyone got the same regardless of what distance they ran so I feel a bit of a cheat having a certificate that I ran the Egyptian marathon but I didn’t turn it down! They explained that they couldn’t hand medals out at the finish line due to being in the middle of the desert, but don’t really understand why that presented a problem when the timing clock and podium etc managed to be carried out there. The meal was a good hot Egyptian style buffet and some entertainment with belly dancers plus plenty of beer (which sadly was charged for extra).
Overall
A tough race on account of the heat although they may start it at 6am next year. The 2 lap option was fun, but the full distance is a real challenge.
I’m really glad I did this race. I loved it and the 2 laps were a perfect distance for me. My OH is still trying to decide if he enjoyed it or not. He’s glad he did it but had to dig deeper than ever before to finish. But he did it and I’m proud of him for it.
Long report – sorry!
Brilliqant Soup dragon.I have been waiting for the report
I have said that i never want to do a marthon in heat but this is one that I would definitely be tempted by....put it on my list of things to do......
I have never felt intimidated in Egypt even when wearing very little.
Great report and well done for finishing in such hot conditions.
Hope you enjoyed the rest of the holiday
Seren - just do it! Its an experience you will not forget. I'm seriously thinking about doing it again next year and perhaps pushing to the full distance, especially if its a 6am start.
We had to come home 2 days earlier than originally planned cos of OH work commitments but still had a great time thanks. They've stopped the convoy to Aswan so we managed to get all the way to the high dam and Philae temple in a taxi. Can't wait to go back again. I just love Luxor and a lot of investment has been put in recently with new visitor centres, open spaces and more excavation. In 6 months' time they should have fully excavated the 2 mile avenue of sphinx linking Luxor temple to Karnak. It should be amazing.
Amazing stuff, Egypt is an amazing country, you are very honoured to have done that marathon.
Got any pics?
Got a couple of pics danowat but don't know how to upload them to this forum. Do I have to put them onto Flickr or something?
Still won't accept the picture - trying a link instead
Start
Finish
Not sure this will work! If it does, the finish photo was just as they were clearing the podium away. OH hopped on just in time before the last 2 blocks were removed! He finished in 4:40 so not that slow. I finished in 2:40.
Registration is proving to be an issue but I am going to try and register on the day as you suggest.
Are you, or is anyone else, planning on running in Luxor on the 27th?
Excellent race report Soup Dragon and thanks to Roamingred for bumping the thread!
I was in Egypt a few years back for a Nile cruise and had am amazing time (also did the hot air balloon ride near the Valley of the Kings while we were there and it was excellent). Have wanted to take little-un back and the Feb half-term would be perfect - I'd imagine the weather would be much milder than October when we went before.
Bit too late for this year but I'd definitely be interested in the half in 2013 - I'll have to bookmark this thread, hope it's still on in the half-term and add it to my list of things to do!
Great race report Soup Dragon! I've been to Luxor before and absolutely loved the city, the people, everything ... it would be amazing to run there.
Roamingred - if you do run can you please post a race report as well?
oooo this brings back memories. Roamingred - make sure you allow plenty of time for registration as I recall it wasn't very well organised and we had to wait in a huge queue. We ended up there most of the afternoon. To get to the start the next day we got a taxi that we booked in advance and arranged with the same driver to pick us up at the end of the race. Its a bit of a drive away so prepare for an early start.
Enjoy it and please do tell us how you get on.
I wasnt expecting to be running a half at this stage but it is to good an opportunity to pass up. What the hell, sometimes its best just to go for it!