The Ouaga Marathon

Saturday was the 5th running of the Ouaga Marathon, and I drove to the finish line with some friends to see the end of the race.  Two American colleagues participated and confirmed that they are, in fact, crazy, but we were proud and happy for them nonetheless. 

The marathon kicked off at 6 AM, meaning that the runners had about two hours max of reasonable temperatures before the heat and humidity of the day set in. I have had difficulty running more than 4 miles in the heat here, so I really couldn't imagine doing 26.2 in the Ouaga heat. I was a sweaty mess as a spectator. 

The scene at the finish line. American flag! 

Some race observations: 

• The race had about 300 registrants, and an estimated 200 people who actually showed up, and 100 finishers. They also closed the race after 5 hours, which is a really short amount of time when you consider the heat. There were fewer than 10 women in the race. 

• The race wasn't actually 26.2 miles. According to one of the runners with a satellite watch it was well over 27 from start to finish, which is way harsh (Tai) for the runners.

• The race was a point to point course from downtown Ouaga to a small village called Laye. There were apparently no instructions for runners on how they should get back to Ouaga, and everyone was on their own when they got to Laye. 

Here are some children in the village. God I am so bad with pictures. 

• The water stations were actually more abundant than anyone thought they would be, and the runners were concerned about hydration. But apparently the race organizers just sort of dropped water sachets out of the backs of trucks on a continuous loop of the course, which works (probably with less waste from cups). 

Bonus: Turtles and a delightful commencement speech from Ben Bernanke.