Moorea Marathon

7th February 2009 Kerre Woodham

You know that old marathon maxim - ‘You’ll never be first - but you’ll never be last.’? Standing at the start line of the 21st Moorea Marathon, at 5am on a warm tropical morning, I thought I was in grave danger of being the exception to the rule.

Competitors in marathons and half marathons in New Zealand come in all shapes, ages and sizes.

I’ll never forget being passed in the Woodbourne Half - my first distance run - by an overweight man in his sixties, bandy legged and with his knees heavily strapped. I nearly gave up running there and then. However, over the last couple of years, I’ve found myself among my own kind in every marathon I’ve entered. Until now.

The concept of middleaged, dumpy old tarts from the suburbs has yet to reach Tahiti. I watched in horror as my 299 fellow competitors performed furious fartleks; stretched out their quads and rubbed liniment into long rangy thighs. Many of them were from the French naval bases dotted around the French Polynesian islands and like all good French men and women, they didn’t have an ounce of fat on them. They looked young and mean and fit. You could have played the xylophone on their ribs.

The other most noticeable contingent were the Germans. They too were rangy and they looked alarmingly efficient. My mate Claire who had stoically agreed to support me looked around nervously.

‘Shouldn’t you be doing some warm-ups too?’ she asked.
‘Bit late now,’ I muttered, looking around for a portaloo for one final whiz. Although the runners looked like they meant business, there is nothing high tech about the Moorea Marathon.

It’s been running for years now, but it still retains the charm of a country sports day. There are no transponders to attach to your shoes - for those who wear shoes. Some of the local runners were in bare feet. Runners share the road with bikes, vehicles and chickens and the local community turns out to supply water, fresh pineapple pieces and support. And drums. The drummers beat out an enthusiastic and joyous tattoo as we crossed the line and we were off.

The marathon runners - the real runners - had left half an hour earlier at 4.30am. When I first heard the start times, I was incredulous but once you experience the heat, you understand why it’s important that the majority of the ks have to be completed before the sun comes up. It’s a killer. Expect 32 degree heat, and that’s without the humidity. This year, we were lucky.

There’d been heavy rain the night before and although it was muggy, there was an occasional and very welcome breeze. The course itself is very kind to runners. The half - or semi, as it’s called in Tahiti - is straight out and back with no hills. Bliss. The marathon course has some hills but nothing nasty - nowhere near as bad as New York. If you’re willing to put in the hard yards during the New Zealand summer to acclimatise to the heat and if you can resist the temptation of the food and booze on offer over Christmas, you would almost certainly do a PB in Moorea such is the gentleness of the course. But then again, you might want to take your time, because if there’s a more beautiful course in the world, I’d love to see it.

The mountain range looms on one side and the iridescent waters of the lagoon sparkle on the other. The organisers offer runners the chance to view the course by bus the day before the marathon and if you’re a first time visitor, it’s a great opportunity to see the island of Moorea. As a concession to the heat, there are water stations every 2.5ks and the water stations are works of art in themselves.

Throughout the night, local men and women erect three sided structures then cover them in woven flax and decorate them with hibiscus flowers and fragrant tiare - the local flower.

Some of the volunteers were just adding the finishing touches as the first runners set off. At every station, you have the choice of sponges, water, fruit juice, fruit pieces and Coke - although the lovely helpers thought that fizzy Coke was what we were after, not flat. My belches provided a forward momentum that greatly assisted me in the latter part of the half.

At the turnaround, a volunteer ticks off your number and your time and you’re handed a green scrunchie - like a green hair tie - that you place about your person. The marathon runners received red scrunchies.

The first of the marathon runners were making their way back as the sun rose in the sky and as the temperature climbed, I was relieved that I was almost home too.

All along the route came cries of ‘Allez! Allez! Courage, madame!’ (Go! Go! Be strong, love!) and despite the fact that I was underdone and overweight, I did indeed Allez! to the point that I ensured I would not be last. I even beat home a young French soldier, although to be fair, he’d done something horrible to his knee.

Most of the semi runners made it home within a reasonable time, but some of the marathon runners were doing it tough. I finished, had a swim and then headed to the hotel, half an hour up the road, for a shower before coming back for the prize giving and on the way back to the marathon village, there were still marathon runners walking slowly and painfully home.

The course ends on Tamae Beach and it’s a lovely way to finish - running along a track adjacent to a blue green lagoon that provides a welcome cool down for sweaty runners. The prize giving is fairly long and in French, but there are way worse ways to spend a Saturday than sitting in the shade next to a beautiful beach applauding your fellow runners.

 And then of course there’s the rest of the week to enjoy the best Moorea has to offer. If you’re a multisport kind of girl or guy, this is the place for you. Diving, parasailing, kite boarding, surfing, snorkelling, bush hikes - Moorea is an adventure wonderland of gob smacking beauty.

The Moorea Marathon is a unique event. Running these days seems to have become more of a science than a sport. It becomes a chore - just another thing you have to do in a busy day.

In Moorea, you’re reminded that running is simply the joy of movement in beautiful surroundings and a celebration of life.

Kerre flew compliments of Air Tahiti Nui and was a guest of Tahiti Tourisme visit www.airtahitinui.co.nz and www.tahiti.co.nz

Kerre stayed at the Intercontinental in Moorea www.moorea.interconti.com