Beverley Athletic Club’s Press Officer, Kay Farrow, is currently living in Mauritius and competed in her first race there on Sunday. Here is her account of the event.
My first race in Mauritius (The Orange International Marathon and Half-Marathon) and I won a prize! I was the second lady veteran to cross the line in the Orange half-marathon and I was awarded a medal, a large trophy and 3000 rupees (about £63). What an experience!
I had been warned that the organisation would not be what I was used to and the confusion at the start confirmed this. Full and half-marathon runners set off together 30 minutes after the published start time and the route was totally different to what had been advertised.
The gently undulating out and back course followed the main road which hugs the coast round the north west of the island. At the half-way point for the half-marathon all competitors turned round and came back along the same route. It was great to see the top athletes on the other side of the road running twice as fast as me. I was amazed to see some people running barefoot!
The weather was very kind, cloudy and around 22 degrees Celsius and the two heavy showers of rain were very welcome. There were water stations every 5 kilometres and wet sponges were also provided at various points.
I was running alone most of the time but the route was well marshalled. As we had set off at 7.30am there was little traffic and few spectators.
I finished in a satisfactory time of 2 hours and 15 minutes and in time to see the winner of the marathon, Hillary Jonathan Kericho of Kenya, finish 5 minutes after me. It was a pity that there were so few spectators to applaud his achievement.
Prize winners were listed on a shabby white board and I was thrilled to see my name included. The presentation of prizes took place on a large stage with TV cameras and press photographers recording the ceremony.
Wheelchair athletes were treated the same as able-bodied athletes and were expected to receive their prizes on the stage. They had only one leg each and hopped up and down the ten steps. This is how things are done in Mauritius!
There were 89 finishers in the half-marathon, a number of them specially invited international athletes from various African countries. The winner was Kelvin Pangiso of Zimbabwe in 1.06.14. The first lady to cross the line was Kenya’s Lilian Chelimo in 1.15.55.
Thanks are due to my husband, Steve, for getting up at 4.30am and getting me to the race on time. He completed the 3km fun run while I was running the half-marathon.
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