I thought you would appreciate this – a brief window into Luanda..
Above is the google earth view of the Annual New Year’s Eve 14km challenge run through Luanda (I heard about it on the 30th from someone in the bp Angola office – asked if anyone else wanted to enter – Ismar (Well Test Engineer) did so he joined me, and we went off and did it – starting at 1700 near the De Beers building and being collected by Tango Delta from the soccer stadium at 1900).
I recorded it on my new Garmin watch (amazing gift from my amazing wife) which really is the dogs bollocks – recording the exact route you take but also giving your heart rate, distance covered, speed, pace and ‘ahead/behind’ your virtual partner which you pre-set to the pace you think you can beat (similar to what you use with your bike)! My time was 1:08 which was OK, average speed 12.4 km/hr, average temperature must have been about 30˚C!!
As for the atmosphere and race management – unforgettable experience. To be fair the whole thing was pretty well organised – water stops every 5km and route clearly indicated – what’s more it was free entry!
The whole route was lined 10 deep with cheering (and some abusive) spectators - so loud you couldn’t hear yourself think. We ran through some real back street slum type areas as the only white face in 100 runners (there must have been 5000 + runners who did it) which was interesting to say the least!
There were policia and militaria everywhere because this is a high profile race with an international field including some top athletes (I think the Ethiopians won as usual). The finish was pumping rap music at volume 20 and the organizers were throwing goodie bags out of a moving truck around the outside of the track with a pack of desperate Angolans fighting each other for the catch!
All in all – it was a unique experience and one I won’t forget. Great way to see out 2008!
