Our far-flung running correspondents: All Aboard! Eric Steiner's Marrakech Express

Eric Steiner. Photos by Vickie Steiner
Northwest Runner

Less than 24 hours after landing at Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca, I was waiting for pre-race instructions at the starting line of the 16 th annual Marathon de Marrakech. Jet lag aside, I was at the starting line of my first half-marathon in seven years on a whirlwind visit that also included Casablanca and Fes. My body thought it was just after midnight, but I was about to begin one of the most memorable races of my running life.

My voyage Marocaine begun last September, when I spotted an Oussaden Tours and Travel flyer advertising the race at Marty Wanless' display booth at the Super Jock and Jill/Blood Bank race in Woodinville. That yellow flier from Oussaden Tours sparked a dream: to train forand finish another half marathon. But in Morocco?

Originally, I told my wife Vickie that I would go alone. After all, wasn't Morocco in the Middle East? How would she be treated as an American woman? Was it a dangerous place for Americans to run? We did some preliminary research and found out that Morocco is one of the safest and most modern countries in North Africa. Before I knew it, I was training for the 13.1- mile distance as Vickie explored Morocco online and in tourist guidebooks.

A few months later Vickie and I celebrated our 20th anniversary near the Grand Atlas Mountains of Morocco, and the Marrakech semi-marathon (En Francaise) was as unforgettable as the people, food and hospitality of the first nation to recognize the newly independent United States of America in 1777.

Morocco : Land of Champions

Moroccan runners have captured many of the world's most celebrated races, such as Khalid Khannouchi's record-setting times at the La Salle Bank's Chicago Marathon or Casablancan ultramararathoner Karim Mosta's leadership in adventure races like the 200 km Jungle Marathon in Brazil. Mosta was one of the official race photographers for this year's Marathon de Marrakech, and his race calendar in 2005 included the 250 km Marathon Des Sables and the inaugural running of the 210 km Raid Sahara. Moroccan athletes have a lock on shorter distances as well. Morocco is home to Olympic champion Hicham El Guerrouj, who took home the hardware at last year's Summer Olympic Games in both the 1500 meter and 5K distances, while Hicham's fellow Moroccan Nezha Bidouane is one of the world's best at the 400 meter hurdles, and her work has earned a Bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games.

While Morocco is very much a traditional Muslim country, many doors are opening for women in business, politics, the arts, and sport; and running is no exception.

Over 6,000 people participated in the weekend of events that make up the Marathon de Marrakech. In addition to the classic marathon distance, the Marathon de Marrakech offers a half-marathon, a roller-blade marathon (marathon roller), and a fun run for 13 to 18 year olds. Approximately 400 runners from around the world finished the marathon while over 1,400 finished the semi-marathon. I was in the back of the pack in the semi-marathon, and set a PR for this distance. Before we get to ma course la plus rapid, I'd like to share a little of what I learned about the race and about one of my new and favorite destinations for runners.

Flat and Fast Course

The Marathon de Marrakech course runs in the shadows of snow-dusted Atlas Mountains which reach peaks of 12,000 feet in Northwestern Africa. Winding through the streets of Marrakech, marathoners and half-marathoners alike can take in grand French- inspired boulevards or centuries-old light pink-colored walls that line the Medina, or Old City. Marrakech is home to 800,000 people, and is a mixture of modern, urban sophistication as well as architecture that dates back to the Middle Ages.

Marrakech is a study in contrasts: along the course, local families were bringing home sheep, some on hand carts, red Radio Flyer wagons, or astride bicycles, for the annual Muslim Eid Al Adha feasts. The Eid holiday follows the Muslim world's pilgrimage, or Hajj, to Makkah (also spelled Mecca in the Western press), and is an important date on the Islamic calendar. Donkey carts shared the road with Mercedes Benz sedans in the shadows of gleaming shops selling brass lanterns, colorful hookah pipes, and traditional French pastries. Men and women in traditional Berber dress lined the roads, and children held their hands outstretched for a "high-five" all along the course. Like all of the Moroccan cities I visited, I found Marrakech clean and safe, and while many Moroccans speak English, a passing knowledge of French will go a long way to bridge any communication barriers.

Approximately 400 marathoners finished the 26.2-mile distance on a chilly, runner-perfect January morning in Marrakech. The men's winner, Abderrahime Bouramdane, finished at 2:15:16, followed by Kenya's Eliud Kurgat one second later. The 2004 women's winner, Hafida Narmouche, improved her 2004 time by three minutes to 2:40:58.

Semi-marathon finishers posted equally impressive times over the flat and fast course that wound around the Medina, and through olive groves, and on a few crowded city streets. The marathoners met the shorter course twice along the way, and I noticed men's third place finisher Zaid Lahroussi battle it out with fourth place finisher Charles Kwambai as they ran along the ancient walled city past the olive groves fed by the Menara reservoir. Eight seconds separated the top three men's finishers, with Karim El Mabchour splitting the tape at 1:03:26. The women's field featured Miyem Khali finishing first at 1:18:05.

My Best Semi Marathon!

My goals for the semi-marathon were very modest: to finish without stopping and beat my usually glacial time of around 2:50. The course consisted of several very long and flat stretches, and I tried a new mental strategy to avoid boredom: to replay my favorite African musicians, including Johnny Clegg and Savuka, Papa Wemba, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and Geoffrey Oryema. Surprisingly, these songs helped me finish 15 minutes ahead of my goal, and unlike my prior races at the 13.1-mile distance, finishing the race was not a near-death experience.

On-course support was outstanding, with water stations alternating with aid stations offering cold and wet sponges.

A Few American Connections

At the starting line, I waited for pre-race announcements that never came, but (literally) bumped into two teachers from the American School in Casablanca, supported by the US Department of State for the large expatriate American community in one Africa's largest cities. Kelly Clark hails from Colorado, and a teaching job brought her to the American School. She teaches math and a Theory of Knowledge class and was joined at the half-marathon by colleague Susannah Pappardo, a former Chicagoan who teaches third grade at the school.

"The climate in Morocco is ideal for running and it's a great place to live," Kelly beamed. Kelly looked out on to the crowd of runners lining up for the semi-marathon and compared it to last year's race.

"This is way, way better than last year," she said. "They are much better organized and there are thousands of more people here. This is going to be a wonderful race."

Ethan Arnheim and Rebecca Gillespie ran the full marathon. Hailing from the Washington, DC area, they run in races like the popular Army 10-miler. Ten miles near our nation's capitol, however, is a world away from a race in North Africa.

"This year's race exceeded my expectations," said Ethan, a former program officer with the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. "I was told that the race was poorly organized. The starting line was, but at the same time, there was water available every 2.5 kilometers, and they gave out sugar cubes, which I felt kept me going. The course was flat, and I never felt like I had a hill to conquer. I also noticed an upside to Morocco's surging youth population: you have a lot of kids cheering you on by the side of the road."

"I've always wanted to come to North Africa to work on my Arabic," he continued. "My Arabic is at a beginner/intermediate level and use some of my French as well."

Ethan recommended the Marathon de Marrekech highly, with the usual caveat for an event like this: come for the experience, be flexible, and don't expect a personal best time.

"The course was very flat," Rebecca said of her inaugural marathon and her first international race. "The cheering all along the course was so wonderful, and the people here in Morocco are so nice. I don't understand Arabic or French all that well, but I gave everyone a smile and a wave."

I asked her how she felt as a woman running in a Muslim country. As a rocket scientist for NASA, she gave me some added insight on the importance of helping young women achieve their dreams, particularly in a Muslim country like Morocco.

"When the kids put their hands up to give me a high-five," Rebecca said, "I made sure to give a little extra eye contact back to the girls along the course. I wanted to encourage them. I wanted to inspire the girls to come out and run, because this is a great event."

A Clear Moroccan Vision

Morocco 's tourism industry has embarked on "Vision 2010," an ambitious plan to improve the nation's tourist infrastructure and lure 10 million tourists to the country in less than five years. It's much more than a new coat of paint, however. Everywhere we went, from the back alleys of the souks dating back to the Middle Ages to modern hotel buffets, Vickie and I were treated with the utmost courtesy and respect. Even Marrakech's taxi drivers take hospitality seriously: a far cry from some of my recent cab rides in major US cities. Last year, approximately 72,000 US residents visited Morocco, compared to 155,000 British or one million French tourists. Caucasian runners stand out at the Marathon de Marrakech, and along the course, I compared notes to one of the dozens of runners down from the Eindhoven Marathon in the Netherlands.

As Royal Air Maroc staff announced the departure back to New York in Arabic, French and English, I had more dreams than dirhams in my pocket. On my next visit, I will spend more time in Djemma el Fna and retrace Winston Churchill's steps at his beloved La Mamounia hotel in the old Medina in Marrakech. In fact, I just might set another PR at the half-marathon distance. As the Muslims say, "inshallah" or God willing.

Eric Steiner's Moroccan Adventure suggestions...

Getting There: Morocco is less than 14 hours by air from Seattle via New York. While we were in coach class, Royal Air Maroc's service and food were first-class. More details: www.royalairmaroc.com/

Getting Around: Taxis are plentiful and inexpensive, and both my wife and I felt very safe in Marrakech, Fes and Casablanca. We took the Moroccan national railway - Office National Des Chemins De Fer Du Maroc - from Casablanca to Fes, and it offered a good introduction to the countryside. www.oncf.org.ma/

Tourism Information : The Official Moroccan Tourism Authority is a good place to start, www.tourisme- marocain.com/english/indexen.htm, but I found the guidebooks from Time Out and Lonely Planet to be excellent.

Race Information: The Marathon de Marrekech has an informative and updated web site. The results were posted by the time I landed at SeaTac days after the race. You can sign up online through the race organization's secure server. Homepage: www.marathon- marrakech.com/presa.html.

Tour Company : Oussaden Tours and Travel assisted us with a customized itinerary that also included Fes and Casablanca. www.oussadentours.com. Language is not a problem: our multi- lingual guides have been escorting English-speaking tourists around their neighborhoods for over 14 years, and I would trust my family and children with Oussaden's local representatives in Morocco.

About Rick's Cafe: One of my favorite films of all time is Casablanca, the one featuring Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine and Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund. I've followed American entrepreneur Kathy Krieger and her efforts to recreate the Casablanca magic for well over a year. This year, Rick's Cafe celebrated its first anniversary in Casablanca, and Vickie and I enjoyed a memorable dinner in the old quarter of one of Africa's busiest cities. Former Northwesterner and diplomat Kathy Krieger has recreated the magic of one of America's best known movies, and her gin joint is well worth a visit. I told Kathy we were pilgrims, and our visit, not to mention the food, hospitality and drinks, was a high point of my first trip to the Maghreb.

If Northwest Runner readers would like more information on my plans to return to Marrakech in January of 2006, please e-mail me at ericrichd@aol.com. (Editor's note: more of Eric's helpful information for getting to and around Morocco can be found on our website, www.runner.com, click on "Resources")