I'm writing this at 36,000ft somewhere over the Atlantic on my way home to the island. Those of you who know me personally will understand how and why I got to run this race. For those of you not in the know, some explanation is necessary.
I work for a rather large international oil field service company on a rotational assignment to Siberia. What that means is that I go away for 30 days, work everyday for 12-15 hours helping the Russians drill better oil wells in Western Siberia, and then come home to the island to gather all my strength and willpower to return 28 days or so later. I've been doing this for 5 years now and the 8000 mile commute has become rather routine. It's tough on my family but some perks are to be had for this lifestyle, and running this race I think is one of them.
Approximately 700 runners gathered on a cold and overcast Moscow Sunday morning to run this double loop from Red Square down past the river and back. Fortunately (or unfortunately for those runners, like myself, who found themselves immediately over dressed!) as soon as the starting gun fired at 12pm, the sun broke through the clouds and it turned in a beautiful summers day. So with 21C (70F), the sun beating down on my non-sunscreened head, and with only two water stations each loop, I found myself getting rapidly dehydrated. Lesson learned here: we are spoiled in the US with expertly organized marathons. There was nobody selling water, or any type of food/beverage within a five mile radius of this event; I saw very few people carrying water bottles at all. Crazy! 
So it didn't take to long before my legs started to feel the effects of lack of water, also not helping was that I had been standing around waiting for the marathon to start since 10am, and my last intake of water was at breakfast that morning at 8am! Oh, and did I mention that I couldn't find the place for race registration? I had been told that it was in the recently closed Rossiya Hotel, but one failed to mention the size of this now-closed-and-in-the-middle-of-huge-renovation hotel. It occupies what feels like nine city blocks, especially when you are trying to get around it looking for anybody that is wearing running shoes and the time to registration closing is quickly approaching. Thankfully I spotted a couple with race numbers in their hands, and in my best Russian asked them directions. Funnily enough their response was in equally as poor Russian as my own, as they turned out to be British!
The energy immediately before a race is always enjoyable to be around. Everybody is focused on one goal, and the sound of all those feet pounding the pavement during the first few hundred yards strikes something primeval inside me. Like herds of wilderbeast or some other large group of mammals in combined movement, there is a collective energy running in a large group. You just don't get that buzz running by yourself.
Something I noticed running in Russia compared to the US was the much wider cross spectrum of runners in attendence. There were the usual contingent of dedicated runners, with their sports tops, running shoes, and serious stretching. Alongside those were the interesting characters. Aging Russian men in thrift store tennis shoes and old army shorts. Large Russian women, who looked as if they wouldn't make it to the startline, never mind the finishline. And most memorable, simply because the young fellow passed me so effortlessly at mile seven, was a ten year old boy in Nikes, jeans and a rugby shirt!
Within the first few miles I knew that the race was going to be difficult. I started to overheat, as the midday sun was now viciously overhead and the nice breeze that had been chilling me to the bone all morning had disappeared. Remember that the previous month I had been running the streets of Nizhnevartovsk, Western Siberia in temperatures ranging from -25C(-13F) to +4C(39F); now things were very different.
Anyway, by mile nine I was dragging my feet, and the few cups of water I had managed to grab from the aid stations (they didn't much like it when I took two!) were keeping me going, but only just. I seriously considered giving up, concerned that I might be pushing myself to the point of collapse, which under different circumstances (like being at home in the US, with no language barriers.) would have been okay. Somewhat stupidly, I stubbornly continued to plod on, slowing my pace and keeping my eyes down on the road ahead, not daring to look up and see really how far I still had to go.
Somehow I made it to the end, and crossed the finish line at 1hr 57mins 33sec. Nowhere close to my PR of 1hr 45min 36sec but at least I got a cool Russian medal and can say I've run in Moscow International Half Marathon. I think I also got myself on Russian TV as there was a camera crew at the finish line just after where they hung a medal over my head, gave me a cup of tea (best cup of tea I have had ever!) and a packet of Russian Gummy Bears. As I crossed the finished line they announced "John Sinklar, from America". They were only announcing the expats in the race, not every runner, which was a nice touch and I guess why they call it Moscow INTERNATIONAL Half Marathon.
So would I run this race again, or even the full marathon in September? I think not. Even though the course is flat and fast, I really dislike going over the same ground twice! Besides, my next goal is to help Chris Lang run the Leadville Trail 100 in August. Yes, that's right...100 miles! I won't be running it all, just pacing Chris at various points. But I hope to run 3 x 10 mile segments, the trouble is all of the running is at 9200-12600ft!!! Yikes.
OTHER PICTURES:
The tall and ominous perimeter wall of Red Square. Reported to be six centuries old, the word 'red' actually means 'beautiful' in Old Russian.
Moskva River, looking down Kremlenskaya before the race, at about 9am. The weather was gloomy, with overcast skies and a cold breeze.
From the Moskva River looking up to St. Basil's Cathedral, which dates back to 1561. I don't think there is anything else that is such a distinctive symbol of Moscow than this.
NOTES:
All photographs on this post are copyright John Sinclair 2006 - all rights reserved, except for the two pictures of me taken by this gentleman (right) whose name was Dmitry.
Many thanks to Marina Matselinskaya for finding me all the important details of the race.
Exact route and statistics of this race can be found here. Complete history of runs this year can be found at johnstefan.motionbased.com, which is an online depository of all the GPS information I gather (using a Garmin 305 Forerunner) when I run.
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