Among the many thousands of employees of Enter Engineering, there are many people who adhere to a healthy lifestyle and love sports. There are also many representatives of the older generation who are seriously and regularly involved in some kind of sport, and set a good example for colleagues, especially young people.
Denis Rifatovich Mambetov, Deputy Head of the Inventory and Warehouse Management Department, recently took part in the "Almaty Half Marathon" race with his family. It was held on April 17 this year in Almaty (Kazakhstan). Earlier, on March 27, our colleague ran a distance of 42 km at the SCO International Half Marathon and the IV Tashkent Marathon as part of the Enter Engineering team. We asked Denis Rifatovich about his impressions of participating in the Almaty Half Marathon sports festival. The story of our marathon enthusiast turned out to be very interesting and vivid.
“The idea of participating in the Almaty Half Marathon arose after overcoming the 42-kilometer distance in 6 hours at the 4th Tashkent Marathon dedicated to the SCO summit. This is a separate story about how we finished and how the residents of the city and the organizers ran with us to support. By the way, a year ago we also took part in the 3rd Tashkent marathon. Abdullaev Yusuf Negmatovich, the head of the corporate training center "ERIELL prof education" was our main motivator. Later, we participated in Zaamin Ultra, the first ultramarathon in the Jizzakh region.
After these races, I took part in the Samarkand Half Marathon, held on November 7, 2021, where I improved my performance at a distance of 21 km, and my wife and son easily overcame 10 km. All the events and emotions we decided to participate in the Almaty half marathon. We bought slots online, booked a hotel and on Friday, April 15, 2022 at 22.00 we moved towards the Kazakh border. My wife was navigating me. We spent 2 hours in a queue to the border, and 2 more hours to pass the border control (this is where the bureaucracy is, and not in our department). And at 02.00 we rushed towards Shymkent (96 km). The road was great from the beginning. We drove slowly, as we did not want to to receive penalties. At dawn we drove through Shymkent (and laughed at our plans to arrive at dawn in Almaty, since there were still more than 650 km ahead). We passed Taraz (Dzhambul), stopped at a gas station. From Taraz to Almaty, a straight road is 400 km, we stopped at a gas station to drink coffee, rested a bit and drove on. As a result, we reached our hotel at 15.00 Almaty time (+1 hour to Tashkent time). We immediately went to the half marathon expo to get the starting numbers and packages. We met a lot of people there. We checked the starting point in order not to fuss in the morning on the spot. In the morning we arrived at the starting point - the park of the first president of Kazakhstan, and saw a lot of people. The number of runners exceeded 10,000!
Wife started first at 8.00, I was supposed to start at 8.20, so I warmed up with the rest of the participants and worried about my Strava app and roaming, which was not working. I made notes on my phone, indicating the time of passing the checkpoint at 5, 7, 10, 15, 19, 21 km, so as not to exceed my limit of 2 hours and 30 minutes (since the previous time was 2.34). I wanted to write down the control time on my hand, but no one had a pen or a marker, so I remembered it like this: 6 km - 8.02, 10 km - 8.30, 15 km - 9.06, 19 km - 9.34, 21 km - 9.50 (the time must be considered an hour earlier, since my wristwatch showed our local time). When we ran, a colossal euphoria seized me and everyone around me. Even now, telling this, I experience indescribable emotions (tears in my eyes). The first 5 km we ran downhill, and I chose one runner in front as my pacer and ran after him to keep the pace. It is impossible not to note the work of volunteers who supported the runners at every kilometer and just local residents, as well as drivers driving in the opposite lane, cheering us on. There were some drums, pipes, horns, and the palms, on which we beat fives. The next 5 km we ran uphill, and they were a little more difficult for me. The pacers ran away from me, but I did not stop and supported all the runners around me who were walking. I clapped and encouraged them with words. After the 10th kilometer, descents and ascents began, and the runners stretched out into an endless snake. On the 15th kilometer I felt quite normal, so I ran and looked out for control points at a distance of 16, 17, 18 km. The drummers in the street were cheering us on. Hearing them, we gained strength and continued running. At the 19th kilometer, we ran with all our might, and despite this, we also danced on the run with the residents, who turned on music for the runners. On the 20th kilometer (omg, the finish line, where are you?!), I’ve heard from the people: “Only 200 meters left!” We ran 200 meters, and found no finish line. Before the finish line, we met volunteers, girls and boys, lined up in three rows, who supported the runners with words and shouts. I can't even put into words what was happening!
And finally I saw the turn to the central stadium and the finish arch. My wife gave me the flag of Enter Engineering and I gathered all my strength and crossed the finish line with a result of 2.28 (2.30 chip time). We did it! The medals were not awarded immediately. We needed to make a lap of honor around the stadium. Medals were waiting for us at the exit, where we saw a large number of tents with all sorts of posters and goodies. There was also a stage where the organizers greeted the winners and rewarded them by singing various songs. Everyone was supporting the runners, including volunteers and medical staff. They helped those who were approaching the finish line with the last of their strength, limping and bouncing. I walked around the tents wrapped in our company flag.
We watched the award ceremony and went to the hotel. After we drove to Chimbulak, Medeu. We took pictures everywhere, rode the cable car - 2500 m above sea level. It was the last day of the ski season. And exactly at 18.00 we moved towards Tashkent. The road was difficult, as we did not rest. We decided to spend the night at a roadside parking lot, where later we woke up from the cold. At 3 o'clock in the morning we drove on. We arrived at the border at 8:00. We have finished all the border control procedures at 10.12. And added two more days of travel and an incredible uplift from the sports festival into our collection of vivid emotions. We are planning to go to the Shymkent and Almaty marathons in autumn (September), though we will go there by train or bus! It is better to be worn out than be rusted Wishing a good health to everyone!
