Virtual Running Club

As some of you know, I consider running one of my hobbies and something that I enjoy doing a lot. Now that it is getting cooler in Doha this is something I can now do more readily without worrying about a heatstroke. So after complaining to a friend of mine that there were no races in Doha he suggested I run the Dubai triathlon. Sounds like a good idea, I think I’ll look it up. Well I found the page for it but was immediately distracted by another race that was listed. There is a half marathon in Dubai this coming December. To me the half marathon is like that old friend that never did you wrong. I have run seven to date and every time I have felt great afterwards. I also have been injured preparing for one. That is something I can not say about its nasty big brother the full marathon. So in mid August I started to get my training on like Donkey Kong. Unfortunately it was a bit demoralizing when the temperature was about 95 degrees at 6:00 am. So after going to Europe I was slow to get started again. What was my solution? Start a running club.



I sent out an email to the Education City Listserv asking who would be interested in training for a half marathon. I got a surprising 10 to 15 replies. So I have been communicating with these people over the listserv for about a month now and occasionally we even run together. Mainly people show up on the weekends other then that most people do their own thing. I guess it is just different from when I was a student and anytime was OK to meet because all your responsibilities were very flexible. So now I’m in charge of a virtual running club.