When & Where
| Date: | Friday, 18.02.2011 |
| Start Time: | 07:00am |
| City: | Ras Al Khaimah |
| Country: | UAE  |
| Location: | Manar Mall, opposite City Hotel |
Average ratings
“A great race! It just keeps getting better and better every year. And because of that, I am again running on the 2012 edition. Congratulations and keep up the excellent work! ”
“Everything about this HM was perfect...the organisation, the course, the medal, the snacks at the end and a world record HM to boot! Looking forward to running this one in 2012”
“Absolutely superb event. This is my distance limit but the whole thing is so well organised from start to finish it is a (painful) pleasure to take part. The attention to detail is superb, so much so I registered on the first day for next years!”
“lovely event.. such a peaceful route... really nice. more music on the route please, it's really good to get that burst of energy ! ”
“Well done to all the volunteers. Might have wanted a quick readout of age group podiums, as we hung around for a long time for prize-giving.”
“Bring on next year's RAK !!!!!”
“It was a great run. The support was excellent and I have no complaints. Thanks for doing a great job. I loved the bagpipers! My goal was to do a half marathon on every continent and the RAK was my last continent. Hooray!”
“Very well organised!! thanks to everyone. One thing to note though I didn't see any ambulances, Medical aid stations along the way. Maybe I was too caught up with the beautiful surroundings!! ”
“ This was my second time participating in the Rak Marathon. The only complaint I have is the amount of water wasted. Not sure what the solution would be but maybe putting the water in cups or smaller bottle will help save waste.”
“This is my first half marathon, I enjoyed throughly. Good partcipation, good service, good medal, great website, fantastic registration.”
“Not enough portaloos!”
“I absolutely loved the RAK. My first Half Marathon in 30 years was a real challenge, but i crossed the line and met some great people. I will definately be back and back and back...”
“Great race, once again! Start and finish organization excellent this year. Only complaint is about the drink station at 5K, it was too close to the change over for the relay, it was really crowded there, and hard to see that they were handing out Gatorade, and only two persons doing so. At the time when faster runners past they hadn´t even started handing out Gatorade. Other than that, I´m really happy about the organization. ”
“My second year attending and I plan on doing this race each year while I still live in the UAE. Thought it was better organized than the 10 Km Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon event, especially when it came to support stations and toilets. Well done!”
“I was not expecting the very professional level of organisation. I travelled from Saudi Arabia and it was well worth it. I will encourage everyon in my local runing claub to participate in 2012. The things I liked most were the cleanliness and availability of the toilets, the many water stops, the arches the denoted each kilometre (that helped physologically) and the great medals and race packs we received. Thank you for such a great experience in the midle east. I forgot to mention that the Bagpipes were awesome too!”
“Big markers at each km were great. Water frequency was good. Buses from hotels going to the race made it easy. Parking for spectators was good. Overall just a very well organized race.”
“This is the 2nd time my friends and myself have entered this race. We are already making plans for next year. Thank you organizers for all your hard work. Is there any way to get smaller water containers (bottles)? ”
“T-shirt was a huge dissapointment. The race pack was lacking other 'freebies' too! Overall though the event was amazing. So well organised, supported and the team on the way round with the water stops were excellent. Well done for all the effort you put in. Bananas were a real hit at the end as I was starving!!”
“I enjoyed this event very much. We came up and stayed the night before. The event was much more organised and fluid than the Dubai Marathon. I will definitely come back. My husband was a spectator and he even had a great time, he wants to run it with me next year!!”
“I was extremely impressed by the organization of the event, especially when compared to the Dubai Marathon. The support stations were fantastic, and the mood of the race was great. i would have liked to have a bit better spectator seating for my family though. I will definitely be back next year, and with a better time!”
“Great Event! Thank You to the organizers!”
“This race was the best it's been in terms of organisation. Earlier years had problems in terms of finding the start, enough toilets, lack of isotonic drinks, production of finishing certificates - all solved this year. Next year could we have cups of water (like AL Ain cups) instead of bottles to save the environment as bottles are larger than we needed?? Also, any chance that Wadi Bih and your race - both great races - could be further apart on the calendar?? Thanks a lot”
“Organizer> Excellent Support Team: Excellent Course: Good, but all flat, no thrill. Road: Boaring , please try to find different route next time.”
“Though its my first time to join the Half marathon, it was not so hard for me because of the friendly race environment, the all out support of the event organizers and the adds and tips provided prior the race...also from the water stations, marshals, the latrines and the nourishment provided at the finish..the prompt giving of certificate and medals...It was really a great experience for me,i truly had fun...looking foeward to joining again next year! Kudos! God Bless Us All!”
“Excellent organization”
“Great race and very good organisation.”
“Hope that you can arrange free visa entry for runners coming from countries like Lebanon cos i had 2 pay 185 AED as visa fees, while european citizens don't pay any fees.. And more animation, on finish line, podium, etc. ”
“I was so impressed with the organisation of the whole event, you did such a great job. The only thing that could have been better is if the split times were recorded for everyone and not just the classic chip owners. Although it was great that we were texted our results straight away.”
“Well done RAK, amazing effort and one that I enjoyed heaps - I will be back !! :)”
“Congratulations to the RAK half marathon for the Job well done”
“I would like to congratulate and thank the RAK half marathon management and volunteers for an excellent event. The directions to the start for those driving from other emirates, distance marking on the course and the water stations were the best so far I have experienced in any UAE racing event. Definitely, I would like to come back for this event every year. ”
“Overall organisation was outstanding. Particularly impressed by sms / email results soon after finish. Queue for certificates was too long, but could get from internet anyway so no major drama. Would have been great if RHM visor / hats / etc were for sale.”
“Would have been good to have had a sponsored hotel.”
“Hotel accomodation is very limited in RAK. Hence we drove down at 4.30am and then back straight after the race. Would have been better to stay down hence will book early if we participate next year.”
“Superbly organised event. I've been raving to others about how well managed things are and the 2011 event didn't disappoint one bit. Loved the "last minute tips" email. Managed to achieve PBs on each split timing and overall. This is one event I'll keep coming back to as long as I'm in the region. I would encourage every first-timer to attempt this race - it's non-daunting and a great way to start a lifetime of endurance races. Cribs: Please go back to closed bottles (with the lids on). You can handout smaller bottles to avoid the huge amount of wastage. The split timings on the online downloadable version of the certificate should show Net times and not Gross times!”
“Fantastic atmosphere, lots of participation especially compared with Dubai marathon which is quite impersonal and spoiled by mixing fun runners (3K) with the marathon runners. When you finish the RAK marathon you feel part of the event. The bagpipe band is excellent and should be a major feature in future - please ask the DJ to turn his music off when they are performing as they add so much local flavour”
“The entire team (there must have been a lot of people) that made this event happen deserves high praise indeed. This was the best organised event I have ever participated in.”
“I did not enjoy the 12k-18k section - running in a straight line there and back was dull”
“This was the most well-orgnised race I've been to this season and thanks to some great weather conditions it was also a great day for setting PB's. Fantastic to see the women's world record beaten, along with a few sub-1 hour finishes from the Elite men. Good drinks stops, decent course, good crowd-control and the preferred / competetive start positions allowed serious runners to get away quickly before getting caught up in crowds. The RAK t-shirt is perfect for running in, which makes a nice change from many other race t-shirts.”
“This was the the first time I've evr run a marathon in my life and am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how well it was organized. ”
“Just a couple of suggestions. When waiting for medals can this be under a covered, shade area. It was red hot at this point and so was I, I didn't mind waiting 20 minutes but in the shade would have been preferable. I realise the water is donated but with so much wastage and recycling could a smaller bottle be provided?”
“Great race, so well organised. I loved that as soon as I finished my run I could line up and get my race certificate with all my splits on it! Very impressive. My only question is how do I get my finish line photo? You advertised it in the RAK Marathon hand book but there is no link to where we can get? ”
“Although this year the weather was very good, you may think about starting 15-30 minutes earlier. Gatorade supply at 10k station was not organized well. When I passed no bottles were displayed by the helpers, so I missed that out.”
“Slick organisation at start and finish, KM markers are good, Aid stations poorly managed too many disinterested staff. Medal could do with a revamp and the course is downright boring but given that its in RAK there is not a lot you can do about that. ”
“Another great event - well organised throughout. However, despite promises of sports drinks every 5km, these were not available (certainly when i came through in top 40). Especially in hot weather, if sports drinks are promised then they should be available. I we know beforehand they are not available we can make our own arrangements, but to find out on the day, its too late...”
“This shows how well events can be managed in the UAE. From UPS-delivered race pack to printed certificate ready as you leave the finish area, there was little to criticise.
Although not a podium occupier, I had to wait for one, who may have been a little under-informed on where and when. But that is the only, very minor issue that I can think of which might bear improvement. Excellent!”